All the Children are Above Average

I just got home from a pretty wonderful day.

I woke up this morning in Clark and Melissa's house, which is always a treat. They're dear friends and mentors of mine, and for a few years they were my bosses when I worked for them as an actor, fundraiser, teacher and all-purpose-helper at Gamut Theatre Group. Every fall they host a party for anyone who's worked for the company over the 16 years they've been doing business. They have a big old Victorian house in Millersburg, and they always extend the invitation for people to sleep over and have a big breakfast the next day, where Melissa whips up a huge bowl of sausage and bacon and other breakfast goodies and Clark (who grew up in South Carolina) makes grits. Their devotion to the company makes it a place that feels a lot like a family, and their house feels, for me anyway, like a kind of second home. Last night I saw people I hadn't seen in years, friends I've missed greatly. I can keep up with them on facebook, but it's not the same as sitting down and catching up in person. I woke up feeling good, feeling reconnected to an important part of my life.

Alexis and I spent the morning shooting a promotional video for an upcoming event at the Ned Smith Center, where she works. She and our friend Caleb Smith concocted a film festival idea for the Center. Caleb, who runs moviate, a local film co-op, and teaches film at CASA (Capital Area School for the Arts), is a remarkably kind-hearted, intelligent, creative fellow. He is one of those people who can brighten up anyone's day just by being present. For as long as I've known Caleb I've thought it would be great fun to get to be a part of a film shoot with him, and today did not disappoint. His friend Jim directed and other friends of theirs chipped in and helped out. Alexis and I played a young married couple (big stretch there) on a picnic lunch with our son. Alexis' former theatre school student Gabriel played our kiddo, and his mom, our buddy Angela (who was responsible for our wonderful wedding photos) hung out, too.

The fun part is the event itself, and that provided a delightful twist on things. Caleb, Jim and Alexis are putting together a Bigfoot Film Festival (aka "the BFF"), a 3-day event in January highlighting films, documentaries, myth, lore and science surrounding the sasquatch / yeti / bigfoot phenomenon. It's such a clever thing for a Nature and Arts Center to be doing... I can't wait to go and take it all in.

The twist was, for our video, Jim asked his girlfriend (I think...?) Alice to play Bigfoot. Alice is a teeny little thing. She's maybe just over five feet tall. But she was glorious, and she honestly brought to life a rip-roaringly hilarious Bigfoot underneath a mountain of fur and latex and makeup.

So we dressed ourselves up to look like a clean-cut couple from the early 1960s. Gabe cut his hair for the role, something Angela never thought he'd agree to do. He was excited, nervous, and worked hard. He did a great job. It was fun for me to watch this young guy (he's 8, I think) give it his all. I coached him through Makeup 101 for Dudes so he would get over that hurdle and he took his base, powder and blush like a champ.

The conceit of the piece is that we're having a lovely picnic, and Bigfoot comes by. We all seem scared (who wouldn't, I mean c'mon?) but then Gabe grabs a flier for the BFF and Bigfoot, intrigued, joins us for popcorn-fueled movie screening and we all have a blast hanging out. There's more nuances to the promo than that, but I'll just post a link to the video once it's done.

It was a beautiful day and it should be a terrific little video that Alexis and I (and Gabe and Angela, and Caleb, Jim, etc.) can cherish and feel proud of for a long time.

On the way home I caught Garrison Keillor at the top of his game, singing, joking, wryly observing and movingly touching upon the very stuff of life in today's Prairie Home Companion. Keillor & Co. are an acquired taste, like most of the finer things in life, and I've found its taken me repeated listenings over the years to really get into his groove. I suppose it helps to grow older, too. Today was a beauty. If you don't believe me, look it up and see if you can have a listen for yourself: October 4, 2009.

Keillor, like Joseph Campbell and like so many other people I love and respect, sees stories as the truest currency in the world, the very glue that holds us together and binds us in a common web of humanity. We're all a part of the same story, and each of us has thousands upon thousands of stories unique to us that make us who we are.

I thank God for these kind of days. Now I have to spend the rest of it lesson planning and grading stuff! (gulp)