Hey, this is my HuffPost Strike Diary. Though my union, the WGA is trying to annex the Internet, I believe I will still be able to send communiqués to you from the trenches once the shock and awe of writers at war begins.
Came home this evening from a gala AFI premiere of Lions for Lambs to find my mailbox had been tagged. Either neighborhood kids, or WGA psy-op soldiers who are mad that I'd rather negotiate than strike. By the way, I'm still on Dick Cheney's sh*t list 'cause I felt the same way about Iraq.
Once settled at home, I hopped on the still non-unionized net to find out what happened at the double super-secret WGA meeting held at the convention center (but not so super-secret it wasn't live-blogged by the LA Times).
The meeting was attended by an estimated smattering of the guild's 12,000 members. An anonymous writer representing probably a good portion of the three-quarters of the membership who didn't show up was quoted in the Times as explaining his absence thusly: "Please...there are children starving in Rwanda. That will be a parking lot full of Maseratis and Mercedes. There will be a valet at the picket line."
Seriously, that was not me! And I would've gone to the meeting, except -- for real -- I'm on the jury of the AFI fest so, really, seriously, I had to go see Lions for Lambs; a very moving film about the human consequences of war, and those who pay the ultimate price -- in flesh and blood -- when poor decisions are made by those furthest from the fight.
But enough about that, let's talk about writers getting paid!
The long and short of the meeting: IT'S WAR! The membership will be secretly informed of the exact moment of the strike by email. Though, I have a feeling the way the guild is with secrets the Times will report the news first. I seriously wish a harmonious outcome for all, and very very seriously wish well to all the writers out there. Yeah, we want the money, but we do it for the passion of the words. I really pray when it's over there will be enough opportunities left for writers to still earn a living doing what they love.
Read more thoughts about the strike on Huffington Post's writers' strike opinion page