What I’ve been up to since 1600 Penn wrapped in December:

• Rented a writing office next to a sketchy North Hollywood weed dispensary, because every building in North Hollywood is next to a sketchy weed dispensary. 
• Wrote a spec pilot about my post-college days living in a rented house off Melrose.
• Watched with pride as my son learned to crawl. Now he can puke throughout the entire house.
• Punched up a bunch of friends’ pilots. Attended table reads. Visited sets. Laughed a lot. Ate numerous free, mediocre lunches.
• Became proficient at the classic German board game Carcassonne. Jealous?
• Filled out, but did not submit, an application for a Burbank library card.
• Returned to the dojo, discovered I had left my physical fitness back in the 1600 Penn writers room under a pile of empty Pepperidge Farm cookie bags.
• Read all 45 of the 2013-14 primetime comedy pilot scripts the networks decided to shoot. That’s over 1500 pages of jealousy.
• Designed and built a custom acrylic shield for the TV stand, so my son won’t shatter the flimsy Ikea glass. (pictured, above) Strutted out of Lowes that day feeling like a goddamn man.
• Updated my blog for the first time in months, because really, there are more important things to be doing. Like playing Carcassonne.

Pretty cool.

It’s been five months since I posted here, because I’ve been juggling two exciting new jobs: writer on a new NBC comedy series, and father of a human baby. My son Elliott James premiered on July 11th, and 1600 Penn will be born on January 10th at 9:30pm. Wait, did I mix that up? I’m sleep deprived.

Elliott is wonderful, and if we’re Facebook friends you can look at way too many pictures of him until you unfriend me for posting way too many pictures of him. If there’s a baby photographer’s union, I must be a must-join by now.

1600 Penn has been a fantastic experience, and I’m sad to see us wrapping up production of our 12-episode order next week. Hopefully the show will be a hit and we’ll all come back to work on it again next summer. I’ve written and produced pilots before, but helping write and produce a dozen episodes has been a totally new experience. Exhausting, for sure, but also fascinating and challenging and educational and just damn fun. Everyone here from the writers to the cast to the crew is overflowing with talent and commitment and kindness, and I should probably stop gushing now because I’m sure this isn’t interesting.

But this is interesting: Our offices are in the Old Writers Building on the Fox Lot. If you’ve been on the lot, you might recognize it as the weird Swiss ski chalet that looks straight out of a cuckoo clock.

Ken Levine has a great post about the Old Writers Building over at his blog. The building has a pretty amazing history, and I’ve come to learn my tiny second floor office used to belong to… wait for it… F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Back in August I awoke from a post-lunch-new-dad catnap to find a producer from Homeland giving his kids a tour of my office. He said he used to run Chicago Hope from this building back in the 90′s, and he happened meet Fitzgerald’s very old (but still alive) secretary who brought him up to this office – my office – and said F. Scott used it when he wrote screenplays for 20th in the late 30′s. Incredible! I immediately named my mini-fridge F. Scott Fridge-gerald in his honor. But that’s not the only awesome person who had this office: Shawn Ryan used to work here, too. I know this because I passed him in the hallway a few years ago, and my office TV has a peice of tape on the back that says “S. Ryan.” Proof!

From left to right: Emmy, me, my awesome wife. Not pictured: My son, who is about to be born any minute now.

We won!  Twice!  I was lucky enough to be nominated for four Daytime Emmys this year. Two for writing on Ellen, one for writing on WordGirl, and one for writing on Fizzy’s Lunch Lab. I brought home one Emmy for Ellen and one for WordGirl. Jack Ferraiolo and I accepted the award for WordGirl, which was presented to us by 94-year-old voiceover legend June Foray. Rocky the Flying Squirrel! I’m proud to say I didn’t knock June over when I leaped onto the stage. But I came close. Here’s me and Jack moments after winning for WordGirl:

I think I said, “Are you kidding me?!” about fifty times in three minutes.

Did I mention I’m writing on the Ellen Show? I’m writing on the Ellen Show. It’s a blast. Last week I got to perform in one of our “12 Days of Giveaways” fake outs.

And here’s the rehearsal, where things got a little silly.

What’s with all the way-cool bars opening up downtown? We love playing Villains Tavern, and now we’re psyched to be doing three sets at One-Eyed Gypsy on Friday, December 2nd. One-Eyed Gypsy just opened up, and it looks great. Cosy with a “sinister, haunted mansion elegance,” fancy drinks, cheap drinks and food. Here are the details:

Dust Bowl Cavaliers
Friday, December 2nd @ One-Eyed Gypsy
901 E 1st Street, Los Angeles 90012
Three Sets 9pm-midnight.  No cover.  21+

It’s called THE SEEKERS, and it gets a shout-out in this deadline.com article.

“..a comedic procedural in which four mystery-obsessed freshmen go undercover to deliver justice on behalf of their fellow students at Hidden Hills High.”

Writing writing writing.  This is fun.

It’s been forever since I updated the blog.  Here’s the news since February:

We got a dog. His name is Fox. He's a champ.

I'm studying kenpo at the AKMA dojo and testing for my orange belt next month. Never felt better!

I sold a kids show. The premise/network details are on the down low for now. I'm writing the script and having a blast.

I was nominated for another Daytime Emmy for my writing on WordGirl.

The Dust Bowl Cavaliers played the main stage at the Topanga Banjo Fiddle Festival. Our biggest crowd ever!

“MEN WANTED: For hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful.  Honour and recognition in case of success.”