Audio Chimera

Mike finds himself back in high school in this time traveling audio series. This is Episode 7, "The Exchange Student."

Some spectator  behavior has been so bad that it has stuck with me for years and  decades. Some of the stories became cautionary tales that I told my Intro to Theatre students to suggest poor theatre etiquette in hoping they'd be better. Here are those stories.

Kid Again is an audio drama about a person named Michael who suddenly realizes he is in his 9th grade classroom in Catholic school. This is a surprise because, before he went to bed, he was 39 years old and packing for a move with his pregnant wife. Is he dreaming? Did he actually travel back in time? And for how long? And…if he is going to experience those years again, knowing everything that he knew when older, how careful does he have to be to not effect great changes while at the same time having more fun than he did the first time around?

Mike finds himself with a girlfriend who seems interested in having a very physical relationship with him.

Kid Again is an audio drama about a person named Michael who suddenly realizes he is in his 9th grade classroom in Catholic school. This is a surprise because, before he went to bed, he was 39 years old and packing for a move with his pregnant wife. Is he dreaming? Did he actually travel back in time? And for how long? And…if he is going to experience those years again, knowing everything that he knew when older, how careful does he have to be to not effect great changes while at the same time having more fun than he did the first time around?

In this episode, Mike makes a new friend: Joey, who may in fact be attracted to him.

My religion—Catholicism—was presented to me as Holy Armor, to be worn as protection against the evils of the world. But armor tends to rust, as mine certainly did. So I see the world through the lens of secular humanism. Also, pop quiz: what does a bodhisattva and an escapee from Plato's Cave have in common?

People will sometimes ask others, "What are you afraid of?" Here's my answer, which includes heights and public speaking. Well, I got over that one. Listen to find out how.

The audio series Kid Again continues with Episode 4 with Mike, once again a teenager, finding himself presented with new opportunities to use his adult experience at a makeout party. How far will he go to make his second time around a lot more fun?

You can listen to the other Kid Again episodes by checking out:

AC Episode 44: KA Episode 1

AC Episode 49: KA Episode 2

AC Episode 57: KA Episode 3

As a young undergrad snob new to academia, I was pretty full of myself about that. I denigrated mere laborers. And that's odd since I came from such humble beginnings, and had many not-great jobs. Luckily, with age comes wisdom and tolerance, at least in my case.

People love that Christmas classic stop motion animation version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and watch it annually. But for me, it embodies so many terrible ideas. Pro-conformity, anti-environmental, anti-union, anti-individual...it's the embodiment of so many things I value.

The Christmas photos provide distinct evidence for my Huckleberry Hound doll. He, along with my GI Joes, vanished into thin air, and I wonder where they got to.

I loved cars when I was a kid, and even contemplated going to Vo-Tech to learn auto mechanics. But my experience being unable to work a model car suggests that that was a serious strange and misguided thought.

Was I abducted by aliens? Well...I have a long history of reading conspiracy theories about aliens. And I've used this research into creating several plays about aliens. Take a listen to learn more about those plays, and to answer that abduction question. (The link to "proof" is on my blog at https://musofyr.org.)

So many people say they strive for perfection. But I say unto you: perfectionism's a false idol. Too often it leads to things not getting finished because the things will never be perfect. (And sometimes it's just an excuse not to finish something.) So I propose an alternative: abandon perfection, and strive for excellence instead.

I have a great network of friends around the country and some acquaintances abroad. And yet I still lament the loss of friends with whom I have lost touch, in one way or another. I'm a very loyal person and try to stay in contact, perhaps beyond when I should. Here are some reminiscences of three particular lost friends.

People are always making New Year's Resolutions that add things to their lives and busy schedules and I once read an article that suggested we reduce what we do. So that's my resolution: which I am making on the eve of the arrival of  a new kitten. Follow my blog at musofyr.org for more on that! 

Incidentally this concludes Season 5 of Audio Chimera; I'll be back in 2023 with Season 6!

I may be retired but it's not stopping me from reflecting on those years of teaching and talking/sharing some success stories. One of the problems I had was science majors telling me they didn't know how to write an "arts paper" since they didn't write research papers but rather lab reports. To address this, I added a new way of looking at my research paper through the lens of the scientific method.

Okay, maybe it's not that spectacular. Growing up there were always arguments about decorating, which made no sense to me. But that translates into conflicts in the world, and maybe we should just stop fighting and enjoy the season.

This is the third episode of my audio drama series Kid Again, which is what I am calling Autobiographical Speculative Fiction, about a man who suddenly finds himself back in high school. What he can he change about himself and his experiences that will make this time more fun? Having been a total nerd before, he now decides to go to a high school dance and actually interact with females. 

Episodes 1 and 2 are in Audio Chimera episodes 44 and 49, respectively.

How does a terminally shy introverted child became a theatre person? It does appear there were inklings of it along the way... But then, a college theatre professor helped me on the right path to a successful career in the performing arts.

Why do some toys become obsessions? This was true of the Cabbage Patch Dolls, the craze during the time I worked at Toys 'R' Us.