Tonight was the opening for the WCCT’s first show of the 2009-2010 season.  Over the Tavern tells the story of Rudy, a young Catholic boy who questions his upbringing in the church.  The young man finds himself at odds with his teacher, the formidable ‘ster Clarissa.  Life at home is not much better.  I will call it nearly normal.  Not quite insane enough to be termed dysfunctional; but nowhere the idyllic lifestyle which Rudy longs for: the world of 50s family series television headed by Robert Young (of Father Knows Best).  If anyone tells you that their family is the picture of perfection, they are either delusional or pulling your leg. Each member of Pazinski clan (father Chet, mother Ellen, oldest brother Eddie, sister Annie, Rudolph, and little Georgie …. HE HAS TO BE SEEN TO BE BELIEVED) each have life experiences which play into the drama.

Each member of the cast was just great from veterans who have been on stage several times to the young boys who are just beginning to step on stage.  Those of us who were raised in a Catholic home were transported back to the classroom in which the fear of God was instilled in you with a ruler cracking your hand.  Rudy and Eddie in the bedroom on bunk beds took me back to my childhood when I shared a room with my older brother and the battles therein.

I would feel terrible if I did not mention my friend’s return to the stage.  Megan was just terrific.  Although I have shared the stage with her before, I have never had the pleasure of seeing her on stage.  Her facial expressions, timing, entire characterization made everyone believe that she was 16 years old going through her own life’s trials and whose hair belongs to her parents until she is 21.  Ironically, Carol reminded me that that would be in a few short days.  I told Megan that I hope it is not another 2 seasons before she graces the stage.

The whole cast, set, the entire production of Over the Tavern kicked off the new theatre season in hilarious fashion.  I arrived a bit early to offer good wishes to all and found myself stuffing programs and running into the frantic director who typically appeared to be quite frazzled for whatever reason.

The other day, my husband reminded me of a cute story about something our oldest daughter did when she was younger, probably around 4 years old.  He said I should write it down somewhere so we don’t forget about it, so I decided to write something about all four of our wonderful kids, starting with the oldest and going down.  Here’s a visual:

TAYLOR – About 5 years ago, we began finding the letters “WCPL” all over the house.  The letters were always written together like a word, and they were everywhere – walls, books, VHS movies, chairs, everywhere.  We couldn’t figure out what word our then-4-year-old was trying to spell, so we had a talk about not writing where we’re not supposed to, cleaned it all up, and moved on.  A few weeks later, I took my daughter to the library to check out some books and movies, and that’s when I saw the labels on the VHS cases – WCPL = Williams County Public Library!  She had noticed that all of her books and movies that came from the library had those letters on them, so I guess she figured things were supposed to be labeled WCPL – hehehe!

SAMANTHA – Sammie is a very unique child.  She can be a real spitfire, but she just has this incredible spirit about her…  But she’ll ask me questions that I have no idea how to answer.  When her older sister was her age, she would ask the normal kid questions about life and how things work, and even if she didn’t phrase her questions correctly, it was always easy for me to figure out what she wanted to know and where she was coming from.  Not true with Samantha!  Since half the time I don’t know what she’s asking about, I can’t think of any of her confusing questions to share here on the blog, but I will say that she is the type of kid who asks the embarrassing questions in public – and loudly.  We went to a nursing home to sing Christmas carols during the holidays, and there was a gentleman in a wheelchair who suffered from a muscle illness that made his tongue swell.  He loved the caroling and really got into it, singing quite loudly.  This got Sammie’s attention.  She asked me, “Does your tongue hang out because you get so old?”  She just has such a different way of looking at things…  This is the same kid who asked me one time (really loudly of course) why someone was wearing purple underwear in the bathroom stall next to us!

DISNEY – It’s funny because Disney and Sammie look very much alike, almost like twins years apart.  But their personalities are night and day.  The other day, Disney, our 2-year-old, looked up at the sky and said, “Airplane!  See it, on ceiling?”  Awwww…..

CHRISTOPHER – I remembered something I forgot to mention about my son’s 6-month doctor visit.  The nurse said he should be eating 3 meals a day – something that seems obvious, but I’m actually really glad she mentioned it!  When you have a baby and you’re used to popping bottles in his mouth all the time, you forget that when he’s old enough to be eating solid foods that he needs meals just like big people!  My son loves all kinds of food; he tries to grab as much as he can, and he shoves it into his mouth with his little fists.  As he gets older, I’m starting to notice the difference between girls and boys, especially when it comes to their eating habits.  Boys are messier and more enthusiastic eaters, while girls tend to be dainty and more picky.  But again, maybe these are just differences in my kids, rather than a difference based on gender, who knows.  And from what I remember, all the kids started out not being picky about their food – they were just so happy to be experiencing flavors after an entire life of only formula!

I have been blessed with 4 kids, and they have 4 very individualistic personalities.  It’s really neat to watch how they interact with each other.  Well, except when the interacting involves fighting!

Trying again to move pictures and other files around to help keep thing in order on my computer.  I’ve never really been much of a picture taker, but with a digital camera it is so easy just to keep clicking away.  I’m still trying to file all of my video files, but they take much longer to move around.   I may have to buy a Blu-Ray writeable drive when the cost of the media comes down.  I really don’t need to keep the videos on the hard drive, but to fit them on DVD’s almost always compresses them and they lose quality. 

Anyway I’ve been spending the evening looking at pictures, giving them better titles, and moving them to specific folders.  Then I can group these together by type of picture and keep better track of them.  I’m still trying to find pictures of our first dog,  and some other pets we’ve had.   

I’ve had some fun, a few tears and I found some pictures I thought I lost.  

So here is something I haven’t posted before.   This is a picture of me and my wife from 2001. Sure wish I knew what we were looking at.

Tonight’s rehearsal was full of fun.  We had a visitor from an area newspaper who may also be of help in the costuming area.  She was there to discuss the show individually when we were not needed in a scene.  “John Truitt” and I happened to be available at the same time (it was not the scene in which we are part of).  As I introduced myself to the interviewer, “John” said “I know who you are.  You look just like your brother.”  Apparently, the young man is a self-acclaimed nuisance to my oldest brother at school by dropping in on him quite frequently with computer problems.  Knowing my brother quite well, I doubt if he sees the teenager as a nuisance.

Part of the fun was watching people attempt to waltz as well as trying to dance myself.  Then, the real challenge came: waltzing and talking at the same time.  At least I only have one line to remember while I dance.  Hopefully, waltzing will come back to me on Sunday when the choreographer joins us.

I also found a lot of other humorous possibilities as well as some very quick costume changes… how fun THOSE will be.

A few weeks ago, I saw a post on a website for a theatre that I have been looking at announcing their summer season.  This week, I looked back to see if any additional information had been posted (audition information, performance dates, etc).  Oddly enough, the Wagon Wheel is staging Joseph and the Amazing Techincolor Dreamcoat as is a local theatre group.  My experience with the show goes back at least 16 years when I saw it on Broadway.  I was on spring break tour with the BGSU Men’s Chorus which made its way to the Big Apple.  In 1999, I auditioned for a local production; however, I was not offered a role.  The next summer, a neighboring community group staged the musical.  This time, I was cast in multiple walk-on roles.  I actually was responsible for selling Jacob the coat of many colors.  Later, I was one of Potiphar’s attendees and carried a large fan adoringly waving it on him.  Later still, I was one of Pharoah’s guards and hauled Joseph to the King’s feet.  Being my first role with this theatre, I must have made quite an impression as the following year I was cast as Motel in Fiddler.

The Wagon Wheel is a theatre about an hour and a half away.  The stage is quite interesting as it is in “a round.”  The stage is smack in the middle with the audience surrounding it.  This would be a very unique experience for me as I have never before acted on a round stage. I have never auditioned for what can only be considered a summer stock situation.  There are a total of 6 different shows over the summer (Joseph, Brigadoon, Nunsense, High School Musical, Brighton Beach Memoirs, and A Chorus Line).  If what I feel is correct, each person who makes the cut will be involved somehow in each of the shows whether it be on or off stage.  This would mean a neccessity for quick memorization, characterization, dedication, hard work, and more commitment than ever.  Sounds like a complete drag to me…. AAARRRRRRRGH!  That is funny.  It sounds like a totally rewarding as well as professional experience.  An open call was announced for SUNDAY(?)  March 22 at Western Michigan University.

I know that I have a lot to do between now and then.  I need to find 16 measures of an up-tempo song and a ballad.  I have half of that.  Not to mention Meet Me in St. Louis. However, I KNOW that that will not be a problem.  I think I can prepare and be involved in one show at the same time.  Especially if I will need to learn to balance six at once.  But if all else fails, I can always come back and audition for another production of Joseph.

I just finished reading an engrossing memoir entitled My Lobotomy.  It took me a really long time to read it because I had to put it on hold since another book I had requested from the library came in.  I was number 223 on the waiting list for the other book, so when it came in, I had no choice but to put down My Lobotomy for about a month.  I was reluctant to put it down though, because Howard Dully’s life story is fascinating.  The book details a kids’ life growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s under the thumb of his ‘evil’ stepmother.  As cliche as it sounds, there really is no better way to describe Howard’s stepmom, but ‘evil’ is my adjective for her, not his.  I find it very surprising and admirable of Howard that his memoir never takes a direction of self-pity, blame, nor hatred toward any of the people who were responsible for the trauma he endured as a child and young man.  Rather, the narrative is written very matter-of-factly, and it follows Howard on his fascinating, though tortuous journey through the United States mental health system in the 1960’s.

Howard Dully was forced to undergo a lobotomy at the tender age of 12.  Basically, his stepmother resented him because he was a reminder to her of his real mother, his father’s widow.  So stepmother Lou was determined to get rid of Howard any way she could.  When the lobotomy didn’t turn him into a vegetable, she shipped him off to loony bins, insane asylums, or mental institutions, whichever term would best describe these places in the 1960’s.  This is a picture of an anesthetized 12-year-old Howard getting an ice pick lobotomy:

Lou convinced Howard’s father and a doctor named Freeman that Howard was mentally ill.  Well actually, Dr. Freeman did not need much convincing.  He was the ‘father of the lobotomy’ and was eagerly looking for patients upon whom he could practice his ‘procedure’.  The procedure consisted of sticking an ice pick into one’s eye sockets and swirling it around – seriously.  And poor Howard was forced to endure this ‘operation’ as a kid at the age of 12.  His memoir details every aspect of his life; it’s riveting, heartbreaking, and finally triumphant because Howard is now a full grown man who seems like a genuinely nice guy, especially given everything he’s been through and had to come to grips with in his life.

The book starts at his birth and chronicles his early life with his doting biological mother; taking the reader through all his trials and tribulations with stepmother Lou, the lobotomy, his struggles with addiction as a young adult, and finally on his search through his medical records and the touching interviews he conducted with his own father about his role in the events that shaped Howard’s life.  The book also includes the many notes taken by Dr. Freeman after his meetings with Howard and his family, which offer a very interesting and unique perspective…

After I finished this book, I was curious about many of the things I had read about, so I conducted a little research of my own, and I found recordings Howard made about his story for the National Public Radio, as well as some more information about Dr. Freeman and his ice-pick lobotomies…  Fascinating stuff, and I encourage you to check out Howard’s story – the book is My Lobotomy by Howard Dully.  Like I said, it’s truly amazing to me that after all he’s been through, Howard just seems to want to know why it happened, rather than who to blame for it…  an extremely commendable type of attitude which is growing increasingly rare in this day and age and was very refreshing to read about.  Thanks, Howard, for such a compelling read!

Another political post in two days?   Wow! What is up with that? Just this,  for at least the few months local television stations have been pushing the switch to DTV in Feb 2009.  I purchased my digital converter before any local stations were using any sort of signal strength on the digital side.  On Feb 18 2009, the signals on all the digital channels should have been boosted to a higher level when the old analog signals were shut off.    Our congress, in the infinite wisdom (sarcasm!!!), decided it would be a good idea to delay the switch.   ARRGH!!!!!  The president will probably sign this bill.  ARRRRGH!!!!!!!!

So instead of getting better signal strength on the 18th of February, I’ll be stuck with what I currently get.  I live out in the middle of nowhere (I like that,  so I’m not moving) and I can’t get cable.  I live in the middle of the woods so satalite TV is out, unless I want to cut down some very large and living trees (I don’t).   So I’m stuck with the signal I can get over the air.

I did my part.  I got my new antenna (the old one would have never gotten a good digital signal).  I got my converter box.  I’m just waiting to get all the local channels.  1 station still hasn’t upped their signal to something I can get.  3 others are hit and miss right now.  I can only get 1 station most of the time.  I was hoping to get all of them in the middle of February.   Can I say ARRRGHH!!! again?

I’m really not sure why anyone who watches TV enough to miss it, could miss the fact that digital TV is coming.  It has been forced down our throats over and over again, comercial after comercial ( I was hoping they would stop soon).   Now those will probably continue until some time in June.  All because of a supposed 6.5 million people who aren’t ready for the switch.  My question is: “Where the heck were they for the past 6 months”.  Get your government coupon early we were told.  Get ready for the switch was said.  DTV is coming on Feb 18.    Now we will get those same messages for the next 5 months….  GRRRR…

The Federal Government forced this switch on us years ago.  Saying we had to keep up with the technology.  That started over 10 years ago.  I’m sure that the way technology goes, there could be something better for transmission by now if somebody wanted to develop it.  10 years is a long time for tech stuff.  Don’t ge me wrong, I’m all for the digital TV, but this switch really should have been done a long time ago.  I’m just worried that this will go the way of the metric system.  We’ve all seen how far that went.  So in 50 years will we still have analog TV and Digital TV side by side?   I wouldn’t bet against it.

In a tale of adventure about an archaeologist a substitute teacher from Indiana Illinois (yes I know he was named for a dog, not a state 8) ) a secret organization steals the famous Rosetta Stone and holds it hostage until a billion dollar ransom is paid…  Okay, not really.  In fact this post really doesn’t have anything to do with the Rosetta Stone at all.  The Rosetta Stone, for those who are not in the know or just plain forgot, is an artifact discovered over 200 years ago which aided in translating ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic writing.  From Wikipedia:

The Rosetta Stone is an Ancient Egyptian artifact which was instrumental in advancing modern understanding of hieroglyphic writing. The stone is a Ptolemaic era stele with carved text made up of three translations of a single passage: two in Egyptian language scripts (hieroglyphic and Demotic) and one in classical Greek. It was created in 196 BC, discovered by the French in 1799 at Rosetta and contributed greatly to the deciphering of the principles of hieroglyph writing in 1822 by the British scientist Thomas Young and the French scholar Jean-François Champollion. Comparative translation of the stone assisted in understanding many previously undecipherable examples of hieroglyphic writing. The text on the stone is a decree from Ptolemy V, describing the repealing of various taxes and instructions to erect statues in temples.

The Rosetta Stone I am referring to in the post, on the other hand, is a popular software tool to aid in learning a second (or third, or fourth…) language.  Just as Christmas break started, one of the districts I sub in put up a huge list of days subs would be needed in bilingual and ELL classes six weeks from then.  I took three of the days.  Starting last week, those days came up and last Thursday, Monday, and Tuesday I found myself with students who knew varying English from little to some.  This district actually paid the big bucks to get this software (over $250 per module, or $550 for three- truly the Adobe of foreign language software, in that Adobe is infamous for charging ridiculous prices for its software) for their ELL program.

Thursday I didn’t pay too much attention to the 5th and 6th graders as they used the program as I was working with one student while another was on the computer.  This week, however, the 7th and 8th grade ELL students all spent an entire period each day (twice a week- I got both days) on this program and I worked with no one as they used Rosetta Stone so, bored, I watched them use it.  Some of them were learning numbers, some were on phrases.  The way the program works is it will say some words or phrases, four at a time,  in English (or whatever language module you may have purchased), and show pictures representing the words or phrases.  Then, it will display four pictures and give you one word/phrase.  The user has to then find the proper picture representing the word/phrase and click on it.  It’s not as easy as it sounds as the pictures may look similar.  For example, there was a set where people were starting to go up stairs, going up stairs, and just finishing going up the stairs.  In addition, there were different people, say a man and a boy, navigating the stairs.  The phrases then, of course, were very similar as well.  I am sure there is more to the software, but this is what I saw primarily.  The numbers were pretty straight forward, but there were some pretty off the wall phrases included.  Sure, most of them were straightforward like the stairs example, but then there were some like, “The boy is under the airplane,” “The children are standing on the table,” and “The woman is sitting on the man.”  😯 . I guess wacky phrases must help people remember.  And by the way, yes, the latter example was quite clean.

Some day I will have to try out this software myself.  Maybe the library has it?  Surely I could never afford it.

A few months ago, I learned I had a second cousin in Florida who was killed in a horrific car crash.  She was on her way to a fun outing with her daughter when out of nowhere, a drunk driver (mid-afternoon on a weekday – not that there’s ever any appropriate time to drink and drive, but still) who was going the wrong way on the expressway hit her car head-on, killing her and gravely injuring her young daughter.  The little girl persevered, came out of her coma and re-learned to walk and talk.  She was recently in the news again because she just turned 5 years old and sadly, she still thinks her mother is coming back.  Her courage and strength is inspiring, so I’d like to share this clip of her on the Florida news.  Please keep Summer in your thoughts and prayers.  Click here to see the news story about Summer’s 5th birthday.  And please, please, if you’re going to drink, always have another mode of transportation set up ahead of time!

I’ve written about many things. Family, friends, food, pets, acting, theater, movies, books, blogs, computers and other things I can’t remember. Today I think I will write about something else, Politics.

Most of the time, I will avoid the topics of religion and politics on this blog and in real life. I’ve seen more friends almost come to blows when discussing these topics, so I generally keep them out of my daily conversation. Recent events just beg for some discussion.

I’m very concerned about the number of Obama nominees have trouble paying taxes. Not to just pick on them, this started me wondering how many Federal politicians have the same problem. The nominees didn’t pay their back taxes and penalties (if any) until after they were nominated. If they knew about the tax problem, they should have paid as soon as they knew, or at least filed paperwork to get this taken care of. From everything I’ve read, this has not been the case. And the politicians doing the approving didn’t think this wasn’t enough to keep them from serving in their appointments. Heck, one has already been approved.

It seems to me, if these amounts had been owed by a ‘normal’ citizen, that citizen would have been on trial at least, and maybe even thrown in jail. And the politicos in Washington don’t think this is anything big. Could it be that they also have something to hide? What would we find out if their taxes and backgrounds were scrutinized? This is a very troubling condition in Washington. They are the ones that pass all the tax laws, shouldn’t they be the most careful in filing their taxes.

I guess this is one more reason to try to get a flat tax or even a national sales tax to replace the income tax. Make it real easy to pay your taxes, and even easier to find out if you didn’t pay the taxes you owe. That is probably the reason we don’t have an easy tax system, it would make it harder for all those politicians to hide there missing payments.

Grrrr… Can you tell I’m filling out my tax forms… 🙁