In today's paper i saw an article about one of the local high schools putting on the production of Dracula. Complete with flying wire harnesses. How awesome is that? In high school i worked the set crew for the musicals. Yeah, i could sing too. But i had WAY more fun building the sets. My best friend from HS, Frank, and i built all the sets for both productions every year. Give a man a fish and he can eat for a day. Give a 16yo power tools and he'll build you a new theater. I'm sure that my first set design for our production of Oliver is still around almost 15 years later. Those things were bomb-proof! I designed a set that could break apart into separate pieces depending on the needs of each scene. Each scene used these 4x4 boxes in some manner. They had to be able to be danced and stomped on. They had to be able to get inside of them. And in the final scene, they all came together to construct the London Bridge. I was so proud of building them. And even more proud when the director chose to save them rather than strike them at the end of the production. They continued to be used for years. Those in conjunction with Frank's rotating stage, at least in our minds, made the play. We became the set crew at our school. But this team almost never happened. And it's all because of snowboarding that it came to pass.
My sophomore year i wanted to get a new snowboard. I had a board that was 2 years old, but it was holding me back. I tried to get one the year before but to no avail. This year i had the money in hand and the determination to get the board i wanted, no matter what. My mom finally caved. But with one caveat: i had to do something new for the winter. So she suggested that i go down and talk to my favorite teacher ever (read: most hated teacher in HS) and join the set crew. I hated Mrs Frillici. I had had her in my freshman honors classes and she was a tough witch. But i wanted a snowboard more. Amazing how a teacher can be one person in the classroom and a complete other person outside. To this day, she is one of the most amazing teachers i've ever had. An enlightenment brought on by a desire to snowboard. So i joined the the crew that year.
Had i not joined the crew i never would have met Frank. Sure, i had known who he was. That one guy in school with an air about him that transcended age. He was older, yes, but he was that guy that commanded the room by simply being in it. We butted heads at first, oh yeah. But what we soon realized was that our designs and concepts were light-years beyond what had been tried before. That was our bond. Yes, the butting of heads would continue from time to time. I may have tried hitting him with a shovel once, i don't recall, but i'm sure he deserved it. (Sorry about that, Frank) To this day, although we lead completely separate lives we can pick up right where we left off without missing a beat. He's a true friend. And all because of snowboarding. And my mom being a hardass on me. Thanks mom, you helped create this monster that is GNAR. For that, and so many other things, i am indebted to you.
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