From Anthony: Delaware

I was going to post a blog from the myspace site as a "classic" (meaning "re-run"), but I'm so enamoured of this Delaware concept that I think a new essay I wrote last night will pre-empt it.  Here it is:

As Desiree and I drove across the country this year, we played a game.  It was the “see-a-license-plate-from-every-state-in-the-country” game.  We have actually played it two years in a row.  The rules are these: 1. we have from the time we leave home until the time we arrive back home again to see all fifty, and 2. we must both be present in order to count the plate (though only one of us need actually see it).  Since we started from our old apartment right by a college campus that has lots of out-of-state cars parked by it, and spent the summer at a music festival that attracts people from all over the country, we had a great deal of success.  This year we saw all of them except for Delaware.  Last year we found all of them except for Hawaii and Delaware.  This is the part where every reader should say to him or herself, “What!?  They didn’t see Delaware either year?  Isn’t Delaware like… a state?  One of the lower 48?”  And I would reply, “Yes, reader!  Delaware is in fact the first state!  It would stand to reason that it still exists today and is issuing license plates to its residents.”

For a long time I made fun of Wyoming.  Part of this is because I was in a car accident there in 2001 and found everyone we dealt with there to be less than pleasant.  But part of it is because there doesn’t seem to be much of anything there.  I actually saw a cartoon lampooning this once.  It showed a map of the U.S that omitted Wyoming and everything still looked surprisingly complete without it.  I think I shall soon have to cease this mockery and take up mockery of Delaware instead.  How on Earth could we see a plate from every state but Delaware?  It defies the imagination!

I remember looking at license plates when I was a kid.  They all followed a simple pattern then.  Each plate had a background color and a different color for the type.  There were no real illustrations, except maybe for a little insignia between the letter part and the number part.  I think in those days, Pennsylvania had a little blue keystone on its yellow background.  Utah was just plain black and white if I recall.  But now all the states have fancy plates with lots of colors and intricate illustrations.  And those are just the regular ones!  I’m not even talking about the “specialty plates.”  For instance, Michigan is now white with a blue banner across the top.  The word “Michigan” is then inlaid in white in that little banner.  But there’s also a Michigan that looks like some sort of crazy Renoir painting screwed to the back of every other SUV from Ann Arbor.  Or how about the cute little New Jersey plate that has a little cartoon kitty and puppy on it to symbolize some sort of donation to the humane society?  I remember when the really snazzy “Ski Utah” plate came out.  I’ve only skied once, but I still thought the plate was pretty cool.  And I’ve always gone for the one with delicate arch on it.  I like the orange and blue together I guess.

But let me tell you about Delaware’s plate.  True, in order to do that I would have to confess that I have actually seen one.  And that means admitting that there probably still is a Delaware out there lurking on the Eastern seaboard.  Alright, I admit it all.  Sort of.  Here’s the tale of seeing a Delaware plate.  Immediately after Desiree and I pulled into our parking lot last year (thus officially ending the game) I walked across the street and saw a little dinky trailer with a nasty Delaware license plate hanging off it’s rear corner.  I ran inside to get Desiree so that she could witness the grime-coated wonder.  It was gross yellow with a non-descript dark-ish color for the lettering.  It was too late to officially be part of the game (of course… rude), but I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt even though it was so ugly.  Trailer plates are often ugly even from states that traditionally have nice plates.  And often they don’t get renewed for decades, so the old-fashioned bi-chromatic ones can linger long into the Technicolor era.  So I waited for the next summer to see Delaware redeem itself.

Well, it didn’t.  It was the one lousy plate we didn’t see this summer.  A week after the game was over, I finally saw one.  Two of them right next to each other, ironically.  But since we live in another college town I shouldn’t have been too surprised.  And I shouldn’t have been surprised that it was butt ugly either.  Two-tone, non-illustrated, puke-colored Delaware.

Yeah.  I think Delaware is my new state to make fun of.

back-logging: from Anthony

I just finished looking at Brian Tanner's blog.  He blogs a lot.  It made me wish I blogged more.  So instead of blogging more, I'm just going to re-post a blog here that was originally written for my blog on myspace.  That's the easy way around things.

A little about the way I approach blogging.  I usually don't like to narrate much about my life.  I prefer to talk about ideas that have been on my mind.  I also like to keep them rather brief.  Additionally- I am media-tarded.  I have no idea how to put cool pictures or film clips into them.  I just write a little something in the hopes that it will provoke some sort of discussion.  I posted this particular blog on July 15th.

Perhaps the transfer of back-logged myspace blogs signals the end of myspace blogs altogether.  I'm not sure.  We'll see what happens.  But for now, here is the blog entitled "too cool for school."

"Ohio Light Opera does a little Fourth of July concert on the town square of Wooster Ohio every year. We put together a few little patriotic choral numbers and the orchestra plays. It's really... cheesy... and awesome. I mean both of those adjectives with all my heart. This year we did an Irving Berlin medley and an Armed Forces salute. The music is not great. It's cheesy. But when we stand up on those risers and look out at the veterans stand up and be recognized and then sing to them... that's awesome in the real sense of the word.

The guy I stood next to runs wardrobe for the company and also plays little parts in a few of the shows every season. He had in his music folder a photo of his son who just joined the army last year. He may have thought it was cheesy, but you couldn't tell. He gladly stood up, proud to be an American and said God bless the USA.

Then we went to see the town fireworks display. Keep in mind, this is Wooster Ohio. Of course, that doesn't mean anything to most people. That's my point. The town is small enough that most people don't know it exists. So you'd kinda expect a wimpy fireworks display. Nope. It rocked. These people got it. This is our nation's frickin' birthday! Let's shoot the wad to say happy birthday to Uncle Sam! There maybe problems in Capitol Hill and in the White House, but we don't need to pretend we're too cool for America.

The Wooster Independence Day celebration isn't the only thing that has got me on the anti-too-cool-for-school rant. Singing operetta sure helps. None of these shows are Shakespeare. Some of them are kinda (or a lot) deficient in the theme, plot, and dialogue departments. But nothing sends an audience running away screaming better than the actors apologizing for the material. If we can just get past our too-cool mentality, we enjoy the shows and so do the audience.

Last on the "let's not pretend we're above everything" checklist comes from subbing as the Gospel Doctrine Sunday School teacher at church on Sunday. I got to stand up and tell people how excited I am to have the Book of Mormon in my life. I didn't use the Afterglow church voice for it either. I'm proud to report that I could use the same voice I use to tell people how excited I am for LOST to come back in the fall to tell people how much I love the Book of Mormon. I don't have to pretend to be cool about church. I really love it.

It feels awesome to not have to be cool."

I understand that ended with a split infinitive, but oh well.  Discuss.

Randomness

I am sitting here in Ohio thinking. "If I was in Utah, I could go to fireworks tonight." It's pioneer day, but only in Utah.  

Things that are happening here... OLO is finally in REP (meaning that there are no more rehearsals, just performances).  Yesterday the last show "Marinka: The Mayerling Story" opened. Anthony is not in that one, but it means that none of the people we live with have rehearsal any more... and it is going to be good.  

Here is a picture of the people we are living with this summer., we all get along very well. and are have a nice time sharing "family dinner" and good conversations.

On the front row from left to Right: Carissa, Sahara, Anthony, Amanda O. 

On the back row from left to Right: Amanda K., Jack, Paul

The picture was taken after the 4th of July concert that OLO puts on for the town of Wooster every year.  I hope to have more pictures to post soon.  The only thing is that I have misplaced our camera, and until I find it, or people we are here with post pictures online this is about all we have.  I hope to post more soon anyway.

Not Homeless Anymore

I am pleased to announce that we are no longer homeless.  We have an address that is not c/o Ohio Light Opera and it is in Binghamton, New York!  I am not going to publish it here, partially because we won't be able to get mail there for about a month.  The important thing is that we know where we are going to live when we leave here in a month.  In a lot of ways it is really a miracle.  In my hunting process I found out that Binghamton University decided to admit 3,000 additional students this year, so that is why housing is going fast.

I started to look at craigslist and apartments.com a couple of weeks ago.  About a week and a half ago I started calling people about apartments and found out that things were going quickly (affordable apartments were going within 72 hours of being posted), so I knew that I needed to get to Binghamton and secure a place for us... and fast.  I was able to go on Tuesday this week.  I enjoyed the 7 hour drive - there are lots of trees and some beautiful lakes between here and there.  At one point I was admiring the hills I was driving through, just to notice what could only be a ski slope and realized I was in the "mountains" in Western New York.  I had several appointments set up for that evening to see some places, most of which ended up being way too big, or way too small, or just plain scary.  

Wednesday morning I had some luck and found our apartment.  It is in a building that was completely gutted and is being rebuilt.  Our apartment is the first one that will be done, so there will be construction for a little while while we are there, but it will be worth it.  It has hard wood floors throughout and brand new everything as far as appliances go... and it includes a washer and a dryer (No more Quarters! Yeah!).  It also includes all new fixtures in the bathroom, and one of the interior walls is exposed brick.  It is really charming.  It is on the east end of downtown (which is less run down that a lot of the city, and according to the LDS missionaries is a great part of town).  And all of this is going to be within our projected budget. I was the first person to put money down on moving into the building, but there were three people in line behind me with checkbooks in hand.  

Wednesday afternoon as I was driving home with my receipt for the deposit in-hand I felt like we have definitely been led to be in New York State at this time, and like our Heavenly Father is doing everything in his power to make sure we actually get there.  This all makes me feel so loved and blessed. 

Teachers

I know Anthony just posted a blog a few days ago, but I have been wanting to post something and am finally finding the time.  

This summer I have gained a new appreciation for teachers.  When I say teachers I mean just about any kind - but especially the kind that get up in front of a classroom and entertain kids for hours on end.

I have been teaching reading classes this summer.  When I tell people that they frequently assume that I studied education or literature.  Nope, the degree was in international studies with an emphasis in global health.  I will be teaching 2 sessions of 5 weeks each.  I am halfway through my fourth week of my first session.  Each week (in this session) I have 10 classes of 8 different levels (pre-kindergarten through adult).  The program is interesting.  I did about 3 weeks of training on how to work with people of different age groups to effectively teach them and studying the theories and methods I would be teaching as well as reviewing the lesson plans I would be teaching.  After the three weeks, I was assigned classes and that was that.

In so many ways I am spoiled, because my supplies are provided for me, the program is through a private company, which means it is a little expensive and the parents are invested in their children doing well, and I do not have to figure out what I will be teaching.  I re-read and do a little preparation the night before I teach and Voila! that is it.  During class I listen to the children read, or for the older classes, check out their reading speeds and have a short conversation about how things are going.  I also teach different reading or studying skills depending on the level, but in every class there is time for good solid reading practice with the skills I am teaching.  After class I enter the information online I gathered in class about the students' reading  online and maybe make a few phone calls to the parents.

In a lot of ways, I feel like what I do is cheating.  I watched my mom spend hours upon end preparing lesson plans in the first couple years of teaching.  She had many meetings with other teachers and parents and administration throughout each month.  She has to struggle with children who parents don't care about their child's education.  She works in a public school, so unfortunately, that means that she does not always have the supplies she needs either.  If she has a difficult class she gets to figure out what to do differently for the very next day, five days a week for an entire nine months.  I know that when I have a tough class there is a week before I have to deal with those students again, and that I only have to see the students for a total of 5 times.  Besides all that, Kids are tough to teach. They want to be entertained.  I find that the second I am doing something that is not entertaining I start to lose kids attention... and for the most part I have less than 15 kids in my classes... I can't imagine trying to keep focus with twice as many students.

In any case, I arrive home at the end of the day exhausted, and I only teach between three and a half and six hours in a day... with 45 minutes in between classes.  I have no idea how teachers do it 5 days a week, 9 months a year, year after year.

From Anthony

I have my own blog on Myspace.  It most often tends to be a journal of ideas with little emphasis on events in my life.  This blog seems dedicated to telling people what is going on in our lives, so here it is.

This summer with Ohio Light Opera (OLO) has been a real joy so far.  For those of you who don't know how this company works, here is a brief explanation.  The company produces 7 or 8 operettas, light operas, or musicals a summer.  Some of the shows are very familiar (such as Oklahoma! and The Mikado this summer) and some of them are very obscure.  More on that later.  The shows run in repertory, which means we never do the same show 2 days in a row.   The cast members, orchestra and crew all come from different parts of the country and are all pursuing careers in the arts.  We are live in college housing on the campus of the school that operates the company.  Desiree and I live in a very large house with 6 other cast members.  We both get along with all of them very, very well.  It is not unusual for all of us to share a big meal together or to sit in the living room and talk until the wee hours of the morning.  

This is the company's 30th season and my 3rd with them.  My first summer I did almost exclusively chorus roles, which did not please me very much.  Last year I had a few more things to do and this year I am playing fun and interesting roles in 5 shows and assistant-directing one other.  It is great fun.  Today we opened a show entitled The Cabaret Girl.   This performance was a land-mark in numerous ways.  Most importantly, this was the U.S. premiere of the work.  It opened in London in 1927 and has never made it across the ocean.  This show is also the 100th title produced by OLO.  It was composed by the 40th composer whose works have played at OLO.  One of the songs my character sings is not included in the orchestrations of the show, which makes most of us believe that it was not included in the original production.  If that is true, that means that I sang a song today that has never been performed before.  As I sit and placidly type this I want to stand up and shout "Yeah, baby!  That rocks!"  I feel so lucky to be having such a great experience this summer.  Audiences have been very receptive to me so far and I am having a great time.

Of course the great draw-back is that the "summer of Desiree and I living together" has turned into the "summer of me staying in Wooster OH, and Desiree going to trainings in Chicago, flying to a funeral in Utah, and working 4 days a week in Columbus."  Oh well.  We still have 3 days a week together which is WAY better than nothing at all.

The moral of the story:  moving away from our comfy little womb in Utah was a scary thing.  But I feel very blessed to be having a great time pursuing my crazy career in a pleasant place with nice people.

The last month of our life

If you are reading this, chances are you know Anthony and me.  We both graduated from the University of Utah a month ago and hit the road.  We are now in Wooster, OH experiencing the first heatwave of summer.  The last month, in many ways, has been almost more intense than the last month of school.  Or maybe my memory is failing me, I think I will never know.  

A brief synopsis of what has happened since April 30th:

• Pack our bags and give a lot of our stuff away and move out of our favorite place to live and stay with my fabulous sister, Anneke and her husband Billy.
  
• Attend graduation.
  
• Continue to get rid of stuff (A Toyota Corolla is not that big).
  
• See as many people as possible and say farewell.
  
• Re-pack the car with the things we did not get rid of.
  
• Drive across the oh-so-interesting Midwest and stay with friends on the way.  One highlight was meeting new friends that generously opened their home to us and Anthony's audition for Chicago Lyric Opera.  We probably won't have any official word from them until the fall.
  
• Arrive in Wooster, unpack and start work.  Anthony is singing some cool stuff this summer with Ohio Light Opera (OLO) and I am teaching reading skills to people pre-K - Adult.
  
• Training for me just ended yesterday (I had to pack another suitcase to go to Chicago to finish my training) and I begin teaching tomorrow.  
• Anthony is in the middle of the rehearsal process and the shows begin opening next weekend.  One cool thing about that is OLO's 30th Anniversary season and Anthony is starring in the 100th show that the company is adding to its repertoire. 

That is the last month in a nutshell with one exception.

  

Yesterday morning I got a call from my parents letting me know that my grandmother just finished the last month of her life the night before.  She died.  I thought I was ready for it.  She has been sick and in pain and unable to sleep for so long and just took a turn for the worse about a week and a half ago.  I thought I would be able to take it in stride and be happy for her that she is in a better place with her daughter, my beloved Aunt Annette and her mother, Great Grandma Beesley.  I am glad for her, but I am so sad.  I feel like I am living in slow motion.  I've lost grandparents before, so it is not a new experience, but it feels differently this time and I am not sure why.  I think it helps to share the experience with people.  I am going to be fortunate enough to be able to go back to Salt Lake for the funeral and I think it will help to be surrounded with people that all knew and loved Grandma Steenblik.  I don't know what Grandma was able to do with the last month, but I know that she loved a lot of people and continued to be thoughtful and giving. 

As I have been sitting here for the last couple of days pondering life the only real conclusion I can come to is that loving other people - and knowing how to show it has got to be about the most important thing in this world.  Thank you Grandma Steenblik... and all the grandmas out there that love us unconditionally and do the little things that let us know.