31 May 2002
Orisinal : Morning Sunshine
Orisinal : Morning Sunshine. Beautifully rendered Flash games from a California artist [weblogwannabe].
27 May 2002
Why it’s good old reliable Nathan, Nathan, Nathan, Nathan Detroit. Good news after my auditions last week: I’ve been cast as Nathan Detroit in our local community theatre production of GUYS AND DOLLS (the Frank Sinatra role from the film). I start rehearsals next Monday and open July 11, so I’ll probably be too preoccupied with rehearsing to do a lot of blogging this summer.
And because I have to find a dark cloud in every silver lining, I’ve come to realize that Nathan doesn’t really get to sing that much (scroll down to end of review). After being cast in a bunch of little-to-no-singing roles in musicals over the years, I’m finally realizing that I probably don’t sound as good as I do in my head…
27 May 2002
The honeymoon is over.
Bad news: TiVo is discontinuing their 1-800 number for program listing updates. And since there’s no local number for me to call, I’ve got two options: either make nightly long distance calls to another number or figure out how to get my TurboNet card to play nice with my TiVo since it upgraded to the 3.0 version of the TiVo software and download program listings through the Internet. So far, I’m still banging my head against a wall.
I knew I wouldn’t have my TiVo forever, but after a year and a half, I can’t imagine watching TV any other way.
23 May 2002
Rosie Bids Farewell to Talk Show
Rosie Bids Farewell to Talk Show. It’s hard to describe how I feel about THE ROSIE O’DONNELL SHOW going off the air, because it’s served as a kind of cultural touchstone for me for the past 6 years.
I still remember the first season during my senior year of college, racing to the lounge to snag the TV so I could watch it everyday. Here was a show that matched my interests in classic sitcoms, musical theatre, and liberal political issues. When we pouted after the election of 2000 and grieved after Columbine and 9-11, Rosie spoke her mind. While the rest of popular entertainment focused on rap music and action movies, Rosie promoted Broadway and gave me the opportunity to see so many great performances that I usually only got to hear on CD.
And though I faulted Rosie (and her band-leader, John McDaniel) for years for not coming out and serving as a positive gay role model, she finally did so this year and championed the important issue of gay adoption (and today’s show was certainly the “biggest, gayest celebration since Liza’s wedding“).
I’m really going to miss the show being part of my usual afternoon routine.
21 May 2002
College recruiters look to gays
College recruiters look to gays. “Although they lack statistics showing gay students outperform their peers, admissions officers say anecdotally that, for the growing number of high school students who identify themselves as gay, the ”coming out” experience in high school can breed self-confidence, leadership abilities, cultural awareness, and other characteristics that colleges want.”
It’s about time. Today’s out highschool students are looking for colleges that will meet their needs. At a recent open house, students from our GBLT campus group were baraged with questions from prospective students about the climate for gay students at Truman. However, we’re having difficulty convincing the administration of the need for a GLBT resource center.
It’s important to make students feel like they can be out in the college search process and feel comfortable asking questions. I didn’t come out until I was in undergrad, but I was out during my grad school search and fortunately found a gay-friendly university (if not a department) in Indiana University.
19 May 2002
After my bizarre community theatre experience last year, I’m all set to audition on Wednesday for this summer’s musical: Guys & Dolls. I don’t think I’ll have a casting dilemma like last summer in Grease, so now I just have to figure out which part to audition for…
[Read more →]
17 May 2002
End of the school year.
So it’s the day before graduation and most of my students have left. After a number of years in higher education I’ve gotten used to the cycle of people entering and leaving my life, but I’ve had my most successful and fulfilling year working in Res Life and I don’t think it’s quite hit me yet that some of my favorite students won’t be coming back to my building or campus next year.
What’s foremost in my mind these days is the budget crisis in Missouri (I don’t completely understand it, so I may have to have my favorite political ex-Missouri blogger Reese explain it to me). After having Truman’s budget cut $3 million by the state last year (which is a lot for us as one of the smallest public colleges), we’re facing an additional $3.8 million cut for next year. There’s talk of unpaid forced vacation time, etc; so as a 12-month hall director without any students over the summer, I expect I’d be first-in-line to be furloughed over the summer.