Stage West produced a shortened version of The Crucible that played for one week only in early October. And you had to be either a high school or middle school student in the Fort Worth Independent School District to see it.

It was a great show, the re-write was done very, very well, and the cast was excellent. And, I was lucky enough to be the Stage Manager for the show. I edited this video together last night, and I hope you enjoy it.

You can also see a little bit of my acting at 1:42.

The company seemed to be doing really well - the owner, my boss, had recently hired a secretary.  And, over the summer she went from being a temp hire - who was just riding out the last few months before she and her family moved to another state - to being permanent with the condition that the owner hire her under-qualified husband and give her a pay raise.

But, it turned out that the company, in spite of having doubled the number of employees, was not doing so well.  In fact, it seemed that the company wasn’t making enough money to make ends meet.

Throw on top of that the fact that, on the advice of the secretary, the owner had rushed out one morning in a huff to file a divorce with his wife, and you can imagine that things were probably looking a bit grim for my boss.

And, just like that, I went from being the only Microsoft Certified System Administrator working at an IT firm, to being the only person who couldn’t be under paid - and things became hostile quickly.

The owner couldn’t summon the grit and courage to tell me that he couldn’t afford me, and probably was concerned about having to pay an unemployment claim, and instead began a multi-week attempt at forcing me to quit.

He used every tactic - he insulted and belittled me, he made fun of me, he lied to me over and over again, and finally pulled the same tactics on my pregnant wife.

But, I refused to quit.  The economy was going south and I was expecting a baby.  I told him he should either fire me or the charade should end - but, he refused to do either.  I was waiting for a straw to break the camel’s back.

Finally it happened.  I went home from work on a Monday in early August, and received an email from the boss.  He told me that I had left a tool cart somewhere other than where it was "supposed" to be and he was terminating me as a result.

Relief.

I had finally gotten away from the constant abuse.  Filing for unemployment proved eventful.  He lied to the workforce commission about the circumstances of my termination - but, in the end, they sided with me.

It was painful and a terrible experience to live through because the boss had been a friend before he was a boss.

But, there’s great news: I found out that Dana and I could survive just fine.

Things were tight at first, but - with the help of friends, I found work.  I worked temporarily on the Barney and Friends set, and did some stuff for Bob the Builder.

I got to do a lot of auditioning, narrated Peter and the Wolf twice in front of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and stage managed (and did a tiny role in) Stage West’s production of The Crucible.

Finally, at the end of all of this great piece-meal work, I was offered a full time position with the Arts Council of Fort Worth.

The Arts Council is a nonprofit organization that raises money for arts groups in Fort Worth.  Its sole purpose is, to a certain extent, to help arts organizations stay afloat financially, and able to keep creating great work in Fort Worth.

Brilliant.  Working in the arts is what I should have been doing all along.  And the Arts Council was perfect.  The people here are like-minded folks who all believe that "The Arts" are one of the most important parts of any society - and worth fighting for.

It’s a tough time to be saying this, with the economy the way it has been - and the massive lay-offs, but here’s what I’ve learned: Don’t work for a company whose goal you don’t agree with.

It sounds simple, but it’s really not.  It’s one of those things that is really easy to overlook - I worked for Halliburton once. And, I actually considered it a possible long-term career.

Not everyone can work for a nonprofit, or even wants to, but it’s what’s right for me.  And, that’s really what’s important - finding what’s right.

Where ever I am, from now on, the first question I’m going to ask is why I’m there - and if the only answer is "to make enough money to pay the rent," I’m going to have to find a different place to be. 

First things first, if you don’t already know how to operate a gun - don’t attempt to use one in combat.  The worst possible time to learn to use a new tool is when your life most depends on it.

There can be nothing worse than hearing the dry-snapping-twig sound of a hammer and firing pin falling on an empty chamber that you expected to be full - especially when it’s quickly followed by the crunch of the fetid teeth of your intended target as they tear through your skin and muscle to take a bite out of you.

Be Prepared

Before the apocalypse rolls in, and the angry masses of the recently dead come beating down your doors, is the best time to get ready.

The more prepared you are for the rising the better.

What to do

If a gun sounds like the best option for you then now is the time to get one.  Depending on the type of gun, it may take up to seven days to actually lay hands on it.

1. Type

There are many, many types of guns, and your friends and family are probably the best ones to advise you about which will work best for you - But, generally speaking, a pistol is best for close up combat and a rifle does better at long range.  And, shotguns are a different beast all together and rely primarily on the type of shot (the shotgun "bullet") you use, and to a certain extent the length of the barrel.

And, because guns are so different from each other, it’s best for you to become acquainted with all types, because who knows what you might end up with after the carnage.

Pistols

Rifles

Shotguns

As I said before, shotguns are a completely different beast - they are neither the completely inaccurate free-for-alls that Fully-automatic weapons are nor are they as accurate as a rifle or pistol at short range.

If you decide to use shotguns, my suggestion would be to use them only for close range combat.  Shotguns are useless for pin-point accuracy at a long range.

There are two important things to keep in mind about shotguns:

1. They are Maimers: Shotguns shoot a bunch of lead pellets at a target - and those lead pellets tear that target to pieces at short range. You’re just as likely to end up with a crippled zombie that is still trying to eat you as your are with a completely inanimate corpse.

2. Shotguns are loud: There are ways to make silencers for shotguns, but they are, at best a shallow joke.  Shotguns make a lot of noise - and noise draws zombies.

Practice Practice Practice

Now that you are armed find a local gun range, purchase bullets for your gun and go practice shooting.  The only way you’ll get good is by doing it.

Also, learn to clean your gun.  Guns are precision instruments that rely on diligent cleanliness.

Practice shooting, and practice cleaning your weapons.  Make sure that you understand the different types of bullets, and their characteristics.

This post could go on for a while - as there are many topics to cover from gun safety to cartridge reloading.  The thing that I most want to stress to any future gun owners is to be prepared.  Get ready now, and you’ll worry less about your abilities later when you should be worrying about other things like whether or not to amputate your best friend’s leg.

As usual, if you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments section.

This is an extremely important election. I’m not going to tell you who I think you should vote for. I won’t even tell you who I’m voting for. But, no matter what you believe - you should get out and register - Because you CAN’T vote unless you’re registered!! It’s important, and, yes, it makes a difference.

Even if you think you don’t want to vote you should register - because you might change your mind.

It’s really simple - google has even created a page dedicated to making sure that everyone can get their hands on the information they need for their area. Go to http://maps.google.com/vote and find out how to register.

Click through the jump for the video.

But, I wanted to make sure that people who want to see pictures of the little baby, will have a place to look for them - and, also, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to entice my family to visit my site every once in a while.

So, if you’d like to keep track of baby pictures (and I hope to post one a day) you can check out the “Pictures” category in the navigation bar.

Not much has been happening outside of the whole not-getting-sleep thing, and of course the core reason for the not-getting-sleep thing: the baby-thing.

Actually I take that back, I spent the last 2 months unemployed and hopping from contract job to contract job and loving every second of it, and now I’m gainfully employed again - More on that later.

In the meantime feast your eyes on my beautiful baby - I realize she’s probably ugly as sin, and I’m letting the parent-blinders thing trick me, but you’ll just have to put up with it.