Beauty is in the Eye of this Beholder
This past weekend, I had the real pleasure to take in the Gateway Players’ production of Beauty and the Beast. These are my thoughts.
Two years ago – almost to the weekend – I had my first experience with a Gateway production. At the time we had been living in this region for four years and it wasn’t until my wife Andi auditioned for Maria in The Sound of Music did I realize that within a stone’s throw of our home we had a vibrant community theater group in our midst. That being said – even when she began rehearsing during that steamy, hot summer of ’08, I had no idea how deep our local talent well descended. In fact, I really didn’t know what to expect from community theater and my repeat viewing of Waiting for Guffman didn’t help with ... Continue reading »
Face to Face
Hands down, Facebook is the single greatest invention of the 21st century.
Oh sure, some jackass will stroll along in the next year or so and dazzle us all with a flying car or vacuum based hair-styling gizmo, but until that day happens, Facebook rules the roost.
Simply put – it’s the one feat of mental engineering that has allowed all of us to realize that impossible dream of pulling together every awesome personality we’ve ever spent time alongside or whiled away an evening in total, intoxicating conversation – and has allowed us to meet and greet in the same room, no matter how many miles may span between. It’s shrunk the Earth and evaporated the gulf of time. And it’s a Godsend for cyber stalkers everywhere. That’s WIN-WIN baby!!!
I first joined up last... Continue reading »
Picking up the Pieces
“New Insights into the Hidden World of Autism”
The headline screamed from a Time magazine cover as I was walking through the Des Moines airport, awaiting my flight home from a two-day client visit. As my tastes in periodicals tend to run towards the entertainment, sports or video game mags, it’s not the sort of cover story that would normally grab my gaze. But… those words in that bold print collaborated to jog something loose in my sub-conscious – a nagging threat that I had, for the moment, kept successfully at bay.
I grabbed the magazine and paged through it on the long flight home. After completing the article, I ran through it again, my mind honing in on key notes – “Signs For Parents To Watch For” – that echoed the internal murmurs I had heard late at night... Continue reading »
Off They Go
Editor’s Note: This was originally published in September 2009.
On that inevitable day that I find myself on the business end of a waterboarding treatment, pressed to divulge the most intimate thoughts crated in my cabeza, when my grand inquisitors finally get around to the topic of Favorite Blog Posts, I know exactly which one I’ll name Numero Uno. Off He Goes – my heartfelt tribute to Colin’s first day of kindergarten. Of course, longtime readers of this site could also pick that post from a lineup as I’ve often referenced it and held it up as the shining beacon that illuminates this site when it all comes together just right.
Yeah – there’s a dollop of hubris for ya’, but dammit, my name’s all over this site so despite the... Continue reading »
Off He Goes
Editor’s Note: This was originally published in September 2008.
When I was five years old, my family resided on the Mean Streets of Everett, MA. At the time, I was enrolled in Kindergarten at the Hamilton Elementary School – a brick and mortar classroom that sat sentinel at the base of a large hill that stood between my home and the school’s foundation. There were multiple ways to get to school on foot but each involved journeying across several blocks of urban cityscape before arriving at that final destination – a foolhardy pursuit for even the toughest mofo. In those days, the swan song of the late 70’s, mankind hadn’t perfected the fine art of “Sue Everyone” so the school systems found themselves benefit of the litigious illiterate and etc... Continue reading »
Tri and Succeed
Editor’s Note – This was originally published in September 2009.
I’m alive.
ALIVE!!!
Well, I did it. I somehow managed to swim, bike and run a combined 14+ miles without dropping dead this past Saturday. This from a dude who once upon a time quit at Mile 2 of a 3 Mile Road Race - huffing and puffing the whole way at the newly minted age of 17. Back then, the potent mix of testosterone and Glacial Chill Gatorade should have been enough to send me to the Moon and back, and yet I could barely muster enough energy for a little 30-minute skedaddle. How I pity the virtuous vixens that shadowed my every step back then. All they wanted was a virile hunk of testosterone prime and instead they got Everybody’s All Asthmatic – sputtering his way through ... Continue reading »
Where the Wild Things Are… Dead!
Editor’s Note: This was originally published in February 2006.
-True Story-
The call comes in.
Caller: Ed-man. This is Ron-ster!!!?
Inner Monologue: Ed-man? Ron-ster? Who is this peculiar nicknaming psycho? (Somewhere, a lonesome cricket chirps.)
The Ron-ster Formerly Known as Caller: Ed-man? (pause) Vacation Man? (pause) Guy Who Has Incriminating Photos of Me and a Bone Saw at Alcor Man?
Me: UNCLE RON!!!! How the heck are ya?
Anyway, after dispensing with the obligatory pleasantries and renegotiating our ‘ahem’ business contract, we got down to the business at hand. Apparently my uncle, who I affectionately call Kracka, had a friend who was in need of a house-sitter. In a desperate bid to keep me on the straight and narrow, Kracka offered up my name,... Continue reading »
The Impossible Dream
Editor’s Note – This was originally published in 2006.
I’ve been in a family mood lately.
Of course, I am grand patriarch to a modest brood (my son Colin, daughter Aria and two dogs of whom a paternity test has proven I am not the biological father but love all the same). Unless you’re some deadbeat who collects ’72 Novas in his front yard and downs Schlitz by the gallon while shouting to your kinfolk to “Git R Done!!!” – it’s hard not to feel in the family way most every day. All it takes is a turn into your driveway – on some cold winter’s day after the grueling grind at the ‘nine to five’ - where a quick peek at your front window reveals the silhouette of a head (or in my case four heads) peering out, awaiting you... Continue reading »
Theater of War
Editor’s Note – This was originally published in September 2008.
If I ever go to war, I know exactly who I want in my fox hole.
Michael Crawford.
That’s right, the legendary actor who thrilled audiences and blitzkrieged Broadway with his iconic turn as the Phantom of the Opera. Granted, I’ve never seen the show and the last Playbill I paged through was for The Backyardigans: Tales of the Mighty Knights – ON ICE!!!, but if there is one thing I’ve learned from my recent experience on stage, it’s those actors can really kick some ass.
As you all know and thus far have chosen to ignore (based solely on the middling response to my recent e-mail announcement of ticket availability), I am making my long-awaited return center stage in ... Continue reading »
In Memoriam: Grandpa Ron Clarke
Shortly after Andi and I met and began running each other through the gauntlet of initial family meet and greets (the one sure sign or test that you’ve found a decent candidate for life partner), she marveled at just how fortunate I was to have the majority of my grandparents playing major vibrant roles in my life.
That was almost two decades ago.
As I write this, I am closing the final pages on my thirties (with 40 less than two years away) and am just now saying goodbye to my beloved Grandpa Ron. Born in May 1920, he lived a bountiful life – full of early experience and adventure tempered with that suburban domestic bliss that everyone hopes to attain as the years wind on. On June 30, 2010 – over ninety years after my Grandpa Ron graced the planet with his presence, he passed away surr... Continue reading »
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