My Life--The Early Years

By the time you read this, it will be October 27th--my birthday. Yes, 39 years ago, I was brought into this world. Given that this is a blog and all, I thought that I would present for posterity the record of my tumultuous life so far, accompanied by pictiographic evidence, so none may doubt the veracity of my tale. Today, I'll cover the early years of my life (the late 60s and the 70s)--Saturday and Sunday will see my Middle (80s and early 90s) and Late (mid 90s to the present) years exposed for your edification. Please be warned that every word you are about to read is the unvarnished truth, as troubling as that may be for you to believe.

The Early Years: Prodigy and Peril

October 27th, 1967. In a small hospital in Chicago, I am born.
While I may look innocent enough, these are actually the eyes of a cold-blooded killer. Within mere hours of my birth, I kill two innocent wildfowl who somehow wandered into the pediatric unit. These birds were brought home from the hospital with me--my first trophies.
Slaughtering confused game birds, however, was not to be my calling. Filled with world-weary ennui,
I soon (once I could walk, that is) embarked on a wild cross-country adventure, taking jobs wherever I could find them. I worked as a farmer,
a fisherman,
lifeguard,
dairyman,
big game hunter,
merchant marine,
crusading superhero,

and pro caddy.
This picaresque adventure, however, came to a crashing halt when I was informed that I could not be a cowboy.
Angry at the world, I lashed out at authority, eventually landing in prison.
While I was living and loving my way across America, however, my parents brought my sister Claudine into the world. The instant I broke out of the joint, I made my way back to Chicago to see her. I found a kindred spirit.


Family had brought me home--I decided to quell the wanderlust in my soul and stay put for a while. I soon found that a new career awaited me: fashion icon.






While I lived the jet-set life, winging from New York to Milan and back again, my folks were hard at work. My brother, Ken, was born in 1972. Again, I found a kindred spirit.
The three T. children proved to be a unstoppable force, storming the pop music world with a string of number one hits.
We also found time to pursue our other hobbies.
In short, while the late 60s and 70s were a tumultuous time for me, I moved through them with the aplomb and respect for others that have defined my character to this day.
Through it all, I never forgot my friends.
Stay tuned!

All the Great Books--Look, pictures!

As promised, here are some pictures from my production of All the Great Books. This first picture is from the Don Quixote section of the play--Phil, in the foreground, is translating (badly) the dramatized version performed in the original Spanish.

Here, Jason and Phil attack the Cyclopes, in the Odyssey section of the play.

Look out--Huck Finn coming through!


The Trojan Horse sneaks toward its destiny.

From The Iliad and The Odyssey to Ulysses by James Joyce, as Coach Shay, Phil, and Jason expertly express this 20th century masterpiece.

Look out--it is the Battle of Borodino from War and Peace! No magnanimity to the enemy!

This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me, but I spent half an hour writing in actual text from War and Peace on this prop book--all for something that was open all of five seconds to the audience. Why?--because it was a book, of course! The only regret I have is that I didn't write in text from further on in the book in the cut-out section (which hid a copy of the Spark Notes for War and Peace) .

Hope you enjoy these shots--I had a lot of fun with this show, mainly because I had three great actors and a great production staff (and stage manager!)

Look, a picture! (double shot)

Twice the production shot fun today--this time a shot from last year's production of Dinner With Friends--the only scene where all four characters appear. Trust me--they aren't always this happy.

Look, a picture! (Shakespearean edition)

Here is a shot from my production of The Tempest from year before last. This was one of my favorite moments from the play, as Antonio, Alonso, and Sebastian are confronted by the spirits led by Ariel and Prospero.

Look, a picture! (yet more Alaska!)

I thought that I would continue with the Alaska theme this week. This picture (taken by my father) is from the top of the Mt. Alyeska ski run just south of Anchorage. A few moments after this photo was taken, paragliders started flinging themselves off the top of the mountain.

BTW, I know that I missed my last sermon entry, and you poor souls have now gone two weeks without my words of wisdom. I'll make up for it this weekend. In the meantime, stay on the meds.

Look, a picture! (less past, more blast)

This picture is from about nine years ago (hard to believe), during my second trip to Alaska for dissertation research. It was taken in beautiful Sitka, AK, sometime early in December during my winter break from UO. I'm looking southeast along the shoreline back toward Sitka itself. I originally took these pictures with my old one-shot kodak camera and had them developed by Seattle FilmWorks, which at that time also sent back the pictures in a propietary format, which I have converted to jpeg here. (Aren't you all proud of me?)

Look, a picture! (request edition)

Never let it be said that I don't try and please my adoring public (such as they are.) As requested, another blast from the past--Christmas 1972, to be exact. Yes, that is a purple velour leisure suit. No, the years of therapy haven't yet helped me cope with this--thanks for dragging up painful memories. I may have to self-medicate--I hope I have enough scotch for drowning this image out tonight.

This will be the last "blast from the past" on Picture Day for a while--I don't want to go to the well too often, and all these ancient pictures are making me feel like I was born in another century....oh, crap. I was born in another century....

Look, a picture! (A blast from the past....)

This week's picture harkens back to the early 1970s--yes, kids, the "olden times." That is me on the far right, with my mom, my sister Claudine, and my brother Ken (who doesn't seem to be enjoying that lollipop.) Only extensive therapy has allowed me to get over the psychic scars left by years of plaid pants....

Look, a picture! (Part Deux)

Another picture from my vast digital hoard. This is another selection drawn from my time on the Orkneys--The "Old Man of Hoy," a seastack (no, not sleestak) on the north coast of the island of, you guessed it, Hoy. I had a very pleasant hike to this sight--what you can't see are some of the highest sea cliffs in Europe, which I am perched on at the moment this is taken (as opposed to hiding behind the Old Man.)

Look, a picture!

I will post a picture from my vast store of digital images each week. Here is this week's image--feast your eyes! It was taken on the beautiful Orkney Islands last summer. I'm hiding behind one of the Standing Stones of Stenness, which sit in the middle of a sheep field--oh, I am such a scamp! Beyond the frame, several of said sheep are looking at the idiot American bemusedly.