Damn Yankees

I've been invited to play the part of a baseball player named Mickey in Prairie Fire's production of Damn Yankees this August.

http://www.prairiefiretheatre.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damn_Yankees

Rehearsals start when summer does... June 21!

Looking forward to growing more friends, and more as a person, through more theater.

An Honest Definition Of Success

"Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." - Abraham Lincoln

A Public Service Announcement From Ooh A Shiny Penny!

Courtesy of Wendi (Velma) Fleming:

Back To Normal, And Then Some

So Monday was pretty drab. Separated from Hairspray fun, body collapsing from the weeks-long adrenaline rush of the stage.

 

Tuesday, the Corny hair was shorn.

 

Today was the most back-to-normal day I'd had in weeks.

 

8:00-11:00 management meeting at the office.

 

Got a 30-minute cardio workout in.

 

At a sensible (i.e. not fast-food) dinner.

 

Did not consume large quantities of sugar.

 

Sat outside by the pool reading a basketball coaching book.

 

Got my daily stretching in.

 

Checked fantasy baseball.

 

Then I cracked open Facebook, and started reading a barrage of comments from Hairspray folks about a variety of topics, but mostly cupcakes.

 

Then Bridgette and I got into an extended chat that generated a Friday night bowling outing/reunion idea. Before you know it I'm calling Circle Lanes and she's firing up a Facebook event invitation.

And then, on to the kind of chat that just makes me roll my eyes and smile about how much better off and blessed my life is for this new batch of friends:

 

<(')

dang

hold on

That's what I do

lol

OMG!

Shark attack!

How... how...

I... I don't know what to say!

Why Corny you're the winner of a new facebook emoticon lesson!

It even comes with personalized lessons & humor

Annd...you'll even get to wow your friends with your new found knowledge!

I... I don't know what to say!

Hahaha!!!

ok...so

to make the penguin

first you hit <

then (

then "

then )

and voila!

Penguin!

AHH!

(")>

Only works in one direction, hm.

yeah

sadness

as for the shark

first you go (

then ^

then ^

then ^

then )

and BOOM!

Shark!

Ha! Like a bunch of teeth, oh that is too clever.

this is one of my faves

:l]

dang...I keep forgetting things

:I]

crap

I don't remember how to tell you to do that

I actually had to copy & paste that out of a notepad doc

I don't remember what the up & down line is in the middle

but it's this :

an up & down line, which I 'thought' was a lowercase L

and then this ]

:[]

I give up

NO I DON'T

I REMEMBER!

ok...it's :

then this | (the button under the backspace...have to shift to get it)

then ]

WOO HOO!!

then there's the PacMan face

it's easy

it's :

then v

Wow!

yay!

Are these only FB tricks or can I can I impress my boss with my next e-mail?

only FB related

BUT...you can make a pooping sheep & a barfing person on the IM's at work!

That's what I'm talkin about.

Between you and Chris I may just learn all the interesting secrets of the universe!

Haha!! I don't know about that, but you'll definitely learn something & get some laughs out of it

btw...the devil face

3

:

)

Tada!

The Whole Crew

Including the orchestra and costume department!

Television Will Never Be The Same!

"The Corny Collins Show is now and forever officially integrated!"

"Look up America! Here's history right before your eyes. Television will never be the same!"

Nicest Kids In Town

"So every afternoon drop everything..."

"Who needs to read and write when you can dance and sing? YEAH!"

"Forget about your algebra and calculus, you can always do your homework on the morning bus. Can't tell a verb from a noun, they're the nicest kids in town!"

Look At The Scoreboard!

"Everyone look... look at the scoreboard!"

"Tracy Turnblad I declare you Miss Teenage Hairspray 1962!"

Peyton Place After Midnight

Corny's digging Tracy's sweet new dance move when he meets her at the sophomore hop.

"Hey there, cupcake, what's your name?"

"I'm...Tracy...Turn...blad!"

WHOOO!

"And what else have you got hiding in those Buster Browns?"

"It's called Peyton Place After Midnight. I use it to attract the opposite sex!"

Amazing High School Baseball Trick Pick-Off

Fake diamonds are not cool. Fakes on a diamond, on the other hand...

The Girl With All The Answers

What would it be like to teach a roomful of squirrels to dance? I can't imagine, though at some point I might be wearing a straitjacket. But then again I'm not Wendy Baugh.

It takes a certain brilliance to develop a thousand dance moves, and perform them, and teach them, and do crowd control, and have answers to every question the director asks in about a tenth of a second.

Quite an honor for her to cozy up to old Corny for a photo op!

So much of life's enjoyment and success comes from the people you surround yourself with. I'm a better person for knowing Wendy.

Final Bows

Nearly 3,000 seats were filled, all told, in twelve shows... I'm counting on it as a fact that what feels like an overwhelming sense of emptiness today is just the back side of an accumulation of exhilarating  late-night rehearsals, shows and cast parties these many weeks. 

There will be more to write about this, once I get my full wits about me, and the sadness yields to love as it always does.

Outfielder Derrick Salberg's Amazing Leaping Catch Over The Fence

Pajama Party

Only two shows left! Friday nights are going to seem mighty ordinary after these!

Joe, Katryce Bridges, Austin Travis, Kelly Slater

Video: 80-Year-Old Tandem Skydiver Nearly Slips To Her Death

And yet, her heart kept beating! Wonder if there's a partial refund involved.

Hairspray: The Purple Suit

One of the finest things you can say about my acting skills is that a purple suit sure looks nice on me. 

At least, that's the general jist of the beloved patrons as they file out of the theater!

Beer-Guzzling Cows Crash Backyard Party

Thanks to Bridgette for the video find!

Beer-guzzling cows crash backyard party

Calculator: How Long Will You Live?

Courtesy of Dena!

 

Looks like I'll live 'til I'm 90. Glad we got that settled.

 

 

Calculator.

Watch your age in the upper right corner!

Kinda fun to watch your age go up and down as you answer the questions.

Now this is interesting, give it a try....

How long will you live? This is a calculator that estimates your life expectancy.

It was developed by Northwestern Mutual Life. It's interesting that there are only 13 questions. Yet, they can predict how long you're likely to live.

What's your number?

http://media.nmfn.com/tnetwork/lifespan

Ear Cleaning: It Sucks, And It's Great

So I got in to have the ear specialist professionally clean my ears, in response to being recently deaf in my right one and all.

It was actually the nurse practitioner who did the work. An aide took some vitals and asked some basic questions. Both of these ladies were fabulous personalities. I must say, I was impressed with OSF's professionalism throughout. Friendly, sociable staff, up-to-date computer systems, clean facilities, etc.

Soon I was reclined back into a chair.

It'll be loud, they cautioned, as one might expect when a vacuum suction tube is inserted to your ear canal. Soon a... well... stop eating for a second... a slurping sound was playing itself out pleasantly in my ear.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see her also lift something which may have been a 10 inch needle, but I preferred to ignore it. Though reflexively I couldn't help but clench shoulders and hands a bit as the sucking and poking sensations continued against my ear drum.

Evidently the build-up of wax in there was too packed. After a good five minutes of this, it wasn't working.

They were sensitive to the fact that I was as tense as if I was lying on hot coals. "Let me know if you need a break," she said.

"It's worth it," I said with the most casual smile I could muster. "No pain, no gain." I probably could've coined a better phrase, since the feelings were more weird than painful. At least for the most part.

It was time to go with chemical weaponry, as they dropped some peroxide down the chute to let things crackle and soften for about ten minutes.

When they got back to work, they soon had a breakthrough. I won't describe the stuff she extracted. Suffice to say I was pleased that it was no longer in my head.

"I can see the eardrum!" she exclaimed.

And, I could hear that clearly. Which was a happy surprise since I'd not been aware of the left ear as a problem.

She made her way over to the deaf one. This is the one I'd assaulted with Debrox solution, extensive water irrigation, and random ear-jiggling for the last week. And it put up a bit of a fuss. Meaning that once it reached the phase where the phantom pointy-thing was jabbing around the canal (which they described later as a bit irritated and red) after five minutes or so, I involuntarily spasmed my shoulder up in defense. Darn.

Fortunately, by that time she'd cleared out most of the debris, and I was fully functional in both ears.

I'd had this done about four years ago. The next one will be much sooner!

Birthday Buoy

I knew shortly after I was cast that I'd be spending my 40th birthday on stage.

What I didn't know is that it'd turn into a birthday bonanza!

About a month before, one of the cast members stands up during a meeting and announces that she and another member share the same birthday - May 20 - and invite everyone to join them for a birthday party at TGIFridays.

My jaw dropped.

What are the odds?

God works in mysterious ways.

So as not to upstage (no pun intended) the announcement, I waited until the next day to tell her, and there were hugs all around.

Last Sunday was the day.

I picked up Dena at home, and we walked in to a grand feast.

A pile of birthday cards flocked to me.

After putting our food order in, there was time to walk Dena around for introductions to all my theater brothers and sisters.

One spent six hours baking us a chocolate cake shaped like a mountainous Hairspray teased-up wig.

The three birthday kids posed behind it for pictures.

There was singing, laughter, food and drink.

Those closest to me know how much I've been looking forward to turning 40, but I hadn't dreamed of this.

I can't imagine a better way to have spent it.

God's good!

Un-deaf-eated

My month-long cold took a creative turn from its rattling congestion into a deaf right ear.

I've been squeegeeing it with water & drops for nearly a week.

Taking two pills a day for possible ear infection, like Convenient Care advised.

It's as bad as it's been so far.

Not much fun being deaf in one ear.

But you know, I can still hear in the other.

My throat is basically back to normal, so from a theater standpoint it's been a good trade-off.

I'm not in pain.

There's no reason to think it's permanent.

Things happen for a reason. Hard to figure this one out, but I'll make an appointment to see a specialist. I'm fortunate to live in a country where it's easy to do this.

I woke up extra early with an unsettled feeling about all this, but as long as I'm up with the sun, might as well go for a relaxing run. I haven't had much time for exercise recently. Maybe that's the blessing in this.

4 Degrees With 0% Unemployment

By Annalyn Censky, CNNmoney.com:

College grads who majored in actuarial science or astrophysics have a practically nonexistent unemployment rate.

Actuary job in hand, before the degree

 

Courtesy: Drake UniversityBette Wiebke
Majored in Actuarial Science, Class of `12
Drake University

Why become an actuary? My parents kind of planted the idea in my head from an early age, because math was always my favorite subject in school. Plus, they knew it would be a lucrative profession.

An actuary is basically supposed to predict the future, estimating future risks and costs. Being able to do that well is so valuable to a company.

This weekend, I graduated with my bachelor's in actuarial science. I've already had a job lined up since September, and I would say the same is true for the majority of my classmates, who have also had job offers for a long time.

I'll be working at Travelers Insurance in St. Paul, Minn., in their property and casualty business.
Overall, 0% unemployment in our field may be a bit of an overstatement. I know a couple students who haven't decided what they're doing yet.

But the fact that most of us can get jobs coming straight out of college, definitely says something good about the occupation.

No shortage of options in astrophysics
 

Courtesy: Matt BenjaminMatt Benjamin
Astrophysics, Class of `05
University of Colorado Boulder

I was a business major when I started college, and science was a hobby more than anything else.
But after I took two semesters of astronomy, I was hooked. Learning about business at that point almost felt as boring as learning about cardboard.

I studied astrophysics and planetary science, and worked in the planetarium as a student employee. I had thought about going to grad school afterward, but when my boss decided to leave, I took this job.
I now run the planetarium and its education programs. My job is to take complex science and information and put it in the public vernacular.

It goes against the idea that to be part of science you need a Ph.D. That's a gross misconception.

I think you can have a 0% unemployment rate in astrophysics, because it's constantly evolving. The universe is huge and there just aren't enough eyes to study it. There's really never going to be a shortage of jobs.

Work in a lab, with pharmacology degree
 
Courtesy: Sara NikSara Nik
Majored in Pharmacology, Class of `12
Stonybrook University

When I was an undergrad, I knew that I wanted to get involved in the research aspect of science. I liked that pharmacology was medically relevant -- studying the interaction of drugs and the body -- and it offered the opportunity to do cutting edge research.

After I graduated, I spent the summer doing an internship in France and then I came back and worked in a lab at Stonybrook for a year.

I've since started a masters program at Columbia University and work part-time in a lab in the pathology department there.

I would say that's a pretty typical path. I don't know of anyone who studied pharmacology and just stopped at a bachelor's degree. The end game is nearly always to pursue some kind of schooling afterwards. Many end up going to grad school or working in laboratories.

Multiple job offers for geophysics students
 

Courtesy: Aaron GirardAaron Girard
Majored in Geophysics, Class of `07
Colorado School of Mines

The energy industry is just grasping at straws for people with geophysics experience.

I work in an environment where it's over 50% foreign people. That's not only telling about the people the energy industry is looking for, but also the fact that these large energy companies are simply not getting enough qualified students from American universities.

When I finished my bachelor's in 2007, we graduated 10 people that year. I would say on average, my classmates were getting one to two job offers before they had even graduated.

I ended up going on to grad school. After interning in Norway, I had realized that outside of the United States there were no major oil companies looking for candidates with just a bachelor's.
During grad school, I got four job offers all in the Houston area. I graduated and started work at WesternGeco, a subsidiary of Schlumberger, two weeks later.

Now, I also volunteer with the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, building a network for geophysics students. We have about 7,000 student members in the U.S. -- not nearly enough to fill up all the jobs that are going to be available.

Corny Collins: It's Hairspray

Pretty sure that right about here I'm singing "What give a girl power and punch? Is it charm? Is it poise? No it's hairspray!"

Background dancers are Brad Berry, Aimee Kerber, Drew Eberhart, and Jennifer Stevens.

Foods That Give Kids (And You) Instant Energy

By Charlotte Hilton Andersen of Redbook:

WATER

It doesn't come with any slick advertisements or cutesy cartoon characters to sell it, but plain old H2O is one of the quickest energy boosters out there. When kids become dehydrated, their energy plummets and their brain gets foggy, which makes it hard to concentrate.

How to get them to drink it: Kids often don't realize when they're dehydrated, so keep water handy and offer it often, especially if they've been playing a lot or have been out in the sun. Skip flavoring packets, which are often full of artificial sweeteners, colors, and flavors. You can try adding a squeeze of lemon for flavor, but I've found that most kids don't like any "floaties" in their water. The trick is in the packaging-let your child pick out a fun water bottle (they can even decorate it themselves with permanent markers) or stock up on twisty straws and funny ice cubes. You'll be amazed at how much water they'll drink.

OATMEAL

Grains have been getting a bad rap lately, but whole grains are still one of the best sources of energy we have-especially for little bodies that are still growing. The fiber and carbohydrates in oatmeal provide a long-lasting, consistent source of energy that can be dressed up in a million different ways.

How to get them to eat it: Skip the pre-fab packets and cook your own. Microwaving a serving of rolled oats won't take you any longer than the packaged stuff, and you'll save on all the added sugars, flavors and colors. Add some real butter (yes, it's okay now!) for satiating fat, then cool it down by adding frozen berries (another great food for energy). To make it fun for little ones, let them add a few sprinkles or chocolate chips on top.

EGGS
Everyone knows that protein builds strong muscles and helps keep you full, but I've yet to meet a young child who wants to sit down with a big steak and a bottle of horseradish. Thankfully, eggs are a clean and easy source of protein, and with as many different ways to cook them as there are kids, it's easy to keep them interesting.


How to get them to eat it: Scrambled eggs with cheese is classic kid comfort food, but a boiled egg can be a fun addition to a sack lunch (draw a funny face on it with a pen or marker!).
 
BANANAS
Many kids are surprisingly potassium deficient-a problem that can manifest in a variety of ways, including lethargy and memory problems. This necessary nutrient, which is also found in dried apricots, figs, and plums, helps regulate the body's nervous and muscular systems.


How to get them to eat it: Thankfully, most kids already love bananas but if your little one has an issue with the texture or taste, try blending frozen banana chunks with yogurt and fruit for a creamy smoothie.

FISH
Research shows a link between memory, test-taking skills and, gulp, eating fish for breakfast. While that's not typically pleasing to little palates, the benefits are huge. The omega 3 fatty acids found in fatty fish like wild salmon have been proven to reduce depression and hyperactivity and increase focus and concentration. In addition, all that high quality protein keeps kids' blood sugar (and therefore their moods) steady while keeping them full for hours.


How to get them to eat it: Studies have shown that pregnant women who eat fish have kids that are more likely to enjoy the taste. Since the womb is a one-way ticket; however, the next best thing is repetition. Try starting with something familiar like tuna melts, then adding some canned salmon to scrambled eggs. You can also try a milder-tasting fish like cod. Encourage kids to eat whole foods over supplements. Sadly, goldfish crackers don't count (although they are yummy!)

Hairspray: Cast Photos

Here they are for posterity... my brothers and sisters in theater from Hairspray:

Some guy

Mary Frances Leake

Tony Smith, Ricardo Chatmon, Christopher Myers, Daniel Imode

Wendy Baugh, Kayla Bullock, Bridgette Richard, Fania Bourn, Taylor Janay, Kylie Maurer, Jennifer Cirillo, Sequita Bridges

Drew Eberhard, Chris Stanford, Sean Stevens, Brad Berry

Samm Bettis, Jenny Stevens, Aimee Kerber, Lisa Groves

Christie Vellella, Gabrielle Lott-Rogers, Rachel Phillips

Scott Myers

Katrice Bridges, Keeley White, Rejene Phillips

Jeremy Pease

Mary Evenson, Sara Bronson

Jennifer Rusk

Melissa Mullins

Ingrid Myszka, Chris Terven

Gerald Price

Kelly Slater

Wendi Fleming

Mark Robinson