So I just got in to the office this rainy morning...

The head of the department said no to my leave of absence.

So, um, yeah. I guess I really am gonna be unemployed, broke and possibly homeless when I get back.

C'est la vie. Dues must be paid.

My supervisor feels really bad about it, though... I know he really fought for me, but it just wasn't possible to make the exception for me because everybody else has been turned down when they requested extended leave.

My last day at work is June 2nd. Feels kinda weird.

Well, like my boss said to me: "Chances are, when you finish this movie you're not gonna want or need this job anyway."

Let's hope!

mp3 of the day: Curtis Mayfield - A Heavy Dude

Curtis Mayfield is one of my role models not only as an artist, but as a human being. His humility, his honesty, his compassion - all of them are virtues that I aspire to on a daily basis. Not to mention his remarkable lack of bitterness or cynicism even when a freak accident left him paralysed from the neck down for the last decade of his life.

I always wanted to write to him when he was paralysed, just to tell him how much his music and his example had meant to me over the years. I kept putting it off, though. I'll never forget the night I finally did write the letter... Half of it, anyway. I came to work the next morning to finish the other half, when my boy Enyi called to tell me Curtis had passed the night before.

I guess that's a pretty strong lesson in carpe diem, huh?

Anyway... Much love to Mr. Mayfield. A true hero, and a heavy dude.