Requiem for a Ghostbuster

   Anyone who knows me well will tell you about my quirks and my ability to be charming. They can attest to my love of all things nerdy. Lord of the Rings, Firefly, Batman and so on. Of all of these things that I love, these little fragments that make me who I am and validate my nerd status, there is only one true glowing gem in my crown of nerd-dom and that is four men in tan and sometimes grey jumpsuits with unlicensed nuclear accelerators strapped to their backs standing between the living and the evil forces of the spirit world.

The fast, the beautiful, the only, Ghostbusters.


   A lot of folks are huge fans of the Ghostbusters for one reason or another. Most people, unless they have been living under a massive rock for the past 30 or so years have seen the movies and can quote them at will. As a kid I remember coming home from school and watching a VHS copy of the original movie that was recorded off of TV. Between commercials for a new series starring Brice Willis  and Cybil Shepherd called "Moonlighting" and the trailers for a new movie called "The Princess Bride" a slightly edited version of Ghostbusters would play. When I was in first grade, many many moons ago, I would go out to recess and try to find other kids to play Ghostbusters with me. I rarely got any willing volunteers and would just save the small town of Angleton Texas by myself. The toys I remember the most were all of my Ghostbusters toys, My Proton Pack that got so worn out that I got a replacement, the action figures, the vehicles, the video games all of them defined my childhood. I remember waking up early on Saturday mornings and sitting through Winnie the Pooh cartoons just for that glorious twenty or so minutes of the Real Ghostbusters. I was hooked from the beginning.

   I also remember a childhood filled with sickness; being diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes at the age of 6. I remember losing my father to a car accident when I was 9. I remember being a child that was afraid of my own shadow. I was afraid of ghosts. I was afraid of everything. Ghostbusters taught me to be brave when I am alone in the dark. It taught me that these things that go bump in the night could be eradicated and helped to move on. The first Ghostbusters toy I ever got was and Egon action figure. I remember that night when I went to bed, I stood him up on my nightstand with his proton pack. Egon stood sentinel for me and watched over me as I slept, He did this every night without fail. That Christmas, the rest of the Ghostbusters came to join him, along with the Firehouse and the Ecto-1. After my father passed, I started to become more interested in the world of paranormal investigation. I looked everywhere for him but he was nowhere to be found. For my 8th birthday, I got to see Ghostbusters 2 in the theater. I dressed up in a makeshift uniform and wore it proudly to the theater.

   When I got a little older, My mom took my brother and I to Florida to Disney World and Universal Studios. At that time, Universal had a Ghostbusters "ride". It was basically the climax fight from the first movie. I was too scared to go and see it, I wet instead to the gift shop that was attached to the ride, It was filled with all things Ghostbusters, They even had uniforms,I was crestfallen to discover that  they did not have one that was made for young teenagers, just for smaller children. So I settled for a cool t-shirt instead. Looking back now, I regret not going on the ride, When we made another trip out with my sister a few years later, the ride had been replaced with something else. However, I did get to meet the Ghostbusters on that trip, and Egon was the one who came up and shook my hand. I know fully that Harold Ramis was more than this one role. I know he was a writer, director and producer. His impact on comedy and films in general, and the actors and actresses that he has inspired in his many years is impressive.

   I feel this loss on a more profound level than I ever thought I would. I have never shed tears for any famous person when I hear the news of their death. I am always saddened by the loss. This year alone with the death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman I felt as most of us did, that we had lost one of the greats, far before the final curtain should have come down. I felt the loss, and I moved on. I will do the same for Harold Ramis, but not before I express just how much this man impacted my life from such an early age. I cried when I heard he had passed. Friends texted me, and sent me messages on Facebook. My brother was the one who broke the news to me. My mom emailed me to make sure I was OK. My family knows me, and they know how I feel about Ghostbusters. I'm sure a doctor could list several reasons all relating to fear of loss and fear of the unknown that relate to my love and fascination with Ghostbusters that has continued well into adulthood. I have good and bad memories of my childhood and Ghostbusters was the one constant happy place I went to. It is the happy place I still go to.
 
   It has been a busier semester than I expected. sometimes I feel like I am swallowing sea water to make the ocean smaller so I can keep my head above the water a little easier. Lots of projects and commitments going on. It's great to be busy, and to be distracted form the horrors of normal life until they sneak up on you and kick you square in the balls. This is a breather. This is my deep breath. This is me keeping calm and carrying on. This is me saying goodbye to a man I never met. To a man I never knew more than the characters he played. This is me, trapping and storing a memory in my state of the art containment unit.

  Thank you Harold Ramis, thank you. May your spirit be at peace, and we'll see you on the other side.

 

A Rear in Review and a Charming Anecdote about a Pawn Shop Romance

                                                                              
                                              "This is it? Gandhi ate more than this!" 




     So here we are at the start of another year, and my resolution to not make a resolution is going strong, I have high hopes that THIS resolution will be seen through to the very end. Mostly because come about mid-January, I will be neck-deep in homework and various projects and work, which will cause me to forget that I made any type of resolution to begin with. You see people? Keeping your resolutions is much easier than you think, Just resolve to not make any, and you will never feel like a failure.
 
      Well then, lets get to it shall we? 2013 ended on a higher note than 2012 for sure. So much has happened this past year that was positive in my life that looking back with anything but "Warm-Fuzzies" is kind of difficult but I will give it the ol' college try.  I started off 2013 being blind in one eye. this trend lasted for about 6 months or so until some time in early June when I had a vitrectomy and the offending blood that filled my left peeper was replaced with a proper, clear liquid,  You never really get to appreciate something so delicate as your sight until it is taken from you. I had a great support team in place and would have been unable to do much of anything if it hadn't been for my family's help and a great team of doctor's sticking delicate needles, horror movie style into my eye. Thank the Gods for steady hands.
 
      Despite this lapse of total vision, I still managed to go back to school and find my calling. I designed the sound for "No Exit", the spring play at Lonestar College-Kingwood and swept the sound design awards, and earned a scholarship to Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches. I owe a world of thanks to Kali Vlahos and Eric Skiles two of the coolest professors as well as coolest people I have ever had the great fortune to meet. If it hadn't been for their guidance and blind trust in a guy they hardly knew doing design work for their show, I wouldn't be where I am right now.They will be in every acceptance speech I ever give.
 
      Speaking of cool people and things, I am about to begin my second semester at SFA and really couldn't be more excited about it. I met so many cool people when I came into the program. Professors and students alike. It's hard going away to school when you're 18 but I can tell you that it doesn't get much easier when you're in your 30's. Luckily, I am old enough to go and buy beer or something stronger to relax at the end of the day. However, not being of age doesn't seem to be an issue with some people getting booze (just an observation). It has been a hell of a ride thus far, and I know it will be even better as it goes. I'm ready for it. It took me 31 years to find something I wanted to do for the rest of my life, but I finally found it. I think that these things come to us when we need them most. I did college off and on for years, never really getting anywhere but now that I know what it is I want, I will not stop until I have it.


I also met Morena Baccarin AND Tricia Helfer so suck on that internet,

   I repaired my electric guitar with mine own hands as well. She's playing as beautifully as she ever did, and I feel a little more complete with her back in one piece. The story of this guitar is almost like a fairy tale. I bought her at a pawn shop in Angleton, Texas about 8 or 9 years ago. She traveled with me to Austin and San Antonio. About a month before I moved to Vancouver, I was broke and needed money so I decided to pawn her. I did, and then moved and thought she was gone forever. Fast forward to a few years later. I am in different pawn shop in San Antonio, shopping for an electric guitar to replace the one I loved and lost by my own stupidity. I was going down the aisle of guitars hanging on the wall and one catches my eye. It was a nice shiny blue Fender Stratocaster with a price tag that was within my price range. I sat an played it for a minute or two, plugged it in to the test amp to make sure it actually worked and decided to buy it. As I stood up, something on the wall caught my eye. Something that had a familiar curve to it. I laid the strat on the counter and walked a few steps down from where I was standing. It was facing away from me as it hung there on the wall. I noticed a familiar ding in the body close to the strap knob. There was this tiny flutter in my stomach as I got closer. " I know that ding.", I said to myself. I reached up and grabbed the guitar off its hanger and turned it around, and there in my hands once more, was MY guitar. My Washburn Maverick was back in my hands. I looked her over to be sure, and yes. It was her. She has three very distinct little dings and scratches on her that are like birthmarks or dental records. Without hesitation I went and paid for her and took her home. I am a firm believer in things happening for a reason and I will never again let her go. she's my number one lady, and she came back to me.

 Anyway, Im excited about the new year and all that shit so let's get to it,



Until next time, Stay warm, stay happy, and dont let the NSA catch you picking your nose while you are looking at facebook on your phone,




Cheers!!