"But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain
For promis'd joy."
Back in the day when I taught 9th grade English I used to use that as an introduction to John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men;
(and yes, I know I bear a striking resemblance to Gary Sinese - if only!)
The basic gist (for those of you for whom it has been many years since you have read the novel) is that we can plan all we want but sometimes it just doesn't work out the way we planned (God laughs!)
And so it is with my pledge to update this blog more often. I really have tried but a lot of things have gone on in the last few weeks. And then today I checked on my blog and I realized that it had been 20 days since my last post. I didn't know whether to do this;
or go to St. Philips across the street and recite the all too familiar litany. Of course, for those of us who may be a little rusty on the whole confession process, you can go to this link sponsored by Catholic.org. Either way, to you my sometime blog followers, as your sometime blog contributor I apologize as it has been 20 days since my last installment. I would welcome your comments (yes, you can post the comments you know) on this sit or you can go to OUR facebook page (and of course, the link is in the upper right hand corner of this blog) and get updates that way. OR, you could do both - I'm just saying.
So where was I? Oh yes, forgive me reader for I have erred and it has been 20 days since my last installment. And, as is the case with my life, SOOOOOOO much has happened. So once again, in the true spirit of Inigo Montoya:
In other words, LET ME SUM UP!
When last I left you oh intrepid readers my brain was pretty much mush from my efforts on the New York State Teacher Certification Examination for School District Administration. I was pretty well wrung out and happy to have it over. Of course, now I find out that in order to get said certification (I'm pretty sure I passed the district leader test) I also have to take the Building Leader test - another 8 hours of brain numbing torture!!!! Talking about a self imposed lobotomy!
So what has been happening since March 6th?
First of all, on Saturday, March 12th after an amazing final tech rehearsal for SHS's production of Bye Bye Birdie, my family and I participated in St. Baldrick's Day at Napper Tandy's in Northport. We even got a write up in Newsday! And for those who can't seem to operate your clicking finger to go to those links, in the spirit of immediate gratification here is the after photo;
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| (Notice William's the only one looking directly at this camera!) |
The following week saw the entire family living much of our time at the high school as it was "Hell Week" for our production of Bye Bye Birdie.
We had a great write up done on us by The Syosset Patch (or you can see it here) The only down side of the entire production was that we didn't have the audience draw that we normally do. I'm pretty sure it was due to the new way that we have instituted for ticket sales.
That brings up to this past week. Aside from trying to recuperate from a lot of expended brain matter, I also had to catch up on my administrative classes. We are down to our last two courses!!!!! Soon I'll have my evenings back and I can actually see my family!
But along with the celebration there was also sadness. We lost a camper last Saturday who had been valiantly fighting a rare form of cancer for three years. Although I only got to know her for eight weeks (and only twice a week at that), she made a very permanent impression on me. Here was a little girl who was obviously very sick and yet she was always smiling and she always loved taking part in the theatre and dance classes. It wasn't until much later that I found out that dancing was one of her favorite things. It explains why on the very last day when I had her for dance class she came up to me while I was changing the music and kissed me on the head, hugged me and said "thank you." I was really looking forward to seeing her again this summer. Instead I went to her wake on Monday and I was broken up by how strong her parents had to be and how much of an impression this little girl had made on so many people.
I had found out about her passing the Sunday morning before our final show. I actually spoke about her without mentioning her name and I told my cast that they had to remember that what they were doing was a blessing and that they had to relish every single moment on stage. I told them that they wouldn't know if there was a little six year-old girl in the audience whose dream they were living and they needed to perform for those little ones to the best of their ability. I then called places and I noticed that one of the young ladies in the cast was really broken up (I mean, a lot of tears were shed after that "motivational" speech because it was the last show - especially for some of the seniors). I asked her if she were okay and she said that her six-year-old cousin has also passed away the morning before. In one of those moments of synchronicity, we discovered it was the same girl. We hugged each other for a moment and she was okay to go on and we called places. The kids managed to give an incredible performance - one that they will remember for a long time.
And speaking of performances. Something else happened. Amy auditioned for a role in a local production of Oliver! and she was cast in the role of Nancy. She then found out that they needed more boys to play orphans and she offered up Sarah (with her shorn hair) and it ended up they could also use the boys. The only problem is that opening weekend of that show is also the weekend of our Spring production at SHS. However, it looks like I'll also be taken part as a member of the adult ensemble - so in another week THE ENTIRE CONNOR CLAN WILL BE ONSTAGE TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!!!!!
Get your tickets now because who knows when this will happen again!
We also got the final go ahead to start publicizing the fundraiser organized by my friend and colleague Peter Haughwout. He coordinates an art cooperative called Studio 85 and in conjunction with another art group they are going to hold an art exhibit with proceeds from the entry fee going to sponsor the Connor's Army cross country ride. You can get the information here. An dthey even created this really cool poster for the event;
But Sarah also was a bit of a mini star this past week as she was one of only two sixth graders to get a principal role in her middle school's production of Alice in Wonderland, Jr. She was cast as the littlest of three Chesire Cats and if that doesn't conjur up images of cuteness, then this picture will verify them;
And then there was yesterday - Friday, March 25th. A year ago I lost my little brother David. I wrote about it at the time in a posting and even though a year has past, I still have the same regret - that I never made the effort to know him as well as I should have once we were reunited.
We also held the callbacks for our upcoming production of The Laramie Project. It's an emotional enough show as it is but I had decided that for the callback I wouldn't give the kids cold readings but instead I wanted them to tell me a story from their life (I know, very A Chorus Line right?) that had to do with loss (of anything or anyone), of bullying or a happy memory. With 40 people it took a while and we all cried and learned a lot about each other. I started it off by talking about David and my regret about not knowing him better. The kids then told their stories and it wasn't until the end that I told them that the storytelling was the callback. I wanted to hear how they told stories since that is what the show is all about, real people telling real stories of loss and of coping. I learned a lot about my young actors and I think with the ensemble we'll put together there will be the kind of trust that they haven't had before. I have to send them the cast list tomorrow. Its going to be an emotional journey but since we are using it to make a stand against bullying and intolerance, one that I think will be worth the tears.
So that in a nutshell are the ups and downs, the trial and tribulations, the hills and valleys, the good and the bad of the last 20 days. I really wish I could post on a daily basis like The Bike Snob but I just don't have the time -- at least not until my admin classes are finished. But its all a part of this crazy journey we call life and after all - we've gotta a LOT of livin' to do!
| 04 - A Lot of Livin to Do .mp3 | ||
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 | Found at bee mp3 search engine |  |
The other thing I MUST be getting back to is my bike. With the insane weather we've had and my incredibly busy schedule I haven't put in nearly enough miles and my fitness is suffereing. Right now if I tried to ride with the AA boys I wouldn't make it 20 miles at their pace so I have a lot of work to do.
But most of all, we are edging ever closer to raising the last of the $6,000 that we need. Every little bit counts and friends, family and former students are helping us reach our goal. For those of you who keep up with this please help us by keeping your ears open and either approaching companies on our behalf or forwarding the information to us about interested companies. Come hell or high water (or both!) we're cycling America in 2012 and we're going to raise the money for the kids!
Your support in reading this blog has been so incredible and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Hey, if we can't be grateful for the friendships in life (even the cyber ones) what's the point?
Stay well and I'll see you on the road!
