January 28, 1986

I was working in my parents Hallmark store. I was behind the counter, and someone came in and said the Space Shuttle had exploded. I couldn't believe it. Because I was at work, I wasn't watching the liftoff of The Challenger. Truth be told I didn't really follow space exploration, but this mission was different. This mission was the one that any one of us might have been on because the crew of seven contained one of "us" A teacher, our common man representative, Christa McAuliffe ,was selected to be the first teacher in space. I remember thinking later as I saw the explosion on the news how shocked and sad and horrified her former students must have felt as they watched the tragedy unfold live. To be so thrilled and excited one moment as they listened to the countdown, and then as they watched the Giant roar as it lifted off of the launch pad, and then to see the explosion and immediately feel that sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs. I remember seeing the crowds reactions on the news as they watched from the ground at Kennedy Space Center. As they watched the Shuttle soar into the clear, blue sky, they are all smiles, and then you know from their faces something has gone tragically wrong. For a brief second you can see denial, confusion, and then finally shock and sadness replace the happy, triumphant smiles. It was a sad time for America. We all mourned the crew as if they were our own friends or family. We cried with their families, and I still cannot listen to the famous closing lines of President Reagan's speech without shedding a tear.
                 We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."

You're Goin' to Hollywood!

One of My Favorite Photos of Zak

I've been in theatre for a long time, and I have met hundreds of actors and performers over the years. Some were in it because they just wanted to see what it was like, some, like me, for the love of it, and the very few who actually made their living as an actor ( a goal I still hope to achieve one day), and then there are the ones that you know when you work with them that THEY HAVE IT! They have that special something that makes them a STAR. My life has been peppered with evenings in front of the TV or watching a rented movie and yelling at the screen or to whomever I was with, "Hey, that's Ed. I know him!" or "I didn't know Joe was in this movie." or "That guy playing the doctor on the witness stand...I did a show with him when I was little." My theatre friends have been on Broadway, in feature films and recorded albums. So, yes, I know my share of people who live the dream, my dream at least, but this post is about one particular young man who's on the cusp of an INCREDIBLE journey, and we will be lucky enough to take it with him through the magic of television.

I first met Zak Resnick when he was 15. I was doing a community theatre production of The Sound of Music. I was playing Mother Abbess and Zak was playing Rolf. Because Zak was not yet 16 and he lived near me , I offered to give him rides to and from our shows for the run along with Liesl. I remember what a burden that took off of my parents when I was a non-driving teen actor, so I was glad to do it. We would ride home from late tech rehearsals, and Zak would sing along with the radio. He had an amazing voice for anyone, but a 15 year old? It blew my mind. He was a handsome lad too, coal black hair, piercing eyes, and a winning smile. He bore an uncanny resemblance to a young Elvis. The show ended, and we didn't get a chance to work together again, but I kept up with him, and attended different productions he was in while in High School. He graduated and was accepted to Carnegie Melon and along came a wonderful little invention called Facebook and Youtube. Now it was easy to keep up with his career and watch him progress as a performer. I felt like he was one of my own as I celebrated his triumphs and cheered as he achieved yet another goal on his road to greatness. Two weeks ago there was a hint on Zak's Facebook wall to watch American Idol. Now, I must confess, I haven't watched Idol since the Clay Aiken/Reuben Studdard years, but the girls and I sat down to watch, and there he was, Zak, on the TV screen with a sound byte that he was there to do what he was born to do. My heart was in my mouth as I watched the rest of the show waiting for him to sing in front of the judges. I was so disappointed when the show ended and we hadn't seen him, but the next morning the news broke on B103.7, a local radio station, that he had a "Golden Ticket" and he was "Goin' to Hollywood." I can't wait to watch his journey unfold, and when all of America gets to hear Zak sing, I can say, I knew him when. Good luck, Zak! I'll be voting!

Shut Up, You Meathead, You!

40 years ago today a very controversial, very political show premiered on CBS. It wasn't a news show, or a documentary, it was a comedy, or some would call it today a dramedy. Dictionary.com defines a dramedy as a television program or series using both serious and comic subjects, usu. without relying on conventional plots, laugh tracks, etc. This show certainly fit that description. The title of the show was All in the Family . It was one of the first shows of its kind that was filmed before a live studio audience. It revolved around a family named Bunker. Archie, the patriarch of the family, played masterfully by Carroll O'Connor, Edith, his wife, played by Jean Stapleton with just the right amount of sensitivity and strength, their daughter, Gloria, or as Archie called her "little girl" played by Sally Struthers, and Mike, the son-in-law, who was always going head to head (or head to meathead) with Archie played by Rob Reiner. The series was created by Norman Lear and tackled every subject of the day. All in the Family gave us dingbat and meathead, Archie's  favorite commentary, the Bronx cheer, a raspberry, and a huge string of words that only Archie could pronounce in his own special way. The shows focused on everything from menopause and baptism to the very serious subjects of rape and the Viet Nam war. I was 7 when the show debuted, but I remember learning a lot from that show. All kinds of issues were debated in that living room on 104 Houser Street. We watched the Bunker family go through everything and we went through it with them. Archie had some twisted views, but we loved him. They never came from a place of hate, they came from a place of ignorance. Archie and Mike always seemed to be at each other's throats, but they really loved each other. I still cry when I watch the episode when Mike and Gloria move to California. Archie and Mike spend the entire episode avoiding each other and the subject of saying goodbye, and finally at the end Mike tells Archie, "I know all these years you thought that I hated you, but I really love you."  It was a show that defined the times. It paved the way for every show after it to be able to voice an opinion about the issues and struggles of the time. We laughed with them and cried with them, but most of all they made us think. All in the Family gave me food for thought about the very turbulent times that America was in during my childhood, but it also taught me that a family can disagree and still love and care for each other, which has proved to be an invaluable lesson.

The End is Near...AGAIN.

At the risk of being in the proverbial "hot seat" of controversy, I have to address this whole prediction of the exact date of the rapture, May 21, 2011. If you haven't heard, but I'm sure you have, 1000's of birds dropped out of the sky dead on New Year's Eve in Arkansas and shortly after several hundred dropped out of the sky dead in Louisiana. There were also thousands of fish found dead in an Arkansas river and millions in the Chesapeake Bay near Maryland. What does this all mean? One would speculate several things, but one group has been inspired to pinpoint the exact date of the Rapture. If you are not familiar with the Rapture, it is the belief that all souls who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour will be taken from the earth to Heaven. This event will mark the beginning of the end of the World. This post is not to dispute the existence or non-existence of the Rapture. Nor, am I challenging the beliefs of Christians about the end times. It is no secret that I am a Christian. What I do take issue with, however, is inciting panic in people because you think you can foretell the exact date of the beginning of the end. There is a long history of people predicting the end of the world. Many crowded street scenes in movies often have a character dressed in ragged "Biblical" type robes wearing a sign or proclaiming, "The End is Near!" People will argue that Christ is coming because of the awful state the world is in. Really?? To quote Billy Joel, "we didn't start the fire." I will not dispute the fact that there is a great deal of sadness and evil in the world, but what about the mass annihilation of the Jews in World War II, the persecution and systematic execution of the early Christians, Herod's failed plan to eliminate Jesus by killing baby boys, the Viet Nam War, the Crusades, Caligula, Idi Amin... should I go on? Evil has existed since the beginning of time. We cannot use evil as the factor that the "End is Near." The Bible clearly says in Matthew 24: 36-44, 36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." I have read this passage many times, and have thought about it. I can see it two ways: 1. no one knows how long they have on earth, and so we live every day ready or 2. No one knows when Christ will come again, so for anyone to have the audacity to release a date for the end of the world is a true sign of arrogance. To use that proclamation as a means to get people to convert or come to Christianity is unforgivable. This poses the question, If someone converts out of fear, is their conversion sincere? Isn't that what the Crusades were about and the Salem witch trials? In Arthur Miller's The Crucible the characters who are accused of aligning with the Devil say anything to save their necks from the hangman's noose. The entire town is consumed in mass hysteria, and ironically, the truly faithful are the ones who hang for refusing to commit the sin of lying. I believe that God wants us to come to him out of love, not fear, for fear is fleeting, but true love lasts forever.

1-1-11

The ball has dropped, and I am sitting in front of the computer, once again, in the wee hours of the morning. About 90 minutes ago we began 2011. A new year. It makes us think, think about where we've been, where we're going, goals, plans, dreams that have come true, and dreams that have disappeared. On my cell phone greeting for the past 365 days it has said, "2010, MY YEAR!" I started thinking the other day as we were approaching the end of 2010, has it been MY YEAR? Well that really depends on how I am going to measure success. Monetarily? NO, 2010 was definitely NOT my year. Career? NO, can't really say that either. However, 2010 did bring me other types of success. One, I started this blog. I was never a diary keeper or a journaler, and truthfully, never considered myself a writer. Some of you readers may not consider me a writer even now, but having this outlet has been very therapeutic at times for me, and I think it's really helped me to grow. Two, I had the chance to create a role in a workshop production of a show called "Company of Angels" with some very dear friends, and my daughters. Three, I embarked on a personal fundraiser by selling my carrot cakes and started a small side business at the holidays called 24 Carrot Cakes that I thought was pretty successful. I saw both of my daughters make All District Chorus, my youngest sing her first solo in church and my oldest receive confirmations for her college auditions. So, I guess you could say 2010 was a year of personal firsts and accomplishments and definite realization that my little girls are growing up, but oh, what wonderful young women they are becoming. THAT is my true success. What will 2011 bring? Who knows, but I am ready for the journey.