Decided to have lunch with my buddies here. Hope what I say rings a bell for you.

Be an artist. Be a "linchpin". And please keep control of your product, whatever it is. It is soooooooo important! Your reputation and profit are at stake.

Does this mean fight for what you believe? Maybe. If you have to. You can be tactful, can listen to suggestions, acknowledge what input you feel is correct. But ultimately, it is your creation. Be an artist who has integrity, at least in regard to your art. All of us here are creating something new, therefore, we are all artists.

Listen, if you don't let "them" mess with you, then they don't even  try. Keep "them" a little afraid. Of course, they may not work with you ever again. Hollywood is notorious for this. But do you really want a reputation for inferior work? So, what's the point?  Oh, by the way, the "them" I'm referring to is the "suits".

If you've created a product, especially one that you consider to be good enough to share with the world, then be its custodian as well as its inventor. That's your responsibility. Not up to somebody else to dilute your message or otherwise ruin your vision. Remember, your product is what people see of your work. If you're making a movie, then the movie is your finished product, not the book, not the script. Because of that, you are in the hands of many people connected to the movie who need to be up to the task and at least as good as you are. Everybody has to be excellent. If it's a group effort, and if everybody doesn't deliver, then the movie can flop. Then people like me will say, engaging book, disappointing movie. Good news is when it all comes together, you can have a masterpiece. "My Cousin Vinny" is a masterpiece.

Oh boy, this hits a nerve with me. You should only know. That's why I am in my sweet spot painting, art for art's sake. I don't have to be bothered with that stress. I spent many years trying to keep all the balls in the air in order to have a successful conclusion. Worked out pretty fine most of the time. That's why I made a good living. Heartbreaking to the artist when it doesn't come together. Bad enough having to deal with your own limitations.

I went with friends to see the movie "Eat, Pray Love" last night. I read the book a while back and was charmed by it. I understood the main character's plight, and never once did it occur to me that the heroine was trite or trivial. Came off trivial in the movie. She experienced "real" human emotions that all of us may have felt ourselves, or can feel, men and women alike. It was a nice story that had great movie potential. Very amusing and universal. Frankly, I don't know how they missed on this one, but they did. Very disappointing. Wonder how Elizabeth Gilbert feels about it. I felt the casting was wrong, even though I am a Julia Roberts fan, and they didn't develop the characters or plot very well either. That's just my opinion. You may disagree.

The good news is we have autonomy over the Internet. If we write something, then we can self publish. Aw forget EZA. That's for another purpose. I love the freedom that the Internet affords. That's why fellow IM'ers, and entrepreneurs, we are FORTUNATE to have this great tool at our disposal. We have good forces and not so good forces to work with. Just don't allow anyone the opportunity to screw up your vision.

Lunch hour is over. Back to work. Have a great day!