Breaking "Being Boring"

Ok.. let's make one thing very clear... I am not having some kind of mental breakdown. This is not a Britney Spears style move to keep me in the news and on the headlines. I am not drunk nor have I been drugged. I have simply come to the realization.. that I am one boring person.

Now, I am not slamming myself here. I think my life is rather interesting and I enjoy living it. I have a wonderful wife, great kids, a job I enjoy and hobbies that.. well.. ok.. I can consume myself with hobbies, but that's been well documented here through many blog posts.

What I mean, is that I am.. the same. I am the kind of person that when I find something that works, I stick with it. Ever since I was young, my preferred wardrobe is jeans and a t-shirt. Once I find a brand.. I stick with it, never venturing away from it, because, as they say.. "If it aint broke, don't fix it" As I kid I used Crest toothpaste, therefore, as an adult I still use it.. I don't go near that Colgate stuff. If I wear out a pair of shoes, I go back to the same store, and by the exact same kind that I had before. It's always the same same same same. I mean, look at our pop stars these days... every other month they have a different hair-do. Meanwhile, I have had the exact same hair style since I left high school. Like I said, I'm incredibly boring. So... I finally decided, it was time to do something different.. to challenge myself to step out of my comfort zone and take a chance.

A few months ago I was talking to a friend of mine from college (who will likely get blamed for this) and he had just done something wacky: He shaved his head. According to his logic.. some people just look good bald, but you never know how your head looks, until you try it. Sure, for many baldness is not a choice they get to make, but for others will a full head of hair, until they take the plunge and leave their comfort zone, they'll never know. Plus, if it doesn't work out, it only takes 3 weeks to grow back out, so it's a tiny portion of life that you are sentenced to look wacky.

I thought about this long and hard and finally decided.. this is where I have to start.. to break my normality schedule. Yup.. when the time was right, I would shave my head.. bald. And that time seemed to be: today. Yesterday we took the bi-annual family portrait/christmas card photos, so I didn't have to worry about screwing with that (My wife would have killed me if I was bald in the family portrait). Plus, she is getting ready to leave town for 10 days to visit various family for the Thanksgiving holiday (I have to work), so she'll barely have to see me if I look like a dork, because by the time she gets home, it will have mostly returned. So now was the perfect opportunity to step up to the plate.. to leave my comfort zone of normality and... do something wacky.

Here is the photo journey:

1. Start out with a nice (and getting grayer by the day) head of hair:

2. Convince the lady that cuts my hair that I REALLY do want this and give her the thumbs up to shave it.

3. Cringe in my seat as she finds great joy in giving me a mohawk. (At this point I got a little light headed.. this whole "leaving my comfort zone" bit was suddenly a touch more drastic than I had envisioned)

4. Done.. no more hair.. hope and pray my wife doesn't have a heart attack (No, I didn't tell her about this little venture before hand.. As I look in the mirror it suddenly occurs to me that not mentioning this to her, may have been a very bad idea)

5. Return to work to the gasps of my coworkers as I walk in the door.

So.. now what? Like I said, I am still a bit light headed with this sudden change (maybe that is from not having any more weight up there...). But never fear.. I am sure my hair will be back in no time and I can go back to my same old.. normalcy in life. Until then.. brrrrr... my head is suddenly a bit cold!!!

My Exploding Son

For the last several weeks my life has been volleyball volleyball volleyball. It's been a lot of fun trying to get through the season, but when I spend lots of time filming every game, and then even more time carefully sorting through and editing all that footage, often on a frame by frame basis.. suffice it to say I can get a little bit tired of watching the sport. So it's good to have little breaks once in awhile.

And this season, my break was... more video production. Yeah.. I know.. I'm nuts. As reported on many times throughout the summer, the boys and I have had a goal to make our own Indiana Jones movie. We began filming in mid-July and we continued, filling up spare weekends and evenings here and there, until we finally finished filming a few weeks ago. No, the film is not done. I have edited quite a bit and am pleased with the results so far, but several tricky sequences still need some work. With volleyball having tight deadlines, I have to stay on track, but this whole Indy film has been a nice break.

So while it may be a few weeks still until our little movie is done and released on the web for the world to see, here is a brief look at one of our trickier scenes, where I got to blow my sons head up. Yes, you read that correctly. I got a lot of strange looks from people when they asked "what are your plans for the weekend?" and I got to answer with that. But it was true. Not to give away to much, but in the movie, the villain, played by my son Tyler, gets his head chopped off by a supernatural sword that doesn't seem to like evil baddies. (Apparently supernatural swords only like good guys). To make the movie a little more "Indy like" (and because it sounded cool) we added a little flourish to the scene by having this decapitated head blow up after it hits the ground (blame the sword.. they have tempers after sitting in caves for hundreds of years).

This gave us a challenge... how to film the decapitation (Little Calvin figured out that one) and the head explosion. After some sick, twisted brainstorming, I came up with a plan that might work. And so, with the girls gone for the day (of course) it was time for the boys to pull out our toys.. and in this new YouTube age, document each step of our gross journey.

So.. without further ado... It's time to blow up my son's head:

Spartan Power, Spartan Pride

On a cold, wet and dark Oregon Coast night, it was the perfect sports setup as the 2008 Oregon Volleyball State Championship Tournament began: Marist vs. Siuslaw. Siuslaw was a league champion, first seeded team, playing on their home court with a large and very loud home crowd. The Marist Spartans were a second seeded team.. the underdog, with less fans. One of their key players and hardest hitters had broken her ankle in practice just one week earlier, filling the players with doubts as to if they could continue to win without her on the court. One team wins and gets to move on to the final State tournament for the top 8 teams, one team goes home with their season finished.

On everone's mind was the year previous, when they had been in the exact same spot: on the road in the first round of the state tournament, but falling short, ending their chance with a tough loss. No one wanted to feel that way, to end the season there.

In game 1, Marist was warmed up, on fire, ready to take on their opponent. With the momentum in their favor, they beat Siuslaw, proving they could stay with the tough teams, injuries notwithstanding.

But in games 2 and 3, Siuslaw prevailed, taking over and stealing that momentum. It quickly entered everyone's mind that one more loss and the season was over.

But this is where the Marist Spartan pride took over. They never felt defeated, they knew this was their game, their night. Winning game 4 forced a game 5. One final quick game to 15, both teams now even, both playing at the same level.

And at last, the Spartans proved to their fans, their parents and themselves that when they never give up, they can succeed, winning game 5, and not ending their season. We all knew it was going to be tough, to go to a higher seeded team's gym, to play on their court, with their fans, as the underdog, without our top hitter, but they never gave up and ended the evening victorious.

From my point of view, I think my hair went several shades grayer, watching us lose games 2 and 3, watching that momentum shift away from us and feeling helpless to do anything. But what a night of pride, to see these girls come out of it and never give in. What an awesome victory, what an awesome team, and I count my blessings that I have the unique opportunity to be part of the program, to know the team and to be able to capture the moment for these girls, on film. It was one of those nights that makes a sports documentary filmmaker proud, to capture that emotion and the triumph so they can never forget what it felt like that night. Not that they'll be forgetting anytime soon. Having just finished filming my post game player interviews, everyone on the team talked about the game being a highlight of both the season, and in many cases their volleyball career so far at Marist. So Saturday night will be a VERY long remembered night for this team.

Now... On to the Big Show... Time to take the momentum from last weekend's game into this weekends even tougher run for the state title.

Go Spartans!