zodiac18 Nov 2005

THE STORY OF HAP

After a disastrous stint as an exchange student in Mexico with his ex-girlfriend Claire, Hap returns to grad-school in Orlando, is taken to north Georgia in a botched carjacking, meets his future wife Katie, gets nabbed in a crooked speed trap, moves to Chicago, completely dissolves his marriage, rebuilds it, meets his doppelganger, finds religion, and loses it again. All of these parts exist, though mostly not in a form I'd be proud to show people. Despite the similarities, his life is nothing at all like mine, except that we've been to all the same places.

Currently, Hap's a soil-scientist with a grown daughter on a Fulbright grant to Jordan. His life's about to be changed by a suicide bombing in a Starbucks (he is unharmed) and his daughter's relationship with an Arab. If he's not a feature film (in the Lost in Translation vein) within five years, I'll eat my dishdash.