Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Personal Interlude
I'm entering a new "phase". It's a weird kind of thing and I have no idea whether it's unique to me or if other people experience this sort of thing. I'll elaborate.
The first time I ever remember entering this sort of new personal phase is just after I saw "Charlotte's Web" when I was a kid. I cried at that show, I won't lie. But after that I experienced a sort of "awakening", or maybe in that particular case it was a "coming of age". It was a time when I became awake to the possibilities of life in a way I hadn't before. I was leaving the childhood era of my life and entering something new.
This is what I always think of as my "theater phase", where I wanted to be a professional stage actor. I acted in and went to every stage show I could. I began college majoring in theater and I still believe I could have made a go of it, but I fell in love...one of the biggest aspiring-actor-killers. In that "phase" were many fades and crescendos, but they were all part of the same creative (and personally destructive) period of my life.
Entering my next "phase", I finally got practical, got a good job, got married, and I've sort of been on autopilot for the last decade until last fall when I got divorced. Pretty static, pretty boring, and while there were good years in there, it was a time of stagnation.
After the divorce, in short order I re-fell in love. This spring I married a lady I've known for a long time and loved for almost as long, though not always as a husband loves a wife. That's new, and it's delicious, and it's just what I've needed to revitalize my outlook on life. I'm living in a time of great personal change, which is always uncomfortable and always a time of growth as well.
I'm considering many possible things to do with the rest of my life these days, and it's sort of fun to realize that I've (hopefully) still got most of my life ahead of me and I can still do pretty much anything I want. Maybe even acting of some kind, and maybe even professionally. Who knows what the future holds?
This blog has been an expression of my honestly-held but changing political views over the last half-year...after the election I'm beginning to suspect I'll use it as something different...perhaps a repository for more creative types of writing.
Final item...I've discovered "Friends". Yes, after the final episode was wrapped to cap off an entire decade-long run, I finally looked into it. My newly beloved likes the show, so I got the first season DVD for her birthday this summer. Last weekend we sat down to watch some of it on Friday night. Saturday we finished that season, went and bought the second season, and watched half or better of that. Finished it Sunday. On the way home tonight, I'm picking up season 3. I don't know that this madness will stop until I've watched the whole thing.
I've always known "Friends" was a show I would have liked over the last decade, but I just never had the time or the inclination to sit down, concentrate on it and pick up the threads of the series in a way that would allow me to fully appreciate it. Now I'm doing it in the most wonderful way possible...power-watching. I get to see every single episode, IN ORDER, not missing a thing. It's WONDERFUL. I had no idea how wonderful this show was, and I'm only sorry I didn't get to appreciate the cultural impact it was having while it was happening. Note to those who also were living in a cave for the past 10 years and are considering this: that damn song gets REALLY old when you watch 20 episodes at a time.
I also have a new appreciation for what a dreamlike time the 90s really were, especially in places like New York. I also love the show's creators' taste in music, and let me just say that I SERIOUSLY identify with Chandler, at least through the first two seasons.
If I could have acted professionally when I was in college, my first choice would have been to act on stage in New York. If I could get that sort of break now, my first choice for breaking in to the business would be to land a television ensemble role very like those of the "Friends" cast. I have a feeling that even for people who are in shows that only end up running for a season or two, it's the time of your life.
And life is too short to keep rambling on. Back to work.
The first time I ever remember entering this sort of new personal phase is just after I saw "Charlotte's Web" when I was a kid. I cried at that show, I won't lie. But after that I experienced a sort of "awakening", or maybe in that particular case it was a "coming of age". It was a time when I became awake to the possibilities of life in a way I hadn't before. I was leaving the childhood era of my life and entering something new.
This is what I always think of as my "theater phase", where I wanted to be a professional stage actor. I acted in and went to every stage show I could. I began college majoring in theater and I still believe I could have made a go of it, but I fell in love...one of the biggest aspiring-actor-killers. In that "phase" were many fades and crescendos, but they were all part of the same creative (and personally destructive) period of my life.
Entering my next "phase", I finally got practical, got a good job, got married, and I've sort of been on autopilot for the last decade until last fall when I got divorced. Pretty static, pretty boring, and while there were good years in there, it was a time of stagnation.
After the divorce, in short order I re-fell in love. This spring I married a lady I've known for a long time and loved for almost as long, though not always as a husband loves a wife. That's new, and it's delicious, and it's just what I've needed to revitalize my outlook on life. I'm living in a time of great personal change, which is always uncomfortable and always a time of growth as well.
I'm considering many possible things to do with the rest of my life these days, and it's sort of fun to realize that I've (hopefully) still got most of my life ahead of me and I can still do pretty much anything I want. Maybe even acting of some kind, and maybe even professionally. Who knows what the future holds?
This blog has been an expression of my honestly-held but changing political views over the last half-year...after the election I'm beginning to suspect I'll use it as something different...perhaps a repository for more creative types of writing.
Final item...I've discovered "Friends". Yes, after the final episode was wrapped to cap off an entire decade-long run, I finally looked into it. My newly beloved likes the show, so I got the first season DVD for her birthday this summer. Last weekend we sat down to watch some of it on Friday night. Saturday we finished that season, went and bought the second season, and watched half or better of that. Finished it Sunday. On the way home tonight, I'm picking up season 3. I don't know that this madness will stop until I've watched the whole thing.
I've always known "Friends" was a show I would have liked over the last decade, but I just never had the time or the inclination to sit down, concentrate on it and pick up the threads of the series in a way that would allow me to fully appreciate it. Now I'm doing it in the most wonderful way possible...power-watching. I get to see every single episode, IN ORDER, not missing a thing. It's WONDERFUL. I had no idea how wonderful this show was, and I'm only sorry I didn't get to appreciate the cultural impact it was having while it was happening. Note to those who also were living in a cave for the past 10 years and are considering this: that damn song gets REALLY old when you watch 20 episodes at a time.
I also have a new appreciation for what a dreamlike time the 90s really were, especially in places like New York. I also love the show's creators' taste in music, and let me just say that I SERIOUSLY identify with Chandler, at least through the first two seasons.
If I could have acted professionally when I was in college, my first choice would have been to act on stage in New York. If I could get that sort of break now, my first choice for breaking in to the business would be to land a television ensemble role very like those of the "Friends" cast. I have a feeling that even for people who are in shows that only end up running for a season or two, it's the time of your life.
And life is too short to keep rambling on. Back to work.
Thursday, August 05, 2004
Momentary Un-break
David is a bad, bad monkey.
I shall now proceed to gather my teeth and my internal organs together again.
I shall now proceed to gather my teeth and my internal organs together again.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Taking a break
Need to concentrate on work, etc. I must enjoy summer while it's here. There'll be plenty of time later when it's not so nice out to sit inside and type in my free time. Be back in a few days...few weeks...who knows?
It won't be that long though...at some point the opinions will back up on me if I don't get them out.
It won't be that long though...at some point the opinions will back up on me if I don't get them out.
Monday, August 02, 2004
The Sort of Day I Had Today
Sunday, August 01, 2004
Feelgood Story of the Day
With new terror warnings out and attacks on Christians in Iraq, today is sort of a nerve-wracking day news-wise. That's how the terrorists want it, and they'll be helped along by the American Left, who want things to be bad so their boy Kerry has a better shot at the presidency.
They'll just HATE it if this amazing and delightful story becomes common knowledge here in the states:
Kerry and his supporters tell us we're losing the war against terror in Afghanistan and elsewhere. If this article describes bad news, then I wish to publicly declare my support for a full loss on all fronts of the WoT. NINETY PERCENT, PEOPLE!!!! That's better than we ever do in the US! And in the face of terrorist attacks on polling places and people who have registered, at that.
My hat's off to the Afghan people and to the American and other international helpers who have made this exercise in democracy possible. This portends very, very good things for us and very, very bad things for "the evildoers".
They'll just HATE it if this amazing and delightful story becomes common knowledge here in the states:
Nine out of 10 eligible Afghans have signed up for landmark October elections, the United Nations said Sunday, a resounding endorsement of a democratic experiment supposed to help Afghanistan turn its back on years of debilitating war.
Women and ethnic minorities are strongly represented among those registered for the first-ever direct vote for president. But parts of the south risk being left behind because of stepped-up attacks on election workers and Afghan and U.S. security forces.
First tallies since the eight-month registration drive began winding down on Saturday show that 8.7 million of an estimated 9.8 million eligible voters have collected ID cards for the Oct. 9 election. Forty-one percent of those registered were women.
Kerry and his supporters tell us we're losing the war against terror in Afghanistan and elsewhere. If this article describes bad news, then I wish to publicly declare my support for a full loss on all fronts of the WoT. NINETY PERCENT, PEOPLE!!!! That's better than we ever do in the US! And in the face of terrorist attacks on polling places and people who have registered, at that.
My hat's off to the Afghan people and to the American and other international helpers who have made this exercise in democracy possible. This portends very, very good things for us and very, very bad things for "the evildoers".
