Middle School Improv

My week at Alki Middle School was a blur.  I had 30 6th, 7th, and 8th graders for 47 minutes a day for 5 days.  It was a mad dash to impart some basics while providing plenty of opportunity for practical and active involvement from the students.

They had some great success with this silent emotions exercise that I like to do.  It was surprising some of the things these kids would bring out.  One kid played Hannibal Lechter in a scene.  That was surprising to me.  He ended up being a Lechter who was trying to reform, but he would nibble on pieces of himself.  His dinosaur friend was trying to help him through a rough part in his twelve step cannibals anonymous program.

It was amazing that these kids were oftentimes naturally drawn to do really good environment work, and they were champs at taking risks and refining things rapidly on the fly.  That’s when I started to realize that the short attention span often meant that they ‘got it’ but were bored waiting to ‘do it’.  The flip side was that they often had violent imaginations and were prone to power struggles.  I had to give a little speech on finding the ‘love’ in scenes and how it’s boring for the audience to watch violence (not to mention how people won’t want to play with you if that’s what you’re about).

I also loved working with my friend Abby whose students these were.  We need more improv training in American schools.  I want to know more about how the Canadian Improv Games are structured and administered.  I’d love to do the same in the US.

I had forgotten

Dan and his fiance are expecting a child.

All has gone well so far, I’ve laughed a lot, and I’ve been reminded of some doozy stories.

Like the one where I cleared out Mrs. Kuhn’s junior Psychology class because of a terrible fart.  Mrs. Kuhn actually took the time to say from her podium before evacuating the room. “Bradley…You_are_Rotten.”  Adolescence cursed me with disgusting gas.  Good times, huh?  Awkward!

A Gaming Wedding

This weekend in Iron Mountain, Michigan one of my buddies from high school is getting married.  Dan is a part of phase four of my role playing/video gaming life before I channelled all of that energy into improv.  Phase four took place from 1992-1995.  Phase one began in 1980 to give you some scope.

When I visit Wisconsin, there is usually a LAN party thrown.  Dan’s wife has been a smash on the online game scene with him.  Dan is about 6′, spindly, and prone to making weird noises and tangents.  He’s a printer by trade who is a main pressman for the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel.  Dan and I used to be the class clowns in Fr. Hudson’s geometry class back in 1986.  We made that priest laugh so hard and long one class that he just grabbed his coat and hat and laughed all the way out the door.  He left and didn’t come back until the next day.  Fr. Hudson had MS, and he had a proclivity for picking up change off the floor and remarking about it.  I feel terrible about this now, but we used to entertain ourselves by seeding the floor with change while he wrote on the board by lobbing pennies and nickels up by the blackboard where he would write (and turn and spot change).  To this day, Fr. Hudson was one person who I felt was a holy man.  He always had a joyful glow about him like he knew something and was giggling waiting to tell you.

My longest friend, Mike, will be housing me and chauffering me throughout the weekend.  I’ve known Mike since 1977, and we’ve been friends since 1982.  He’s got the frame of a giant norseman.  6’4″, blond, green-eyed, stocky fella, but clean cut wearing L.L. Bean apparel.  Mike has been the constant companion through all four phases of my gaming life.  Ironically, he almost always plays dwarves in games.  We have watched Conan the Barbarian together about 9 times (of the 62 that I’ve seen it).  He and his now wife hooked up at a week long party I had at my parents’ house called “Fuckfest”.  We even had a banner that we made on the back of a Warsteiner promo.  FYI: the picture for this post is one of Mike’s MANY hand-painted miniature figures. 

I’ll send another report later, but I figured I’d introduce some main characters before the mayhem unfolds.

Next time: Joe, Chachi, the Jims, and Dan’s mother in The Well-Liquored, Totally-Stoned Midwesterners an anthropological study of weddings and de-evolution.

Enough Winter already

I’m frustrated with my thesis proposal.  It’s pissing down rain, and I’ve reached this feeling of general malaise.  I need a sunny day where I can lay on the grass in a park, listen to the breeze and nap lazily.  If anyone can arrange that for me, you’ll be my hero.

Addicted to Disco

So Giorgio Moroder helped Donna Summer on a song back in the late 70’s early 80’s called “I feel love”.  I’ve listened to it over 80 times in the last 3 weeks.  I’ve also listened to the Blue Man Group’s remix of it about as many times.  I don’t know why I fixate on particular songs sometimes (especially when the theme goes in and out of the ironic in relation to my life).  Strangely enough, Wikipedia has an entry for this song.  Check it out and ‘Feel the Love’.

Self Conscious about sharing

I’m thinking about restructuring the list of people who I share romantic news with.  If you don’t mind seeing posts about my torrid romantic life, sound off.  Otherwise, I’m going to be posting all of that personal mushy stuff privately.  I figure that not everyone is interested in seeing who my latest crush is, and then how they either succeed at making me happy, hurting me, or pissing me off. 

Frankly, I’ve been getting bored of it lately.  That’s why I ask.  Really, I am looking for something long-term.  It’s hard to find in a demographic that can’t legally marry among other social and emotional issues.  Sheesh.

Am I crazy for thinking that….

someone who flies across the country to see you after a month of IMing nearly every night for hours is looking to be friends?

someone who said they want to spend as much time with you as possible while they’re here might like you on a more emotional level?

someone who has a lot of sex with you followed by long conversations about life and each other while snuggling until you fall asleep is just “flirting”?

someone who walks up to you while you’re working on homework to rub your back, kiss your head, and then kiss your lips might have feelings for you?

developing feelings for someone who just spent 4 nights and days sharing your life, being intimate and close, and telling you “you’re doing all the right things” is somehow hard to understand or out of line?

That’s exactly what I’m being told after revealing my feelings, and I’m stunned, appalled, and baffled.  Evidently, there’s no real romantic chemistry between us.  Wow, I guess there’s some other measure for romance in the gay world, but someone forgot to tell me what it was.  Maybe if I would have treated him like shit like the last guy that broke his heart, we would have had more romantic chemistry.

Nothing can be simple

Just had one of the most amazing weekends of my romantic life.  I finally find a man who totally gets me, who I get, and we’re both into each other, and he lives 2500 miles away.  Fucking Bullshit!  Last night was the ‘not let go of one another’ night. <sigh>

He’s planning on coming back for another long weekend this summer, but that’s 4-6 months away.  At least I’ve stopped crying.  I was a wreck when I pulled away from the airport.  Sheesh.  Oh well, back to life as usual.

Asshole poser & me  as of 2/8/07