Blogging My Autobiography - Chapter 25

Passions

Outside of my family I have probably four great passions, Photography, Electronics, Outdoors and the Performing
Arts. As I have talked a fair amount about the outdoors over several posts, see Scouts, Firefighting, Sweets and other places, I am going to skip that one and focus on the other three.

Performing Arts

The first time I ever sang in front of people was when I was 6 years old. I was in a local play as a part of the chorus. I remember spending a lot of time at rehearsals. They even gave me fake sideburns that they stuck on with spirit gum. In a perverse way I liked the smell but hated the itchiness of it. Maybe that’s why I really don’t like beards. I also remember thinking, “I am too young to have sideburns, but I was pretty tall and I guess it must have been okay. I did like the excitement of it all, it was fun. I never sang in public again other than in a choir or two until I was maybe 15 or 16. In those days we had what was known as a road show. We would put together a locally written skit which was like an oleo act and took it on the ”road“ which means that we traveled around to various churches, set up and did our act. We were judged and prizes were given. I seem to remember winning best actor for a portrayal of Mark Twain, but I could be wrong.

My next experience with acting and performing was in high school as I talked about in an earlier post. After my mission, I really got involved in the local theater scene, doing Arsenic and Old Lace at Promised Valley (the critics torched me, but I was playing a 70 year old man and I was 22 at the time), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Pioneer Memorial and probably the pinnacle, Bye Bye Birdie (title role) at Valley Music Hall. Conrad Birdie was close to who I imagined myself to be. It’s an Elvis-based character who gets drafted and wants to go out singing on The Ed Sullivan Show. For you younger folks, The Beatles debuted in the US on Ed Sullivan in 1964. In the show, I got to ride a motorcycle out on to the stage and dance like Elvis (yes, people, I could and still can) while girls screamed and hung on to my arms and legs. Yes, it was quite a rush. There were about 3000 people in the theater each night and all of them seemed to enjoy the show. I did this in 1974. In 2004 I was at my father’s funeral and a couple of ladies came up to me and said, ”You were Birdie, do you remember us?“ I did eventually, but good grief, 30 years later and I am still Birdie. Just goes to show that you only need one hit and you are set for life.

Electronics

All my life I have loved electric gadgets. It started with crystal radios, transistor radios and eventually I built my own 5 band shortwave radio from a kit. I took it to the State Science Fair in 9th grade and got 3rd place, only because I wasn’t there to turn it on and the judges could not figure it out. The switch was on the back. Electronics are addictive and I was totally hooked. Even when we had zero money, I found ways to indulge my habit, something I am not real proud of, actually. Televisions, VCRs ( we had one in the early 80s when they first came out) video cameras (I am on my 4th, I think and finally, HOME THEATER. I started dreaming about Home Theater 25 years ago when I saw a Novabeam projector hooked up to a high end VCR in a friends home. I knew I wanted one then and there. This year I realized my dream. After saving for 2 years, building the room and putting in all the electronics myself, I now have a very nice theater. Full high definition and Blu-Ray capable with gaming and internet access. It’s a great man-cave, but Debi likes it too. Bless her for encouraging me to save for what I wanted. Now, I have to put all my money into new furniture, paint, flooring and carpet, but I don’t mind at all. She deserves it and much more.

Photography

I have saved the best for last. When I was pondering career choices in high school, I determined that I wanted to be a journalist, specifically a photojournalist who traveled the world taking pictures and writing about my experiences. Then someone told me I shouldn’t and I didn’t, to my eternal regret. They said I would never make a living at it and it was not the practical thing to do. What I know now is that if you follow your dreams and work hard for what you want, it can happen. A person who makes a living from their passion is a happy, successful person. A person who sits in a cube all day wishing for something else is not so happy. My advice now, decide what your passion is and make a plan, with contingencies, to allow you to pursue it the rest of your life.

To continue, I got my first camera at age 7, an Argus C5. I took pictures of everything I could snow, the street from my bedroom window, the light-box on the wall, friends and whatever else took my fancy. Something about capturing images that I saw as artistic fed my soul in indescribable ways. I graduated from my C5 to a 35mm SLR with interchangeable lenses. It was a Minolta SRT-101 that my neighbor bought for me in Thailand for $120.00. I loved that camera for many years and shot tons of slides with it. It went on my mission with me and took pictures of my kids when they were young. I eventually bought another Minolta with a motor drive which I snapped happily with until I had to sell it to feed my family. Life’s requirements again intruded. Now, 20+ years later I have another camera, a digital SLR and this time I have a plan. I am studying photography almost every day. I belong to a photo group locally and go to the meetings most every month. I start work on my photo/art degree next semester. I intend to get into the stock photo business and possibly the portrait business over the next 10 years so that when I retire, I will have the career I wanted 38 years ago. Dreams only die if you give up on them. I don’t intend to give up on this one ever. Debi supports me here as well. Fantastic woman, my wife. If you want to see my work go to this link and check it out.