Writer's Block: The Best Thing You've Done
Since I'm a pretty big fan of everything I've ever done in my life, this is a difficult question to answer, but two accomplishments come to mind, each reserved to specific category of life, because existence is nothing but dual, yes?
Professional: This past April, I was in charge of an elementary school's annual PTA carnival; since I'm the director of the site's After School Program, which facilitates community-wide events all the time, the PTA President reckoned I'd be a natural in the role. She would've been right, if the carnival's projected date didn't conflict with said community-wide events that I help facilitate all the time! Still, with a superhero theme (that I didn't pick out, I swear!), and a dedicated team of staff, teachers, parents, and volunteers, we pulled it off and raised a significant amount of dough for the school and my program. Hundreds of kids played superhero-themed carnival games, received free comics thanks to an impromptu donation from Cornerstore Comics here in Orange County, and met the likes of Darth Vader and Boba Fett courtesy of the Orange County Star Wars Society. It was safe, fun, relatively easy to set up and tear down, and by far the culmination of two of my life's greatest passions. 'Nuff said!
Personal: December 1999. Bill Clinton was ending his second term in office. A young Britney Spears was still an innocent pop princess, her genitalia still a mystery to a grateful world. And the Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon was in theaters, celebrating the fifteen-year anniversary of his untimely death. My friends and I took in the Jim Carrey vehicle on my birthday, and it so rapidly changed my life that I was determined to pull a media-worthy prank that met the likes of Kaufman and Zmuda's early '80s escapades. T.p.ing houses simply was no longer enough, and besides, we were all in or approaching our early '20s and thus getting too old for that kind of thing. It was Christmastime, so . . . well, I've posted the results here. They got their little savior back, okay? And I assume the others are still in the Peoria Police Department evidence locker, waiting to be claimed. Story of Jesus' life, if you think about it.
Of course, if I died now, in this moment, and it was a fairly fantastic death -- like "Geek Crushed by Towering Comic Book Collection," or "High School Rival T.P.s Geek to Death" -- then that would be my greatest accomplishment . . . building something so big (i.e. my comics long boxes or another's need for revenge) that it defined me to the end. Who among us can claim that?
Professional: This past April, I was in charge of an elementary school's annual PTA carnival; since I'm the director of the site's After School Program, which facilitates community-wide events all the time, the PTA President reckoned I'd be a natural in the role. She would've been right, if the carnival's projected date didn't conflict with said community-wide events that I help facilitate all the time! Still, with a superhero theme (that I didn't pick out, I swear!), and a dedicated team of staff, teachers, parents, and volunteers, we pulled it off and raised a significant amount of dough for the school and my program. Hundreds of kids played superhero-themed carnival games, received free comics thanks to an impromptu donation from Cornerstore Comics here in Orange County, and met the likes of Darth Vader and Boba Fett courtesy of the Orange County Star Wars Society. It was safe, fun, relatively easy to set up and tear down, and by far the culmination of two of my life's greatest passions. 'Nuff said!
Personal: December 1999. Bill Clinton was ending his second term in office. A young Britney Spears was still an innocent pop princess, her genitalia still a mystery to a grateful world. And the Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon was in theaters, celebrating the fifteen-year anniversary of his untimely death. My friends and I took in the Jim Carrey vehicle on my birthday, and it so rapidly changed my life that I was determined to pull a media-worthy prank that met the likes of Kaufman and Zmuda's early '80s escapades. T.p.ing houses simply was no longer enough, and besides, we were all in or approaching our early '20s and thus getting too old for that kind of thing. It was Christmastime, so . . . well, I've posted the results here. They got their little savior back, okay? And I assume the others are still in the Peoria Police Department evidence locker, waiting to be claimed. Story of Jesus' life, if you think about it.
Of course, if I died now, in this moment, and it was a fairly fantastic death -- like "Geek Crushed by Towering Comic Book Collection," or "High School Rival T.P.s Geek to Death" -- then that would be my greatest accomplishment . . . building something so big (i.e. my comics long boxes or another's need for revenge) that it defined me to the end. Who among us can claim that?