(Warning! This content is dated as it was originally written in July but never posted and has been sitting here languishing in cyberpurgatory waiting to be paroled! I hope you still find it interesting!)
I know it's been over a year since I last posted and many of you (okay the dozens of people who actually read my blog) have probably been wondering, "what the heck happened to him, he uwsed to update us regularly on his bicycular adventures and now.....nada. The esoteric answer is I've been in such a state of flux since the ending of the cross country ride that I still don't know what I'm doing or what direction Connor's Army should be traveling. The realistic answer is much simpler....I'm a lazy git and I can't find the proper time to really sit down and write posts on a consistent basis, but I am trying to get back into the swing of things. But that's really fodder for another post.
Recently a friend of mine shared a link on Facebook (the all and powerful Oz of the cyberworld, just don't peek behind the curtain) which was a list of NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction Books of All Time. The idea is to check off how many of the 100 you have read to see how big of a SciFi Geek you are (take the challenge - you'll love it). NPR even has a link to help you choose a book from the list in case you're at a loss and you need a new book to read. On a side note, my own personal total was 63.
One of the books listed (which I've read) is I Am Legend. The plot goes like this;
Robert Neville is supposedly the only survivor on Earth of a pandemic that causes its victims to have vampire like symptoms. Neville resides in Los Angeles and dedicates his life to researching the disease that wiped out humanity. Throughout the novel, Neville recounts his life through flashbacks. The present demonstrates Neville’s daily routine and his emotional journey of being alone.
The vampire-like creatures are former humans and animals that were bitten by the infected. These beings can be corpses that had the bacteria implanted or living hosts. The infected humans have human-like characteristics yet possess more dominant vampire-like qualities. The beings come out during the nighttime and repel from garlic.
Neville captures a creature who is out in the daylight and she has human-like qualities. The “human” is named Ruth and though at first Neville is suspicious of her truly being human, he soon begins to embrace the company of having another companion. Ruth is highly opposed to killing the infected beings even if they are attacking. Ruth lives with Neville and the two eventually form a sexual relationship.
Neville, on his quest to discover a cure to the pandemic, samples Ruth’s blood. He discovers that Ruth is indeed infected. Ruth knocks Neville unconscious as soon as he reveals her secret. He awakes to a note from Ruth that explains how many of the infected have adapted and plan to rebuild society. However, Neville stands in their way and has killed many of their kind. Due to this, the new colony of infected sent Ruth to investigate Neville and possibly convert him. However, she realizes that he must be executed for the betterment of her “people”.Thus, the novel concludes with Neville’s final thoughts before his execution in the colony’s prison: “I am legend.”
Of course, in the grand tradition of Hollywood, they took this great classic SciFi novel and "improved" it. The changes are too much to list so here's a link to the synopsis of the movie starring Will Smith.
The new Ian Somerhalder movie The Anomaly, lists the plot of this movie as "an original action thrill that follows the efforts of a traumatized ex-soldier who wakes up in the back of a van, alongside a kidnapped boy, to find that he only has nine minutes and 37 seconds of consciousness to work out why and how he got there."
Now personally, I have had much more than nine minutes and 37 seconds to figure out how I got here and I have to say I have enjoyed the ride (both figuratively and all the ones on my bicycle). But now after a half a century of journeying to where I am now I have definitively decided that I myself am an anomaly. For those of you who don't know me well, by day (and many nights) I am a high school drama teacher. I got here after a lifetime of meandering from one career to another and after having a successful career as a performer (and yet always being on the road and not with my loved ones) I decided to stop and become a high school drama teacher. I've always been more drawn to the young adult actor rather than those in college and "the business" who think they know it all. I've always wanted to be someone who could inspire kids to follow their dreams and take the chance. However, I realize I'm not the typical type one thinks of as a drama teacher. It became all the more clear to me in the past year as I reflected on some of the other models most of my students have had exposure to their lives. There is Mr. Francis Corelli from Hannah Montana;
Now I have to admit I have done my share of musical interludes with my acting classes but I'm not prone to bow ties or the bizarre hair. Although I DO share his affinity for hand puppets, I'm not much for wearing Hawaiin shirts and bow ties! Nor am I quite like Erwin Sikowitz from the show Victorious;
I admittedly have creepily freaked out my acting students but I really don't do the whole hippy thing, drink fermented coconut milk in the hope of having visions, wear flowing baggy shirts (I'm more prone to dance clothes and flannel) or invite kids to stay over at my house to a party in which they must stay in constant character or lose the game. In this day and age that would be consider creepy at the least and probably illegal at most. And as any fan of the show knows, that is the least of his wacky traits.
Annnnnd, gender reversal nowithstanding, I'm not very much like Ms. Darbus from the High School Musical franchise....I never use building the set as a detention setting (although I'm sometimes sorely tempted), I don't use energy balls (much), and I only wear flowing scarves and dresses when I'm dressing up as Maid Marian (to my wife's Robin Hood).
In general I have to say I'm probably pretty boring as a drama teacher. I love my job, I can't imagine doing anything else for a living right now in my life. I get paid to have fun and to try to help kids follow their dreams. Yes, I sometimes take a hell of a lot of flak from these same kids because of casting but as we've seen in at least two of the three examples from above, it's not that unusual - from Sharpay to Jade, they've all had to deal with those unhappy with the casting. So I go to work thinking my day is going to be great because I get to create art.
But at the same time, I also realize that I don't have to be so immersed in the drama that it's all I do for my life. I have friends and colleagues for whom drama and theatre is the be all and end all of what they do. You walk into their offices and all you see from floor to ceiling is theatre artifacts and pictures of themselves in roles or with famous people with whom they've worked. On their shelves are every acting book ever written and show posters in the spaces untouched by other decoration. On their radio all they listen to is the Sirius Broadway channel and their favorite playlists on their iPhones contain all the top songs from the latest Broadway craze. Their idea of the perfect night out is to see the latest Broadway show and perhaps go to the stage door afterwards to get the autograph of the star.
I do love Broadway shows and I wish I had the money to go see them constantly but with a family of five I just don't have the expendable income. My idea of a great evening is to sit with my family and watch fun, nerdy shows like The Big Bang Theory and eat ice cream sundaes. If I go into the city I'd rather see friends and take my family to a museum rather than wait in line to spend $150 on the latest show craze. After four summers of spending time teaching theatre to non-theatre kids at Sunrise Day Camp I've come to realize that teaching drama is what I do but there is so much more to me than just "drama teacher". I'm a husband, a father, a cyclist, a friend, a closet musician, a geek, a sci-fi fan, a son, a brother and an EMT.
Yes, for those of you with whom I haven't bee in close contact, last spring I entered an EMT basic course and after much sacrifice on the part of my loving and patient family, this past July I received my certification in the mail;
It's sometimes frightening to think that I can be in charge of someone else's life. I'm use to it with my kids, after all that's a parent's job. I'm used to it as a teacher because that's what we do, try to set a good example and hopefully impart some knowledge and passion along the way. However, as an EMT I now have to periodically refresh and keep up to date on my protocols so I can be ready at a moment's notice to help out in the case of an emergency.
It's sometimes nerve wracking but it also makes me proud to be a part of the Northport Fire and Rescue and to try to live up to the example of so many E's who I look up to and admire. With the drama of life that I see on a constant basis it reminds me of how precious life is and how much we need to enjoy what we do. So, as a drama teacher I think I truly am an anomaly since I don't let theatre define my entire existence. As an EMT I am somewhat an anomaly as well, since I don't know too many others who do what I do in the day time. And as a half century human being I am an anomaly because I still can't let "middle age" become the victor -- I still find the humor in clips like this;
So being an anomaly may be sometimes smelly, but it's a lot of fun!
Stay well my friends and I hope to see you on the road!
