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Gabe Flynn Diary Entry - July 4, 2003
Friday July 4, 2003
So it comes to this…ordered by a cop shrink to
write my “feelings” in a journal…not sure what to say…. Kavanaugh was on my
back to talk to someone. He thinks I'm cracking up. I'm not. Swimming in the Detroit River at midnight is not as crazy as he makes it sound.... Shit... it is crazy. Who the fuck swims in that swampy cadaver-filled water?
Hmmm...Weather? Tiger scores? They’re in Kansas City
this weekend playing the Royals – they had a rough June… but then again who
didn’t.
Got a letter from Angie…divorce papers. Sitting
on the table for two weeks. She’s moving to Vegas. Her Uncle Sal is getting her
a job at one of the casinos. I hate Vegas. Damn, wish I could sleep - too many firecrackers and guns going off in the neighborhood tonight. What's on the radio? Coast to
Coast will have to lull me to sleep again. George Noory is decent – miss Art
Bell though. Bigfoot, UFOs, time warps…always something crazy on that show. At
least it will transplant me out of Detroit for a few hours.
New partner this week– a young thing named Deanna
Dopp. Polish she said. Never had a female partner before –
maybe the change would do me good. Tired of sharing my ride with fat, smelly
cops. She smells good. And I think she likes the Tigers. She didn’t say so but
she also didn’t argue with me when I said that Mickey Lolich is one of the best
ever American League pitchers - strike that - he's one of the best Major League pitchers - ever. I’m hoping he gets into the Hall of Fame this
year – it would be a crime if he didn’t !
Now I’m wide awake.... Got to get out of this
house. Have a lead on a drug runner in Cass Corridor – just a kid really. I’ll
take a ride out there tonight and then stop by the Blue Monk. Deanna said her
mother is Dorothy Doppkowski. Shit - small world. I’ve
been listening to Dorothy for about four years now. Hopefully I can catch her
last set.
Goodnight my little leprechauns… for now I will keep you locked up in
the safe. It would be a catastrophe if this slipped into the hands of anyone on
the force. Then again I would probably be dead already if that was the case…so
I guess it wouldn’t matter… ah, happy times…
Cheers,
From the Author - Diaries Found
Enjoy the newly uncovered diaries from Deanna and Gabe! Walk the journey with them as they solve cases and establish a deep commitment to each other as their partnership leads us to one of their deadliest and personal cases in Motor City Murder.
Come back every week to this blog and read the latest entries from Deanna's and Gabe's diaries...
Cheers,
Megan
Megan Clare Johnson, author
Motor City Murder
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Booklocker.com
www.MeganClareJohnson.com
Deanna Dopp Diary Entry - July 1, 2003
Tuesday July 1st, 2003
First day reporting into Detroit's 7thPrecinct. Commander Daniel Kavanaugh welcomed me with a smile then took a quick glance at my ass. Christ, what did I expect? Paired me up with a detective from IA – Gabe Flynn. Smelled alcohol on his breath – typical Irish curse. Might be okay – quirky sense of humor. Late 30's, loner. Either divorced or no girlfriend. All he talked about was the Tigers - how boring. Won’t know how this pans out for a few weeks. I won’t take any b.s. from this guy if he tries anything – I swear… Feels good to be out of uniform. Gave myself a new gun as a present - GlockG21SF- it's a beauty.
Worked on a case involving a local high school coach who was distributing drugs to the kids on his team. Gabe went to school there –years ago- he was pissed. Things change…he should know that by now. Need to call Wanda tomorrow – see what her plans are for 4th of July. Uncle Roman wants us to stop over for a BBQ. Not sure if I am up for family. Need to find a boyfriend with a boat… that would be nice…time for sleep. Ice cream then sleep.
Night RC.
Health Care Change Comes to Washington
Today I marched in Portland, OR for the public plan health care reform option. We had approximately 200 people walking in unison on a pleasant autumn day. People carried signs, echoed slogans out loud,and clapped their hands. Everyone participating looked like they were enjoying themselves; I could see it on their faces. It felt good to take action, to walk side-by-side.
Later, we met at a local high school football field and sat in the bleachers as the event organizers gave speeches to inspire action. Some speeches were better than others. As I sat in the football stands, I wondered how inspiration trickles through the American psyche and then as President Obama’s quote states above– “change comes to Washington.”
Wayne Dyer, inspirational and spiritual author, would call the trickle effect a cultural “meme” which is a mind-virus that spreads through society. Some of these memes can be good, like no longer allowing smoking on airline flights. Dyer says when enough people began to think that smoking on planes was unacceptable that it finally became unacceptable—the meme had spread.
Some cultural memes could go the other way and be presumed to take on a negative effect on society. But if we stay with a positive mind-virus meme that could influence a public health care option for Americans that need it—then let’s not get a virus shot for this particular virus! Let’s see if this public plan health care option meme-virus can spread…all the way to Washington.
When will it be thought acceptable by most Americans that a public plan health care option should be a right, not a privilege for their fellow countrymen? It has to spread one meme at a time by the majority of Americans.
So your call to action is…cough on your neighbor, cough in the subway, at school, in the street. Let this meme-virus spread. And if the swine flu scare prevents you from coughing then a simple alternative would be to think of a public plan for health care actually working in America, talk about it with your friends, family and neighbors and then believe it can happen and should happen now. And believe in this change coming to Washington…minus the coughing.
Cheers,
Megan
The Health Care Crevasse
Next year I plan on producing my comedy/drama film called Stealing
Roses, which I wrote when I thought of all the people in the U.S. that fall through the cracks of receiving
health care coverage. There are 46 million people in the U.S. that don’t have
health care coverage – that is one big crack or crevasse (for you fellow
mountaineers out there) they are all hanging out in.
As we all know, the debate continues – how much should the
health care plan be public vs. private, how much will it financially cost or
save us, etc. I don’t know what you
want, but personally I believe that health care coverage is a human right not a
privilege. That is why I wrote a story about a man named Walter, who, in
desperation to pay for his wife’s critical medical treatments, robs a bank. A
bit too extreme? Maybe, maybe not – Walter believes he needs to take this
action to save his wife’s life and people have robbed banks for lesser reasons.
Anyway, I’ll put the creative debate to the side.
When deciding how we want society to operate we should
strive to first understand the issue, then believe (and yes dream) what could
be possible, and then know what to do about it – so please read, then ponder,
then act if you are so moved. I personally would like to build a ladder to get
those people out of that darn crevasse. It’s cold down there you know.
Cheers,
Megan
No More Permission
I thought I would start my first blog commenting on women in the film industry – specifically directors and screenwriters. Since I am beginning pre-production on my own feature length film “Stealing Roses” and moving full steam ahead with production planned for 2010 – I wanted to take a look around to see how women are fairing in the business. I looked up some statistics and found the ones below on the Women Make Movies website (www.wmm.com). Did you know...
- Women accounted for 6% of directors of the top 250 domestic grossing films released in 2007, a decline of 1% since 2006. This figure is approximately half the percentage of women directors working in 2000 when women accounted for 11% of all directors. -Celluloid Ceiling 2007 Report
- Women accounted for 10% of writers working on the top 250 domestic grossing films of 2007. Eighty two percent (82%) of the films had no female writers. -Celluloid Ceiling 2007 Report
- On average, films employing at least one woman as director, executive producer, producer, or writer earned slightly higher opening weekend U.S. box office grosses ($27.1 vs. 24.6 million) than films with only men in these roles. -Women @ The Box Office
Statistics tell a story and many women want to tell a story. At times, you need people to pave the way, guide you, and believe in you when you decide to take on a dream, a vocation or anything you believe is important. I believe in women filmmakers and I plan on writing and encouraging them as I look to my network of friends and community for similar support. Women – young and old – if you have a story then tell it – let it out and let it rip – anyway you can. Look to your community for support and let’s improve these statistics. I challenge other women in the film business to mentor other women, hire them and develop their stories.
When I asked Kathryn Bigelow, Director of the feature film The Hurt Locker, what advice she had for a women directing her first feature film, she said, “Just don’t take no for an answer.” Simple advice…too simple? I liked it and I plan on following it. Stop asking for permission and tell your story. And if you are immobilized and can’t move forward without asking permission – then permission is granted to you – now get busy.
Cheers,
Megan