The Geo Tracker: My First REAL Car

1986 Ford Mustang LX

She sputtered. She choked. She once lurched herself into a cement pole on her way out. But before that? She was mine. But I had to give her up...

Lifestyle Upgrade

I was a junior in college and had scored a scholarship that covered not only tuition, books, and room &board, but also paid me a monthly stipend on top of it.  I didn't have a job since I was taking 15-18 hours a semester so that stipend was a God-send to finance my lifestyle.  At the time, I was driving around my beloved 1986 Ford Mustang LX shared between me and my father.  The car was an ugly, 4 cylinder, gas guzzling death trap (my mom would not drive the car for fear it would get her into an accident or leave her stranded somewhere) BUT it was MINE.  When I got a steady stream of money coming in, I decided to use that stipend to help finance my car.  I hated having to give up the car because she was my first but at the same time...

Goodbye, Ya Crazy B****!!!

The 1986 Mustang LX throttle-bodied and had a knack of getting stuck open sometimes especially in the hot, Texas weather. So, when you would turn the ignition off, the car would stay on for about 10-30 seconds afterward sputtering and gurgling until it truly ran out of gas. Depending on where I'd park the car, there would be times I'd die of embarrassment in silence while I waited for the car to finish it's creative death scene while onlookers would judge how crappy my car was and feel sorry for that owner sitting in the driver's seat being jostled around violently.  I was ready to part with that monster.

Gyat Damn!

1996 Geo Tracker

Meet the new girl: The 1996 Geo Tracker

I don't remember exactly why I picked this car to be mine; maybe because at the time, the Suzuki Samurai, it's Japanese cousin, was all the rage amongst the hip-hop community (I wanted a Mitsubishi Amigo too) and it was "close enough" to feeling like I'd be "down with the streetz"...or at least as close as a dorky college kid in South Texas could get with a Geo Tracker and a dream. Also, my Tracker was a convertible with a hard top on it; I was living in an apartment complex and had experienced a number of break-ins over the years so having hard top for me was a must.  I was stoked at the idea of having a brand new car with some cool-factor built into it.  

After finding it on the Chevrolet lot, my dad, girlfriend, and I walked into the office with the salesman and Dad began the dreaded "negotiation" process.  My dad could do many things — tell a joke, fry a mean chimichanga, teach you Algebra without breaking a sweat — but a great negotiator, he was not.  Since it was my first time buying a car, I kind of stayed out of it and let him do his thing.  All I cared about was the monthly payment.  I don't remember if that was asked of me but I'm sure he negotiated me paying something close to MSRP on it after all was said and done 😆.  As long as I could afford it and it would leave me with some change, I was cool.

Oh, The Chaos!

Dad had authorized them taking the Mustang as a trade-in.  Of course, the dealer wanted to drive it around  before making an offer on it.  "Oh no," I thought.  It had barely limped into the dealership — then sputtered for a solid 10 seconds after we parked, as if it was still deciding whether to give up or go out swinging.  I got a sick feeling in the pit my stomach as they kept talking. My dad handed over the keys to the service guy dressed in grease-stained blue coveralls and a faded trucker hat; let's call him "Billy Bob". He grabbed the keys and proceeded out the front doors to my red jalopy.  "Faaaaaawk," I thought praying the car would behave itself long enough for us to seal this deal in my favor.  

As we sat across the salesman desk, I watched Billy Bob get into the car and fire it up with a huge roar; I guess he pumped the gas pretty hard before hitting the ignition.  The salesman, whose back was to the calamity about happen behind him, was shuffling paperwork around and maybe trying to upsell us on other services they offered.  Billy Bob pulled out of the lot and roared off down the street.  "Good," I said to my girlfriend while simultaneously letting out a sigh of relief.  I thought, "OK, we're half way done."

About 5 minutes later, Billy Bob enters the lot.  I watch him quickly pull back into the same spot where it was parked. He turned the car off. Then the fireworks began.  The car convulsed like a chain-smoker at mile 3 of a marathon — coughing, wheezing, and throwing a tantrum like a toddler hopped up on Capri Suns and vengeance.  It then lurched forward from its parked position and smacked the yellow cement bollard hard.  Billy Bob, slack-jawed and befuddled, jumped out of the car with the quickness.  We couldn't hear him but he was saying something to the car looking shocked while motioning with Looney Toons-esque ferver towards others in the adjacent  garage. 

I busted out laughing hysterically.  The salesman and my dad watched me crack up not knowing what the heck was so funny about the contract they were discussing.  I excused myself and walked out of the room still laughing. My girlfriend walked out and asked me what was so funny.  I did my best to explain it to her (she didn't find it funny) and awaited Billy Bob's verdict on the car.

A Deal Sealed by a Crash

Billy Bob walked into the sales office and yells "500" and walked out just as quickly as he came in. "Deal!" I yelled. To me, that amount was worth more than the headache of having that car (I'm sure we could've gotten more in parts alone) but after that trade-in debacle, I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible with my new car.

I drove that car until it died in 2006.  It served me well until the transmission started slipping and I had replaced the starter 3 times in the span of 3 years.  The story of that trade-in? It involves heartbreak, a tow truck, and a tearful call to God — but we’ll save that for another chapter.

Changes

I've experienced a shift in my approach to my work lately and haven't been able to put my finger on what that is just yet. There have been a few of things happened recently to remind me of how awesome theater could be.

I attended a Conservatory 3 showcase recently and both teams were really good. It was fun to see them *just play*. No BS. Just fun. Go up there and get dumb with each other. Totally got inspired by them and wanted to run up on stage and play with them.

Last night's TMLMTBGB rehearsal was super strong with some of the plays really coming together with hive mind and strong emotional choices being made. I normally abhor tech weeks but this one I'm actually enjoying (probably cuz I don't have to memorize 30 two minute plays).

I also ran a workshop recently where I married my IT consulting and improv worlds together to show each other how similar they truly are. Got rave reviews on it.

I don't know if it's old age or just maturity kicking in but something has changed for me in the this Covid-endemic world. I hope that I keep the courage to continue working and determining what it is while enjoying myself a bit more.

#grateful  

Rawk It To The Top!

I recently subbed a class on their last day.  Their super-talented teacher had something come up last minute, and fortunately I was already nearby doing working with a class to put together their musical direction for their show; so, I volunteered to take it.  Once I was confirmed I got it, I checked out their syllabus; there was nothing on it too hard to take them through.  I figured we would play the games the teacher requested and I'd tweak things here and there to get them ready for the next term of classes.

Things went way differently than what I expected.

The class was very large but friendly.  We met informally outside of the classroom while we waited for it to be vacated by a previous class.  Everyone seemed psyched to enjoy their last day and I recognized a few students from the improv jams I have been leading previously.  We all got along great.  They even laughed at my corny jokes so I felt pretty comfortable with them already.

Once we got  in the room, we immediately got to work.  I did my usual thing of tying the warm-ups to what we would be exploring later in class.  Their energy picked up from the beginning and soon they were buzzing.  Eventually, we go to the point of playing the games.  With me stressing them utilizing object work to discover the play within the games, they took to the instruction like fish to water.

We took a break and I left the room to go retrieve something from another theater.  Once I returned, I saw a large group of them bunched up talking.  One of the students asked, "Are you teaching the next class in the next term?"  I told them "Yes."  A roar of cheering erupted and a student asked if she could hug me.  I was caught off-guard by the reaction but I'm not going to lie - I loved the attention and the appreciation and most importantly the confirmation that I provide value to folks in their improv journeys.  We played some more afterwards with some new games and finally ended the class.

One of the students approached me telling me that they were at first thinking of giving up on the improv program but after that class and knowing they would have me as a teacher, they decided to give it another shot.  Again, it felt good to be wanted and not just tolerated.

I got this from that same student via email:
"I wanted to thank you again for the incredible class on Sunday, the entire crew's energy at the bar afterwards was electric and we're all super excited to take part in [class] with you."

I can't wait to get in a room with these cats and share what I have to offer.

Some Recent Improv Workshop Testimonials

When I started learning and performing improv, I had one goal - gain the respect of my peers.  When I started teaching improv, I started out with one goal - give each of my students the tools they need so that they can be excellent actors somewhere down the line.  Recently, I've been leading workshops where I believe I'm able to knock out both goals at the same time :)  

Yes, it's a bragging post.  Don't like it, scroll through.

 

Movement Workshop:

 

 

Musical Improv Workshop:

 

Indiana Thespian Workshops 2023

I got the chance to work with high/middle school students today with a couple of workshops for the Indiana Thespian State Conference at St. Mary's College in South Bend, IN.  

Morning

The day started with waking up at 5 AM and driving to South Bend.  I was all set to use a Starbucks gift card but found at that Starbucks wasn't open that early in the morning; however, Dunkin Donuts was open so I got my donuts and coffee from there.  C'mon Starbucks, really? Homie woke up every morning because it was "Time to make the donuts"!  You're too sophisticated to wake up that early to do the same?  #LostBusiness.  The drive was pretty uneventful as I listened to YouTube and YouTube Music along the way to keep me company.  

Navigating a college campus in the dark is difficult.  Hardly anything resembling signs are lit well and of course the names of the buildings are always on the side you're never on.  So, I ended up by accident parking in the right place using a PDF map and stumbling my way over to where my first workshop was - at 8:15 AM ET.  

To be honest I wasn't too optimistic that I would get a good attendance for my Intro to Improv workshop as it was really early.   As I showed up to my room, I saw three students sitting outside eating and talking.  I greeted them and opened the door to my room.  I was immediately disappointed.  The room was a boxy, traditional college classroom complete with desks and chairs. All of that equipment would severely limit how much room we would have to move around.  I immediately sprung into action and rearranged the room by pushing desks against wall and chairs underneath.  I was pretty proud of myself as I opened the room pretty well - until the students walked in.

I had 40+ students and chaperons stuffed into this room.  Our first warm up with to do a circle warm up but with so many people, someone suggested a second circle in the middle.  At first I was against it but then figured "Why not?"  So, we got a second circle in the middle set up.  As I was going to start my first exrcise, the door opens up and an adult peeks in.  She asks, "Do you have room for more?"  I say, "We'll make room.  Bring 'em in!"  "We have 11", she says.  I think about it and say "Yep.  We'll make room."  I turned to the room and said, "Make room for a third circle!".  

I scrapped all of my plans and said, "We're doing a three layer Zip Zap Zop".  I explained how I wanted them to play it; they would pass energy by making eye contact with another player and pass it along.  The goal was to try to get through all three layers each time.  It worked like a charm.  I debriefed the exercise and discovered a new way to do a tired exercise and make it exciting.  Plus, I got to demonstrate the idea that listening important; had I not listened to the suggestion, I would have never found this version of  the game.  The rest of the workshop got us to the point of improvising some games and was well received.

Mid-Day

I took lunch in the student center by paying for a morning brunch buffet.  It was pretty good.  The area has a very open atmosphere and every seemed nice.  I did notice that there were a lot of women in the dining area but I didn't pay any mind to it.  I ate my food quietly at a table and by myself while watching politically charged YouTube clips.   As I walked out, I noticed a big sign pointing to a lunch for the conference.  I was like, "Cot damn it.  They provided food and I didn't know!"  Luckily it was a boxed lunch so I took it and decided it would be my dinner later on.

I then decided to check out the vendors and recruiters at the events and struck up conversations with a bunch of them.  I'll spare the details here but I got three interested parties into bringing me and/or a group of mine out to expand their curriculum with improv workshops.  I also got a chance to reconnect with a former artistic associate from Salsation who had worked their butts off to become a professor and leader of a program at one of the universities.  We exchanged pleasantries and talked a lot of shop around our journeys from the point we played in Salsation together to getting to our current positions.  As a teacher, it was nice to feel that I was a bit on par with his academic roadmap.  I have super respect for "real" teachers especially in the public school system as they have such a hard job taming the craziness of youth while trying to embed some knowledge into the hard heads of these kids. 

Afternoon

I also took the time to beg for a new room as I knew I'd have a lot of people for my second, more advanced workshop.  I connected with the right folks and my wish was granted (I owe them a beer or two since we had to swap out another class for mine to get the room).  The second workshop was just as killer as the first one and held a couple of surprises.  The first being that when I went around the room getting names, pronouns, and reasons for being there, I had a few students come back to the workshop due to how much the really enjoyed the first one.  That warmed my heart and boosted my ego to end.  The second was I was able to stuff a lot of games and participation into a 1.25 hour workshop and walk out there with most kids really enjoying themselves.  An hour fifteen isn't much time to go into more advanced concepts bu tI feel I pulled it off in a cohesive manner.  It also helped that I had one of the aforementioned teachers wanting to collaborate take the class so I got to show my value to him and give him a taste of what I could do with his students.

Before I went home, I decided to hit the student center again just in case they decided to serve dinner.  I once again saw a huge queue right outside the dining room area so I went inside and saw a full Italian spread waiting to be served by the staff.  I ended up striking up a  conversation with the manager in charge along with many of the servers and was able to get a to-go box filled with goodies for the ride home.  

Summary

Overall, this was a pretty fruitful day.  I've got some gigs out of it while getting paid to share what I already know.  I reconnected with an old friend and made some new ones.  All in all, it was a success.