I’m BACK!!!!

Dear reader,

I am soooo sorry for my absence.  Everyone has his own priority lists.  Mine has been very, very long over the past couple of months, and unfortunately, this has been pushed at the very bottom.  But now my list has shorten, and my much needed Catharsis has risen to the top.

So what shall I share with you?  Adventures in child rearing?  Current movies seen?  Preparations and plans for summer?  How about the great times I had with my performances?

In April, we performed a Commedia version of Pinocchio.  I hear your thoughts and know that you are thinking, “what is Commedia?”  Commedia, dear reader, was the birth of the art of clowning.  I really don’t want to explain any more than that.  (I am sick of explaining it).  Suffice it to say, we had a GREAT time.  My kids played and let themselves go.  As a result, the audience had a fun time.  Our version of commedia was a modern one.  The actors wore ragged clothes that were dyed yucky colors.  Our props looked like they were found in a vacant lot (shopping cart and old tent (courtesy of Butler), old boxes, and pieces of material).  I did the make-up to look like bad clown make-up.  Our whale was a dogfish that was burgundy and green.  Everything looked very used…and cool.

I was very proud of my casts.  No major hiccups and good crowds and we ended up in the black.  Congrats HIPPOS!!!

Next post,  THE CIRCUS PLAY!!!!

Becoming addicted…to…COMIC BOOKS!!!!

When I was young…younger, I really didn’t understand the draw of comic books.  I think it was my introduction to this art form.  When I was in the second grade, my dad went to an auction and bought a box containing about two hundred comic books for $5.00.  He brought them home and said, “check out these cool comics!”  I opened the box and began to explore this new treasure.  What I found where titles involving the fun and fabulous characters such as…Richie Rich, Casper, Wendy the Witch, Sad Sack, Little Lotta.  These were comics?  SAD!  I took them to school and sold them for $0.50 each.  I was finished with comics.

Fast-forward…a few years.  I’m searching for DVD’s I can watch with my five year son.  I found the new Justice League and Jusice League Unlimited series.  WOW!  I loved them.  I knew some of the characters and histories, but none of this awesome artwork.  I started looking at Graphic Novels at Barnes and Nobles.  One of my best friends (who is a fan boy) found out that I scratched the surface and encouraged we to dig deeper.  He started bringing me more books.  And then I heard about the Watchmen.  I bought a copy.  I read it…in one day.  I have read hundreds of books…HUNDREDS!  And I must say that this book goes into my top ten.  The artwork…the story…the depth of character…the complexity…AWESOME…TRULY AWESOME!!!!

I was hooked.  I started going to The Deep (the comic store).  I found cool charcters like the Red Tornado and The Question.  I bought whole series.  And then I started to discover new series and new characters.  I’m addicted.  I go to the comic store every Wednesday.  I have a box.  I collect comics…and put them in bags…with pieces of cardboard to keep them from getting bent.  I organize them on their special shelf…on the oppisite wall from my Shakespeare shelf.  I check the websites to see what’s coming out next week.  I swap trade backs with my students.  I have even gotten my son addicted.   Hi.  My name is Max.  And I’m an addict.  A comic addict……i’m a fan boy…  Cures anyone?

The True HAPPY FEET

Saturday night, I had a truly wonderful, wonderful experience.  My beautiful wife took me to see a show called “The Souls of Our Feet.”  This show is a tribute to the art of tap dancing.  Act 1 was an homage to all the great hoofers who pioneered this American art form.  These awesome young dancers would perform some of the great routines created by the legends of dance:  the Nicholas brothers, Astaire, Kelly, Shirley Temple, Arthur Duncan, and many more.  Video clicks would show the original artists and then the young hoofers would perform the routines.  The audience of admirers were is sheer awe and delight.  These kids were AMAZING, hitting every step with wonderful grace and ease.  If I hadn’t heard the music of their tapping, I would have sworn their feet were not touching the ground.

For Act 2, these tappers were turned loose.  Some times joined by their artistic director and even the great Arthur Duncan himself, these kids demonstrated how tap has evolved.  INCREDIBLE!!!!  God has blessed (or possibly cursed) me with the gift of appreciation.  I can’t paint, but I can look at a painting and understand the heart of the artist and the beauty of his expression.  I can’t sing, but I know when someone is hitting the right notes and the beauty and control of her instrument.  I can’t play an instrument, I can feel the hard work and love that the artist pours through his instrument.  I can’t dance, but to see these young people, I understood all the countless hours of rehearsal, the pain of injuries that have been racked upon their bodies, the blows of harsh criticism, negativity, and dejection from a world that doesn’t study and learn from the past.

At one point, a young man took the stage alone.  He had been dancing with the ensemble for about six or seven minutes non-stop.  He left stage for a second and returned in his undershirt.  All ready dripping in sweat, he began to move.  The greatest aspect of art is the connect between the artist and his appreciative audience.  As I watched this young artist perform moves that defied the laws of nature and man, I truly felt a connection.  I saw all of the hard work and pain;  I saw the years of learning;  I saw joy;  I saw beauty.  He moved on another plain, outside of time, outside of space.  My mouth became dry from being so wide open in awe.  I was sooooo happy.

And then it happened.  I knew his performance was coming to a close;  there was no way he could keep going.  He was covered in sweat and breathing heavily.  I was preparing to bruise my hands with clapping and loose my voice with yelling…when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a strange light.  My eyes tore themselves from the beauty to the horror of an open cell phone.  A…person three rows down from me…was texting…during the beauty…during this GIFT.  I wanted to take that phone and…shove it….  WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE SO IMPORTANT THAT THIS…PERSON WOULD BE SO UNBELIEVABLY DISRESPECTFUL AS TO TEXT SOMEONE DURING THIS PERFORMANCE!!!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!  It should be a federal law…punishable by the CHOPPING OFF OF THE THUMB…for ANYONE to use a…CELL PHONE…during any kind of live PERFORMANCE!!!!!!  THE PERFORMERS CAN SEE YOU, YOU……  IT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DISRESPECTFUL!!!!!!!!!!

I need to stop now.  I’m getting too upset.

Children on a RAMPAGE

$14.95 at Sam’s Club:  RAMPAGE for the wii.  Brought it home.  Put on!  GOT READY TO RUMBLE!!!!  I chose the Ram monster.  My sweet wife chose the lizard monster.  We set out to DESTROY Vegas:

Kathy:  Grab the cars!  Throw them!  Eat the PEOPLE!

Me:  I’m destroying the building right now.  AH!  Police helpicopter!  Get it!  Get it!  Throw a car at it!

Isaac:  I want to play.

Rose:  Let me play.

Kathy and me in unison:  GO UPSTAIRS AND PLAY!  MOMMY AND DADDY ARE DESTROYING THIS CITY!!!!

Kathy:  MIME!!!

Me:  EAT THE MIME!!!

After twenty minutes of total carnage, we call the kids down to take over.  Rose is a lion monster.  Isaac is the lizard monster.

Rose:  I AM GOING TO EAT YOU!!!!  I HAVE AN APPETITE!!!!

Isaac:  AH!  SWAT TEAM!

Kathy:  STOMP ON THEM!!!  POUND THEM!!!

Rose:  Heh  Heh Heh (scary)

Isaac:  GOT’EM!!!  Rose stop HITTING ME!!! (her monster is beating on his monster)

Rose:  Heh Heh Heh

Isaac:  ROOOOOSSSSE!!!  What are you doing!

Rose:  Heh heh he.  (real low) I’m coming for you Isaac.  I’m HUNGRY!!!

I, of course, can’t breathe because I am laughing SOOOOO HARD!!!

It was one of the funnist things I have EVER seen.

$14.95 well spent.

The Magic of Theatre

Yesterday, we took our kids to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  Simple story, imaginative set, huge characters, silly stuff.  I had a great deal of fun watching the play…but I had ten times more fun watching my kids watch the play.  Their eyes sparkled, their mouths opened is gaping awe, their brains forcing them to remember to breathe.  It was sheer magic.  When the car began to fly, Rose looked from me to the car and back to me in utter amazement.  I’ve heard of folks getting warm and fuzzy feelings before, and I ‘ve joked about having said feelings myself;  but at that very moment I had a totally AWESOME WARM AND FUZZY FEELING.  To see that kind of joy on the face of a child whom I love more than life itself…WOW!  That’s why the Theatre is a place of magic…and that’s why I do what I do.

The I’s have it.

Rose can’t see.  Wow!   That’s a harsh way to begin, but it’s true.  My daughter, Rose, is a hair shy of being legally blind.  When she was born, she went through “trauma.”  As a result, she had a series of pretty serious seizures.  As a result of that, the occipital lob of her brain suffered  atrophy.  Therefore she can “see” quite well, 20/20.  But her brain doesn’t process everything that she sees.  Confusing ain’t it.  Believe me, it’s very hard to explain and very hard to understand.  She looks and acts completely normal…until she really wants to see something.  Then she holds the item very close to her face.  So when people see Rose reading a book three inches from her face, they say, “That poor child needs glasses!”  Or when she sits one foot from the TV, they say, “That poor child is going to damage her eyes!”  She doesn’t need glasses, and her eyes are healthy.  She just can’t see.  And so the family has to be a bit more mindful with Rose.  Crossing the road holding hands is EXTREMELY important.  Holding hand rails going down stairs is a must.  We all must help Rose to see.

Isaac, Rose’s brother, is two years younger than his sister.  They are very close.  When possible, they are together.  Isaac knows and understands that Rose can’t see.  He helps her with video games, books, watching TV, pointing things out to her.  They are almost the same size (Isaac is a little heavier).  People mistake them for twins.

Lately, Rose has begun to shorten Isaac’s name to “I’s.”

Rose:  I’s, where is my DS.

Rose:  I’s, teach me to play chess.

Rose:  I’s, let’s read this book.

Have you caught on yet?  Let me help you:  Rose pronounces “I’s” like “eyes.”

God blesses children in wonderful ways.

Ode to the Platypus

Ah the Platypus.  What a wonderful creature.  Proof that the Creator of the Universe has an AWESOME sense of humor.  The platypus is also a wonderful avenue of enjoyment for my son and I.  A few months ago he and I read a book about a Platypus.  I don’t remember what the book was about.  I just remember that he and I had a great time saying the word “PLATYPUUUUUSSSSSSS.”  And so began the running joke:

ME:  What are you looking for?

SON:  I don’t know.  Maybe a PLATYPUUUUSSSSSS.

 

SON:  What’s for supper?

ME:  Mac & Cheese sprinkled with PLATYPUUUSSSSS

 

SON:  Where are we going?

ME:  Wait and see.

SON:  Maybe a place where they have a…..(wait for it)…PLATYPUS!!!

 

You have NO idea how often this word can worm its way into our conversations.  I even ordered a t-shirt with a ……..(wait for it)…..PLATYPUUUUSSSSSS on it.

HA!!!!  I love my kids.  They allow me to stay a kid.  I hope can contunue to play that this forever.

Living with Pain

I’ve made several references through-out these things concerning my pain.  I guess it’s time for me to explain myself.  I’ve been putting this off for a reason, for a very good reason…I don’t like talking about it.  I grew up in a world where pain was something “to get over.”  “Shake it off.”  “It’s not that bad.”  “Man up.”  Therefore dealing with chronic pain is something that I have had to cope with.  If that is even possible.  But this probably doesn’t make it any sense.  Let me try to explain.

I am a 35 year old man.  I am 5’8″ and weigh about 150 pounds.  I’m in pretty good shape in terms of musculature and overall fitness…except that I have rheumatoid arthritis in my hands, fibroid myalgia, a herniated disc in my neck, and about four bone spurs connecting vertebra in my neck.  Wow that sounds bad.  Basically I have the joints of a man twice my age.

About seven years ago, I started having pain in my hands.  At first, I thought that it was just soreness or stiffness related to the weather or something.  But it started to get worse.  My wife eventually persuaded me to go to the family doc.  He did blood work and x-rays and immediately referred me to a rheumatologist.  I thought there must be some mistake.  I was too young for that.  But again, my wife persuaded me to go.  My new doc informed me that I had a VERY aggressive form of autoimmune disease that was literally eating away at the tissue between my joints in my hands and that if I didn’t start some potentially liver destroying and rather painful treatment immediately, I would soon loose the use of my hands.  Nice huh.

For a while, I had to give myself shots in the stomach every two weeks.  OUCH!  But it helped.  I had to get blood work done once a month to make sure my medicine wasn’t destroying my liver.  And then I started to feel numbness in my arms.  It felt like my arms were going to sleep all the time.  This time I was sent to a Brain doc who used scary initials like “MS,”  but I don’t have MS.  Apparently my disease had shifted due to the medication and started eating the covering off of my nerves.  Oh and that was when the MRI discovered all my neck problems. 

So now I get an IV treatment once a month for my arthritis, but I started having pain other places, and that is when they decided that I have Fibroid Myalgia (I don’t think I’m spelling it right…and I don’t care).  SO now I take medicine for that.

WOW!  POOR BABY!  Even now writing about this I feel like I’m being a wimp.  That I should just “take it like a man.”  Everyone has problems.  That’s wrong.  Chronic pain can really mess with your head.  I feel like I am in a bad mood all the time.  Luckily, I’m usually a pretty good actor, but it’s hard acting all the time.  And it makes me very, very tired, but of course, I don’t sleep well because of the pain, which makes me even more tired.

But I think the worst part of it is that I can’t do the things that I really want to do…and people don’t really understand my diseases.  I don’t look sick.  I look pretty healthy.  So when people ask me to help them carry things or move stuff, and I tell them that I can’t; they give me a  look like, “yea right.”  Eventually I will learn to deal with it better.  I’m having more good days.  I’m having more days when I fell better. 

 

Oh well.  That’s enough for now.

Resolved: I have GOT to get in shape!!!

When I was 22 years old, I was in good shape.  I mean I was in really, really good shape.  I ran between 3 and 5 miles a day.  I worked out all the time.  I could bench 140 % of my body weight.  I had six pack abs.   I ate six complete meals a day and still kept my body fat below 8%.  I slept between 5 and 6 hours a night.  I didn’t need anymore than that.

Now…HA!!!  I am in horrible shape.  I know that I will never, ever, ever,ever be in that good of shape again, but I do need to take care of myself better.

We got a Wii Fit for Christmas.  I’ll do that.  And we have a stationary bike.  I’ll ride that…sometimes.  And we have some weights.  I’ll lift those.  Can’t you see how excited I am?  I’m lazy.   And my hands hurt (a topic for another day).  But I’ll try.

I will also try to eat better…I guess…I’ll try…Maybe cut down down on my dark chocolate…and Swedish fish…and ice cream…girl scout cookies…and fast food…maybe…I like food…especially pie…I WON’T GIVE UP MY PIE…YOU CAN’T MAKE ME!!!!!

Resolved: I will better my mind

I look at the mind as a vessel that can never be filled.  But that doesn’t mean we should ever stop trying to fill it.  Always, always, always be learning.  Now the big question is “what should we learn?”  I have been accused of being a fount of useless information.  For some reason, strange, obsure, facts adhere to my mind.  I just soak it up.  And that’s okay.  It’s not a bad thing.  I just need to couple that with the accumulation of useFUL information…knowledge, which will hopefully, someday, lead to wisdom.  So what can I do this year to better my mind, to guide my cerebrel accumulations on the path to wisdom?

I resolve to STOP WATCHING SO MUCH BAD TELEVISION.  First let me say that I am addicted to TV.  I love TV.  I will sit for hours and watch TV just to be watching TV.  I will watch a rerun of a show that I have seen so many times that I have it memorized.  Same with movies.  I have watched Fight Club so many times just because it was ON.  THIS IS INSANE!!!!  I now have a DVR.  I can record any show I want and watch it at any time.  Therefore (inject a sad, disgruntled sigh) I resolve to choose three shows a day to watch…and no more.

How will I fill all this time?  READING…PLAYING WITH MY KIDS…TALKING WITH MY WIFE…WRITING LETTERS…EXERCISING…ANYTHING!!!!

Of course, there are good programs on television.  And you can learn from television.  I just need to be more SELECTIVE of what I watch on television.  I enjoy history programs, nature programs, and some “reality” shows.  I also enjoy the crime stories and some sitcoms.

 

SO what do YOU watch on TV, and, most importantly, IS IT WORTH THE TIME!?!?!?!?