A Screenplay Is Not a Pastrami Sandwich

It’s a commissioned watercolor painting

Some years ago my wife and I discovered in a Silver Lake chotchke emporium (‘chotchke’ is Yiddish for trinkets, costume jewelry, creative paraphernalia, objets d’ art) some extraordinary water colors by a local painter. They depict scenes from around our neighborhood, a welcoming community rising on tiers of land surrounding a…