Fall drops

Unbelievably, fall is upon us once again.

There are so many things I love about fall- the mild temperatures, the colors, the holidays. There’s always a bit of somberness that goes along with it, though, because it’s the death of summer, and it portends the chill of winter.

This fall is hitting me on all fronts. I’m mourning adventures unfulfilled at the same time that I am celebrating forging into new territory. My workload, as of this week, has increased exponentially, which is at once exciting, confounding, dreadful and wonderful.

I can’t complain at all about this banner year. I saw the Moai of Easter Island and dived some of the clearest waters on the planet. I camped in the deserts of Australia and swam with turtles and sharks amongst the bright coral of the Great Barrier Reef. I learned to read music, and began a study of voice. I successfully completed my first classes in dramatic acting. I advanced my career and continued to faithfully serve my country.

Some of my plans didn’t quite make it. I wanted to take more trips; weekend jaunts with the tops off my Jeep. Up the coast to Maine. Down South to Charlottesville’s wine country. North to the ghostly ash-town of Centralia, PA.

I was supposed to go wreck-diving off the coast of the Carolinas with my friend Jeremy. I was supposed to reserve airfare to Egypt for a Spring trip to that country and all its fascinating history. None of that came to pass.

There’s still much of this year left, though, and it’s overfull with its own kind of adventures.

Yesterday was the first day of my second semester at DC Studio Theatre. “Voice I” will be teaching me more about diction, inflection, resonance, projection and levels. “Character and Emotion” will be delving into just that- hopefully bringing more emotional honesty to my work onstage. I’m most especially looking forward to the results of this course, even though the workload is going to be crushing. We were given our first week’s assignments last night, and I literally have no idea how I’m going to fit them all into my life.

My voice lessons with Ms. Winter will continue too, and there will likely be another recital sometime before the end of the year. Practice for this instruction is also a daily regimen, and the corresponding musical theory bookwork will have to fit into my schedule somewhere as well.

As if that weren’t enough, I also have several short film projects planned. I can’t help the ideas that come flooding into my mind, or my desire to continually try something new or push the technological envelope. These are the things that fire my brain. With any luck, I’ll be able to recruit some of my out of town friends to come down and participate.

And then there’s this weekend. I’ve entered a writing competition. Friday night, all the entrants will be emailed a subject, setting, and character breakdowns and will have until Sunday night to write a scene using those elements. 100 writers will then advance to round two the next week where the same rules will apply, only this time the deadline is 24 hours. Then, 10 writers will be selected for a third and final scene the following week where they will be given 90 minutes to complete it. I enrolled in this competition before I knew how much was going to be dumped on me this week from school, and it was probably a foolish move, but I can’t resist a challenge like that. Some of my best work has been done under pressure. Even if I’m eliminated in the first round, it’ll still be good practice.

In closing, I’d also like to mention that I hope everyone joins me in observing “National Talk Like a Pirate Day” this Saturday, September 19th. Arrrrrrrrr ya ready?