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Not Good at Acting My Age?

I turn 45 years old next month… and I’m starting to wonder if my maturity level isn’t quite matching my age. Friday night, it was Guys’ Night Out. So naturally, we drove about an hour away to Woodville to see the wrestling event there at their high school.

The energy in that gymnasium was my version of warm and inviting. So… I couldn’t help but join in the action by taunting the wrestlers who deserved it.

Yes, I am in my mid 40s. I have a wife and two kids.

When word got out the next morning, my wife was not surprised at all to learn that I instinctly confronted all the bad guys from the stands… as well as one in particular, as he was crawling away from the ring. I gave him a stern warning:

“STAY DOWN! You’re not going anywhere. You’re going to sleep on the gym floor tonight.”

At that point, he lifted himself up from the gym floor in an attempt to slap me across the chest, as I immediately put up my dukes in response. Then, still exhausted from losing the main event of the night, he fell back on the floor and I walked away like Vin Diesel walking away from an explosion.

Yep. Turning 45 years old next month.

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Dear Jack: Back to Slime

15 years, 3 months.

Dear Jack,

There’s no way around it. You had just as much fun as your sister and cousin this past Saturday, making slime from Dollar General shaving cream at Nonna and Papa’s house.

The slime has continued to have daily replay value back at our house every day after school.

I love it that playing with homemade slime is an activity both you and you sister can bond over. I wouldn’t have guessed it!

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: Dollar Store Shopping Spree

9 years, 10 years.

Dear Holly,

This past Saturday while Mommy and I drove to Chattanooga to go see a movie and out for lunch afterwards, you spent the day at Nonna and Papa’s house.

As the pictures started rolling in, it appeared that Nonna had taken you and your cousin Darla on a Dollar General shopping spree!

Not only did you get a new stuffie, but you had so much fun making slime with the shaving cream you bought.

Good way to spend a Saturday.

 

Love,

Daddy

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What’s my motivation?

Exactly a week ago, the 7 show run of the “Jukebox Diner” came to an end; meaning I have now completed my adult debut as a “stage actor” at age 44. So I naturally ask myself, “What was my motivation? What inspired me to do that?”

The obvious motivation was knowing all the financial proceeds go to help fund the DeKalb County Children’s Advocacy Center; which is all the movitation needed.

But I think, from a psychological perspective, why was I personally driven to say “yes” without hesitation when being offered a role, then dedicate the next two months to memorizing my lines, going to rehearsals several times a week, and dedicating another two weeks to perform.

My answer: I am challenge-driven.

It makes me feel alive to be able to figure out how to adapt and overcome obstacles.

It makes me feel alive to be able to figure out how to entertain people; to make them laugh and to provide an environment where they can laugh, while seeing and connecting with other people they know in the audience.

It makes me feel alive to be able to figure out how to create a character and bring them to life, based on just lines in a script.

During each of the 7 performances, despite knowing my lines since the very first rehearsal, there was always the reality that I must be prepared to smoothly react if someone else forgot one of their lines- and likewise if I forgot a line myself.

There was also the fact that sometimes, in the moment, on the stage, I would suddenly come up with an idea potentially better way to deliver the line; whether it was my body language or simply by dramatically pausing before I spoke, to add tense in order to intensify the absurdity of the comedy.

And of course, there’s the fact that I was able to get to know an entire group of people in the process; who I wouldn’t have met otherwise.

What was my personal motivation in joining the cast of the DeKalb County Children’s Advocacy Center play this year?

I’m simply wired for it. Some might even say I am dramatic. I know my wife would.

To see my performances, check out the link below and look up the time stamps provided:

1:14:38 through 1:34:04

1:56:26 through 2:02:11

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Dear Holly: You Joined Me for Play Practice

9 years, 9 months.

Dear Holly,

During the couple of weeks of rehearsal for the play, you decided to join me on three different occasions for our rehearsals.

That meant you got a front row seat to the show, in addition to you hanging out with Mommy helped me rehearse my lines.

I can say this confidently: You learned my lines better than I did!

Love,

Daddy