One of my most favorite holiday movies...
The Polar Express!!!
And to experience it all over again, at Christmas time, with my 7 year old nephew and 3 year old neice curled up in the crook of my arm??? PRICELESS!!!
I am filled with the spirit of Christmas...
It is a wonderful feeling!!

A North Dakota Tribute...

My friend, Shari, found this amazing article in Esquire Magazine about travelling the state of North Dakota...

Anyone who has traveled this stretch of interstate will understand...

"Because how often do we sit for five hours, chewing beef jerky, watching the sun set? In silence? In dreams? It never happens anymore, except in Canadian hospital emergency rooms, but even then, there's something to watch other than the sunflowers turning west. Without having to make so much as a single lane change, I'd entered the closest thing to a runner's high that a fat man can feel. I had rolled clean into bliss, my mind as open as the fields around me. Squinting into orange, I thought about those things that we never let ourselves think about — those things that we actively defend ourselves against thinking about by having so much other stuff to look at and listen to.
On that godforsaken highway, I had revelations. I witnessed miracles. I saw every mistake I had made. I made peace with my regrets. And then I looked forward, ahead to the first few folds in the earth, to the canyons and the Continental Divide. I saw the rest of what I wanted out there. I saw the battles I still wanted to wage, the people I still wanted to meet and meet again, the trophies I still wanted to hang on my walls. I saw nearly every place I wanted to go between now and the end, and by the time I saw that big blue sign in my headlights, WELCOME TO MONTANA, I saw, too, that I wanted North Dakota to last forever."


Thank you, Chris Jones, for writing such an amazing article honoring a state I hold so near and dear.

Thank you, Shari, my dear friend, for reminding me of my heritage and my roots and for bringing a longing back to a time I had forgotten...when life was out in the deep Badland hills, singing, dancing, and having a good time underneath the starry skies, hiking out into the buttes at night, climbing to the top and laying on the scoria laden ground...so close that you could almost reach out and touch the shooting stars...believing that at any moment...you could feel the hand of God...

Please read more at: http://www.esquire.com/features/empty-highway-1209?click=main_sr#ixzz0Ygve5OOY

A moment of Thanks...

So, I find it hard to blog as much as my cohorts.
I hope that it is alright with my readers...
But I want substance rather than lots of crap on here...
So we wait...til the "AH HA" moment arrives and then I type...

So I have just made it through a lengthy weekend of rest and relaxation...
A weekend of Thanks...
A weekend of family...
A weekend of closeness, laughter, fun, and connecting.

I am thankful for so many things in my life this year.
I took a few moments, over the weekend, to look back and am in awe at where I am today...in comparison to where I was a year ago. The only thing I can compare it to is a complete rollercoaster ride. And I am humbled. And I am blessed. I am a man who has taken a new journey and feel so much better for it.

Scared to death?? Absolutely!
Tired and beaten down? You bet.

But this is an avenue that I also feel such accomplishment, such great responsibility to the young minds I have in my grasp, a responsibilty to teach these young people about the power of theatre, the power of the spoken word to a student who may or may not have experienced anything like it. To hold up a mirror to the face of American student and show them what they can accomplish IF they put their minds to it.

Are the minds of today's young people different than when I was in school? ABSOLUTELY! There are times when I get so frustrated with my students...at their laziness, their inability to perform a function that I consider not so difficult, placing hurdles in their way that I know they can handle and they stumble...it is in those frustrating moments that I have to remind myself that the thought process of today's youth is a much different mind set than when I was in school. I would never allow myself to lacksidasically forget this or that...or just not do the assignment...that was NEVER an option. I got the job done. This is not the case with today's youth.

I have heard many of the teachers around me regretfully admit that they have found themselves "dumbing" or "watering" down their requirements or expectations. In my own assessments, I had considered this. But my mentor has encouraged me to not succumb to this... and I agree...I refuse to not stretch the minds of today's youth...lowering my expectations to formulate a program that cowtows to the lower level learners, leaving the higher level learners to serve as co-instructors. I just will not do it...
So...with that said...my step-mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year...and as I looked back...and contemplated what I have accomplished, where I have come and where I want to go in 2010, I told her, "You know? For the first time in my life, I feel absolute CONTENTMENT. I could not ask for more."
Well maybe...World peace...and Matthew McConaughey...

You know you have arrived when...

1. Your neice runs to you for a hug the minute she sees you.
2. Your nephew wants to hang out with you in the bicycle section, trying out each bike for just the right fit.
3. Your students give you cards, a photo collage, and such for a directorial debut...
4. Your cast and crew all stand and applaud you at a awards banquet, bringing you to tears....
5. A student who has been a "classroom management" issue finally "gets it" and says he has the paper you have requested from him 6 classes ago... YES!!!
6. Have students say they love you!

But the number one reason you know you have arrived?
There is a teacher, who is a mentor of mine, who has an awesome laugh that stands out in a crowd. The students call it the Mackle Cackle. Well one student informed me that I also have a laugh that stands out over a crowd...I never knew...and the students call it the "Higgle Giggle" or the "Higgy Gig"!!!!
I think this is MOST EXCELLENT!

This Is It

"I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways
And No Message Could HaveBeen Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself And Then Make A Change"
~Michael Jackson

Such a wonderful docmentary and it really got me thinking...
If we really want to make the world a better place in which to live...it all starts right here...right now...inside you.

Is there something you can do to make your world a better place?

The definition of the word NORDIC:

A person being from the Nordic countries, the northwestern European countries of Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Denmark), as well as Iceland and Finland.

-OR-

If you are of Nordic race: "a physical type characterized by tall stature, long head, light skin and hair, and light-colored eyes"

And I believe they all wear these types of helmets in NORDIC countries...

Or maybe it is just large busty women who sing operatic high notes...

Usually accompanied with long blonde braids...

Rest in peace, my dear fellow thespian.

May you find sweet peace from all of Earth's toils and may God wrap you in precious slumber. You have fought the hard fight and can now rest in sweet peace, free from pain and hurt.

We love you, Matty Kamprath!