Back to December

I recently saw that there is a group on the internet named The Young Conservatives. Understandably, they post things with a slant towards the conservatives and I think that they could serve a great purpose in the world of debate, but there is one problem. In the process of abbreviating their name for their URL, they decided to go with youngcon.com. Young Con. Cons are not positive things, in fact they stand in opposition to the pros. When Cons are people, they are convicts or confidence men (which are also convicts). Just saying.

As you probably know, a police officer was not indicted on murder charges in the death of a young man this past week. You already have your opinions on this case, and I will not place mine out there. Because my opinion on a court ruling will not bring a young man back to life, will not help a police officer feel safe in his home, will not heal a city/state/country in turmoil. Side note: yours won't either.

Moving forward.

November is over. Thanksgiving and its consumerist sibling Black Friday (named for the surge in business pushing companies out of the red and into the black) have passed. Advent has begun and the Christmas cards are being created, printed, and pinned. The Christmas season is upon us.

With the end of November, comes the end of Movember, No-Shave-November, or Hipster Holiday Month, whatever you want to call it. To those of you out there using your face (or legs, ladies) to bring awareness to a good cause, thank you. You are doing a good thing for those that want someone to notice and care for them. To those of you simply continuing your facial forest: stay beardy and beautiful. To those of you that are lazy and just waited for an excuse to make your morning routine shorter: no comment.

Another thing December symbolizes: the end of the fall semester. This means papers, tests, projects, and cramming galore. For those of you with group projects left to do, my heart goes out to you. Everyone dreads them, with their scheduling and their extra effort and their scheduling and that one kid that doesn't do anything. I remember when a couple friends and I drank in order to care less about a project and just do it.

So my question this week to move into December and the end of this semester is:
What is your worst group project memory?

As always, if you would like to comment on something here, do it. Also, let me know if you want to hear my views on something or would like me to address something specifically, regardless of what it is. Follow (@a_m_whitehead), Like (on Facebook), Share (with the world), and be well. Until we meet again, goodbye world.

Truth in Dare

In the most recent issue of Outside Magazine, the cover story focuses on a Spaniard named Kilian Jornet Burgada, a man that, aside from being one of the fastest ultra-marathoners (100 miles) on the planet, takes part in a movement called Fastest Known Times (FKTs). The point of FKTs is to - well - achieve the fastest known time in an extreme activity, such as ascents of the highest peaks in the world, something that Jornet accomplishes in under a day. He is currently preparing for his FKT attempt on Everest, the world's tallest and most well-known summit. Jornet is revered as both a trendsetter and a looney, but neither definition concern him. He dares in order to achieve greatness.

This reminds me of a t-shirt I had when I was younger. It showed two cartoon monkeys standing on the ground and a third hanging from a tree limb by its tail while wearing wayfarers and a Hawaiian shirt, and underneath this depiction, it read, "Dare to be different." I have been thinking back to this shirt a lot recently, and how its mantra manifested in my life since. I never really wore "crazy" outfits or delved into Satanism, but I also didn't bother worrying much about the thoughts of others. Well, except for in middle school, but I mean - middle school. Aside from that, I've always tried to live by my own definition of myself.

Daring to be different and define oneself is not something I created, nor will I ever take credit for doing it well. Instead, I will point to other people that did.

Michael Faraday (1791-1867). One of the many people in the line of technological advances that brought the world into the 21st century, Faraday discovered properties of electromagnetism and is one of the greatest chemists in history (he invented one of the Bunsen burner's predecessors). None of this would have been possible had Faraday listened to what those around him said about him. Born to a poor family during a time of extreme classism, Faraday had to fight stand against the turned-up noses of the affluent, even being made to ride outside of carriages after rising to a bit of fame.

Nikola Tesla (1856-1953). He argued with Thomas Edison about the benefits of A/C power over D/C power, citing that A/C power was far more effective and less dangerous than D/C. Edison brought about fake claims of deaths due to A/C power and said that the only suitable purpose for it would be death row. It would take many years and a mass of house fires due to D/C power for Tesla to be righted and D/C to become the electrical supply for the chair.

Temple Grandin (1947-). Diagnosed with autism would fail to get at the definition of who Temple Grandin is. She fought against a culture of chauvinism in ranching and farming to revolutionize the US livestock industry. She continues to be a proponent of animal welfare and autism rights activism, and is in one of Time's lists of top 100 most influential people...ever.

So what's your takeaway?

Don't give up. Dare to try news things, despite what people may say, because those people aren't you. The world is a ever-changing and, dare I say, evolving place with new ideas and people and places left to see and meet and explore. Also, don't say someone can't do something, because you're probably wrong.

If you would like to see me talk about something in particular, post a comment below. Don't forget to subscribe to this blog, like me on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter @a_m_whitehead.  Until we meet again, goodbye world.

Hello World

Interviewer: Andrew, welcome back to the league, what made you decide to come out of retirement?

Andrew: Well, I'm not sure I ever actually retired...

I: No posts in months, after a good run of postings, what were you doing if not retired?

A: Biding my time.

I: So this is just a well-timed resurgence?

A: I just want to stay present on the internet.

I: Don't we all.

A: Do any of the other interviewers have any questions?

I: I'm the only one here.

A: I imagined you, I'm sure I can imagine someone else too.

Interviewer 2: So why come back to blogging?

Interviewer 1: Yeah - what is this, 2007?

Andrew: No heckling!

Interviewer 1: You want to hear a joke?

Andrew: No.

Interviewer 1: Blogging.

Andrew: Whoa now. Loads of smart people blog.

Interviewer 1: So why are you?

Andrew: I think we're done here.

***

I'm back!

I decided that I couldn't just up and leave the blogosphere. I still need to keep writing and putting my words out there for you, the world, to see. Speaking of you world, I'm going to need some of your help in keeping this train running. You see, I'm going to be posing questions to you. No not reading comprehension questions, because I want you to enjoy reading. These are going to be polls about certain topics, what movies to watch and critique, and what topics you would like to hear my views on. I like to hear your thoughts on things in a nice civilized manner, so post them. I just ask that you think before you post.

So what can you expect to see from this:
- a weekly terrible joke
- a weekly recap on news (both my news and news news)
- a bit of topical writing (it is what I do)
- maybe some special guest appearances
- the presence of food
- a weekly poll question
- other miscellany that I find fun and/or relevant

What you shouldn't expect:
- slander
- posts driven to get a rise out of people in a bad way
- any derogatory remarks about any groups or persons (states are still fair game)
- topless pictures of me (well, maybe one or two)
- selfies
- txt tlk lol
- fast food delivery
- a cure for lobotomies

If you would like to stay on the cutting edge, and get all of the blog deets before anyone else, watch for a new posting every Sunday night (Charles Osgood said I couldn't have Sunday morning). If you miss it, don't worry, a social media blast will go out Monday morning, just as you are sitting at your workstation and regretting getting out of bed.

For the news about me, here's what has happened since I posted last:
- I never wrote that musical
- I was in one show
- I designed the set and lights for another
- I wrote, directed, and produced my own piece
- That piece was my senior thesis
- I got engaged!
- I graduated from Eastern University
- I didn't get into Carnegie Mellon or NYU
- I did get into Rosemont College's Dual-Degree Program (MFA in Creative Writing and MA in Publishing)
- I moved to Philly
- I started working at Eastern Mountain Sports
- I started my graduate schooling at Rosemont
- I was promoted at EMS
- I designed another show at Eastern (which premieres November 13, 2014)
- I am helping to build a tree house
- and somewhere along the line, I grew a beard.

That's all for now. If you would like to see me talk about something in particular, post a comment below. Don't forget to subscribe to this blog, like me on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter @a_m_whitehead.  Until we meet again, goodbye world.

Why Do Today What You Can't Start until Tomorrow?

Starting tomorrow, I am going to be a part of a week-long playwright's workshop.  It was supposed to start today, but when do airplanes ever cooperate with the plans of people.  C'est la vie.  Anyway, I am working on my first attempt at musical writing, instead.  Well, the book for a musical anyway.  While I do enjoy music, both the listening and the playing of it, I am not what most would deem "gifted" with those composition abilities.

Because I am sure that my faithful readers are dying to discover what this musical is about, I will tell you several words: whores, naivete, and love.  Why?  Why not?  I have been told again and again to write from wherever I am in my life at that point and time; ergo, whores, naivete, and love.

I'm just kidding.  There's no naivete in my life.

(shakes head to snap out of weird inner-monologue)

Anyway, the real premise of the show is about questioning when people should just go with what they're told to do and when they should undermine the system, and how much that might cost them in the long-run.  To write all of this, I have my whiteboards running at full-power, my iTunes is gracing me with music, my sticky tack is ready to be worked over to help my neural connection, and my coffee pot is now only half-full.

So here I sit, a twitchy recluse writing a musical, while the blinding sun is burning the world outside.  If I don't show up for dinner, people should probably arrange a search party, start with my room and then move on to local ditches.

Writing is Reading is Writing

The final year of my undergraduate career has begun, and too much has changed over the past several months for me to believe that this place is still a home for me.  That sense has passed away with the passing of my mentor, collaborator, and dear friend.  Entering into a space, once co-inhabited with him leads to a vast emptiness, but as he always ended his emails regardless of the information contained within, "On we go."

My senior year means numerous preparations for me.  Grad school applications, thinking of back-up plans, a possible mutiny, thoughts towards a better future, et cetera et cetera.  I have come to the realization that my future lies inside the insane world of the theatre, predominately as a writer, but the probability of acting is equally as high.  I went back and took a look at the first play I ever wrote recently and realized how much I have grown; as a writer, as a person, and as a creator.

That first play tells of a group of people mourning the loss of a friend, and the mystery of the death of the Loch Ness Monster.  It stems from four dudes, locked in a room for 24 hours, and pushed to the brink of insanity.

Since then, I have learned that I want to be a playwright and/or a librettist.  I will be visiting some potential graduate schools this fall, and, of course, am incredibly excited, anxious, and scared all at once.  I have learned a lot about the creation of stories and more particularly plays.

In the words of Joss Whedon, "Just finish it."  There's always time to edit after you're done with it, but if not everything is finished, then how do you know how to edit anything to get to culmination of the play, because, after all, the ending is the most important part of the entire story.  Without an ending, there is no story.  There are simply some menial moments.  These moments need to mean something and lead to something.

People change.  They should change in your story.  If your main character is not dynamic, then your play better end in a lot of tragedy and travesty and frustration.  Stories need some sort of journey, whether literal (There and Back Again) or metaphysical (any internal struggle ever).

And most importantly, read.  Read things - all things.  Literacy is a gift.  Understanding and meaning-making are an even greater gift.  If you think something sucks, try to understand why it sucks to you.  Be disgusted by things.  If you aren't disgusted by somethings, then you aren't human.  If you need something disgusting to look into, think about something that angers you.  Think about how much people are not doing to remedy this situation.  What you are feeling now is something pretty close to disgust.  Go pick up something by someone that wrote during the grotesque period (i.e. Tennessee Williams or anything that has to do with a carney).  Try and understand why they chose these protagonists.  Research the meaning of words.  I would suggest starting with the word "agony" and its Latin roots.

Question everything and everyone.  Learn to love learning.  The world we are currently inhabiting needs more people that are knowledgeable and wise.  Philosophize.  Communicate.  Argue.  And of course, read.  You won't regret it.  Trust me.  Ask your teachers, they are paid (usually) to know these things.

Long-hand

As to why it's called "long-hand" I have no idea.  Entomology has never really been something I've wanted to pursue.  This is rather about something that I've always been told and chosen to ignore.  Therefore, I will start with an apology to Mrs. Snyder, Mrs. Dehel, and Mrs. Gott.

They told me that doing actual prewriting can make a paper ten times more organized and might actually earn me an A in the class.  I ignored that and earned B's in high school English classes.  I then go to college and it's more-or-less the same thing, but now it's my major.

Here I am now, struggling to complete my first full-length play - as in something that should be around 100 pages of text.  I'm on page 16 and I've realized that I have no idea where this thing is going.  So what's a boy to do?  Pre-write.  Completely.  Essentially writing the story before actually writing the story.  Not just figuring out the characters or writing out a dramatic premise, the whole thing.  Scene by scene.  The way I like to do this is - well - long-hand.

When Life Hands You an Ultimatum, Explore

Earlier on this morning, I received an email from one of the schools I am applying to for grad school telling me to contact them if I had any questions in regards to the application process (If you do not remember from my first post, I plan on pursuing an MFA in Playwriting/Dramatic Writing).  This prompted the sending out of emails to the heads of department at my top five choices: Carnegie Mellon, Brown, NYU: Tisch, University of Iowa, and University of Idaho.  I asked three questions of them: 1) What do you look for in potential students; 2) What are things, coursework or extracurricular, that might be advantageous for the potential student to do; and, my favorite, 3) What is one thing you have seen in a play, either written or performed, that you loathed, or was a pet peeve?  I have received only one reply thus far, which is actually a lot quicker than I was expecting to receive, and that person's email, especially their answers, moved their university up in my rankings.  However, it also made me realize the gravity of what I'm preparing to do.

When kids are in high school, they are bombarded with the statement, "The decisions you make today will affect your future."  Back then it means, getting a DUI will cost them more in the future than it will now, but in college it means that you are deciding what you want to do with your life.  The email that I received back blatantly stated that the students that get accepted into the program are really pursuing a life in scriptwriting and are immediately thrust into a life of being a scriptwriter, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.  Now this could just be the way that I had always perceived things, but I have never really known someone that followed such an immense dream in a business like the theatre arts and truly made it.  That is not to say that I do not have friends that have followed their dreams and succeeded, but I think they just had dreams that were more easily attainable, or were somehow modified to appease their situations.

There really is not a way to walk oneself out of a statement like that, but I will not delete it, because if you are disappointed by that, then odds are you did not want your dream bad enough.  To which I say, "Stay curious and stay thirsty, my friends."  At the same time, be thankful.  There may come a time when you look back on life and ask, "What if?" about certain situations, but when those situations come around make sure you give heed to the question, "Why not?"  Sometimes the reasons why not outweigh the what ifs.  Look for the what ifs that excite you the most, and go from there.