Went to Willamette Writer's meeting

On Tuesday, March 1st, I went to the Old Church to listen to screenwriter Randall Jahnson talk about why he moved away from L.A. to Portland.

He says P.O. is the perfect place to reinvent yourself as a screenwriter. And he should know. The author of "Slaughter Alley," "The Doors" and "The Mask of Zorro" talked about his early days and aging in tinseltown.

He talked a lot about Portland, which he didn't need to sell me on, heck, I live here and love it too. But he also spoke about the new "digital culture" and making friends with Code Monkeys.

At first, I thought it wasn't so nice to be referring to people as "monkeys" but then I talked to my son, who writes code. He explained to me that it's not an offensive term at all. Programmers call themselves "code monkeys". I had no idea.

So, I learned a few things.

Randall said, "I was drawn to Portland's creativity and quirkiness."

Aren't we all?

The city is rife with the arts. And, one perfect example is Willamette Writers. They host these wonderful writers and have them share their words of wisdom with all us wannabe writers for $5 to $10 per month. So, the price is 'write' and the bargain is even better. So, if you're in Portland on the first Tuesday of the month, you might want to check out what's going on at the Old Church.

All Willamette Writer guest speaker meetings are held at the Old Church, SW 11th and Clay (1422 SW 11th). Doors open at 6:30 pm; the speaker or panel starts at 7 pm. Meetings are free to members of Willamette Writers and students; guests of WW members are $5. Non-members pay $10 to attend meetings. Refreshments are served.