Pushing Against a Parenthesis

It's no fun being sick. Illness has decimated WCU's campus this winter, with many of my friends going down with the flu or some like malady. I can imagine what the plague might have been like in the Middle Ages, only my friends would have died during that time rather than just disappear from class for a few days.

On Wednesday of this week, it was my turn. Either food poisoning or a stomach virus violently attacked me at 5 am. It is now Friday night at 10:30 pm, and I have yet to sufficiently recover. I think I've eaten two meals since Wednesday, and only rarely have I ventured from my bed and my room. There was a fever for a while, but that is gone now, I believe.

Fevers do strange things to your mind. In my "Academic Steroids" blog, I mentioned that I do not use drugs, though Javalanches come close. A fevered brain also probably shares many characteristics with one on drugs. The imbalance of chemicals takes your imagination down some wild and original paths.

My first job after earning a B.A. was with the National Park Service in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park-- Cades Cove, TN to be specific about the location. I lived in a house in the woods of the park about 15 miles from the nearest store or any other settlement. My roommate was from Wisconsin. For about two weeks, a couple of his friends-- boyfriend and girlfriend-- came and stayed with us.

They were straight up hippies, complete with a flower power van. They were also great people. We sat around a camp fire each night, sang songs and told stories. I remember them as being some of the only people I have ever met who said I had a strong Southern accent. Most people, particularly Southerners, think I'm from outside the South.

When the hippies left the park to continue their random journey, the girl wrote us a note thanking us for letting them stay a while. I saw it pinned to the door, and I wish now that I had saved it. It was one of the most remarkable documents I have ever seen as evidence to what drugs do to someone's mind. There was nothing malicious or really even sad about the note-- it had a happy tone. But this girl was simply on a different playing field. I can not mimic it or give a like example. I would have to see her direct quotations again and show you the zany connections she made with her multi-dimensional logic.

Having a fever last night, though, and what went through my head made me think of that note again.

According to the alarm clock on my desk, last night around 3 am I spent about 20 minutes pushing against a parenthesis. I had shrunken down to be the size of a case letter on some unknown printed page, and I wanted to push against the parenthesis next to me. See what a parenthesis looks like ( The points at the end jutted out too far for me to get much force on the concave center curve, so I borrowed a lower case "l" to add leverage... see (l It was a very satisfying sensation to feel the lower case "l" make contact with the points on the parenthesis. When they hit, a noise echoed like the metal on metal clang of Han Solo in the Carbon Freezing Chamber of The Empire Strikes Back. I was able to get a lot more force in my push. Neither I nor the parenthesis were going anywhere, but I was quite content to push until my arms became tired.

Eventually, I grew bored with the exercise, so I interlaced my hands over my stomach and rested. At this point, I felt my arms detach from their sockets. It was not painful. Actually, it was easier to move my torso to a comfortable position in bed without arms getting in the way. My arms then floated down to the foot of the bed, yet I could still feel my hands and wrists lying dead weight on my stomach. It was a singularly unique sensation, to see my limbs in one location but feel them in another.

There were other hallucinations my fevered mind brought me last night, but I suppose I should end this blog in case I want to run for political office one day. Don't take this stuff too seriously. I've just been in my small dorm room in Madison for almost three days now, and the strange imaginations of last night have been the most interesting thing to happen.

Once I'm over this virus or food poisoning or whatever it is, I will rejoin the mainstream society and sound a little more normal again.

Everyone enjoy their spring break.

Until Next Time,

Nathan Marshburn

Guys and Dolls, Gods and Goddesses

I love the theater.

Two of WCU's productions this year have taught me a better appreciation of musicals. In the fall semester it was Lucky Stiff. Tonight, I watched Guys and Dolls performed by our students in the Fine and Performing Arts Center. The play is directed by Terrence Mann, so the school spent more money on the production than normal for things such as specially ordered set items.

It was worth it. I must admit to you that I am biased when it comes to writing about our theater department. I am acquainted with many of the cast, and it moves something inside my chest and throat to see them do well on stage. They eat in Dodson cafeteria just one or two tables over from me. They are in the library with me and at the gym where I work out. They are ordinary people for the most part-- kids, some of them. But on stage in prime time when the lights go down and the orchestra tunes up to a sold out crowd, they create a magnificent story. They Create. These students of Western who normally walk around in jeans and sandals become Gods and Goddesses.

So please indulge me while I talk about how great they are...

First the people I know and with whom I have spoken:

Tivis Womack. The girl who likes to ride skateboards and bicycles across campus. I've nicknamed her "Wheels." This was her first major theater production, and she was outstanding in a wide range of dancing roles from a "Hot Box Girl," to a dancer in Havana, to escorting an airplane across the stage and "over" New York, Cullowhee (which drew a laugh from the audience) and Miami. In real life, Tivis is quiet and unique and has one of the best personalities I have ever come across in a girl. On stage, her beauty shines through in glowing facial expressions. She will deserve larger and larger roles as she matures at Western.

Gregory Kennedy as "Nicely-Nicely Johnson." I wrote about him for his great performance in Lucky Stiff. In Guys and Dolls, he nails it again. On campus, Greg is an extrovert whose personality busts at the seams at times. On stage, his singing voice booms through the auditorium, and his demeanor and body language elicit laughter from the audience more easily than any other actor. He is excellent in over-the-top comedic roles.

Benny Enfinger as "Benny Southstreet." Benny is also someone I have complimented for his role in Lucky Stiff. He plays a sidekick to Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls. He and Greg use the audience well, and there was one exchange that amazed me with how rapidly they fired off their lines without becoming tongue twisted.

Abby Gonzalez is also growing in her roles. She was wonderful as a dancer in this play, and I really noticed her dancing during the Havana scene. She has previously been in Stop Kiss, a play directed by student Sarah Lipham (who was also a good dancer in Guys and Dolls). Abby almost always has a smile on her face when she is walking on campus. I was happy to see her face light up when I told her of the nice job she did in Stop Kiss. I hope she continues to enjoy the WCU theater department and land larger parts.

Now for the students I've seen but to whom I've not really spoken:

The leading actors for the play were outstanding: Anthony Giordano is tremendous as "Nathan Detroit." Anthony also starred as the title character in The Nerd last fall, and he is someone whom I really enjoy watching. He and Nathaniel Mason ("Sky Masterson") are the two most obvious choices for leading men that I have seen this year. Both command the stage when their roles require it, and Anthony's nuances particularly kept my attention in this show.

Christy Waymouth ("Sarah Brown") has a great singing voice. She also had a large role in Lucky Stiff, and probably does the most work on stage in this production of anyone. In the Havana scene, she has to dance and run around and eventually be "fireman carried" off the stage, only to appear again moments later to perform a solo as she slowly walks around the narrow rim of a shrubbery container. Tonight, it actually looked like she got the wind knocked out of her when she was picked up by an actor, and I was impressed that she recovered so quickly to sing the solo.

Dayna Damron ("Mimi" and a "Hot Box Girl," among other roles) held my attention with her poise, walk, singing and dancing. She is a beautiful woman who lit up the stage with a large role in Lucky Stiff. I believe she has the potential to go far in acting if she so desires. She is a photogenic person who has the ability to look very different in different roles. I have seen her a number of times on campus, but I did not realize this was the woman from Lucky Stiff until just recently.

And Bethany Rowe as "Miss Adelaide." Bethany had a small part in Lucky Stiff, but in many ways she carried the show tonight. Bethany can sing and act with a great sense of timing. I could tell she really relished her role and was having fun on stage. There was a tiny blooper tonight when her seat wobbled and she almost fell over in the middle of singing a song. She laughed and half-whispered the next line, and the audience laughed with her. It was a great reaction from her that fit in well with her character. I really do not know Bethany at all. I'm not sure that I've ever seen her on campus. Her talent "wowed" me tonight, though, and I would certainly pay money to watch her act again.

Whew...My apologies to those actors I have not mentioned. The cast is large, but there were no weaknesses in the lot. The show was one of the hi-lights of my semester, and I thank everyone in the production for their hard work.

Tonight was the Friday showing. I actually have two tickets to Saturday as well. I look forward to seeing the Gods and Goddesses of Western Carolina University create Guys and Dolls yet again.

Until Next Time,

Nathan Marshburn

Attitude is Everything

It's been a little more difficult this week to post a blog. This wasn't the best week I've ever had a Western, though it was much better than any week I ever had when I worked in Washington, DC. I actually put up two blogs, but then took them down because they were a little too negative, a little too cynical. The effects of being out of sales showed in me, as I forgot to ask myself the question, "What would a salesman do?" A good salesman would never post a cynical blog.

As the song says, you have to "accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative." Attitude is essential. How you feel about yourself is how many people will also feel about you.

So, today is a fantastic day. The temperature is near 60 degrees. My health is great, and I have interesting work to do in the library. Tonight, I might go out socializing and see what adventures I can get into. Life is good.

Until next time,

Nathan Marshburn

The Vagina Monologues

Wednesday night, I went to see a performance of The Vagina Monologues. It was the first time I have seen this put on by anyone, and I was surprised at the number of students I knew in the production. They are not involved in the theater program at WCU, but nevertheless did a great job. It speaks to the power of Eve Ensler's work that so many people would want to participate in it who do not normally act on stage.

April Shipman, a graduate student who lives in Madison Residence Hall with me and also plays on the rugby team, did a great job with her monologue. She also got a loud laugh with her mimic of the "baby moan." She received flowers after the show, and I could tell that really made her day.

Emily Hunter, another graduate student with whom I have had dinner a couple of times, was perhaps the most theatrical and animated in her performance. Her section, "The Vagina Workshop," was one of the longest pieces, and she did it all from memory without looking at her cards as most of the other ladies did. She would do well as an actress in other productions, as the character she portrayed was the most eccentric.

Rachel Poston, a student I speak to in the library from time to time, did well with a rather disturbing monologue. It was not particularly pleasant to watch a woman as beautiful as her speak in the first person about mutilations done to her body, but the point of her monologue was to bring home the violence being committed against women in various parts of the world.

And Stephanie Hesbacher, a graduate student who lives across the hall from me, served as the assistant director and worked hard in the organization of the event. The proceeds from the night benefit a local battered women's shelter.

Congratulations to all. The show was well attended and a success. I am glad I went.

Until next time,

Nathan Marshburn

This Week At Western

I wish I did not have to sleep. A theme I keep coming back to is how much goes on here. I mean, it's to the point now where I can sometimes get into adventures just from taking a lap around the library floor. But tonight, I came back up to my room to drop off some books and check my computer. Running on about five hours of sleep in the past 48, I had a headache and decided to lay down for just a few minutes... Bam! It's three hours later.

I want those three hours back. You can take them off at the end of my life when my body and brain are too old to feel and sense as much as I can right now.

Like I've said before, life happens here, at WCU. I've been in the drudgery of the real world routine, and I know that right now is a very special, very privileged time.

So these are a fraction of the things that happened this week in Cullowhee:

My favorite class...

Twelve years ago I took a class here as an undergraduate called Astronomy 101 with Dr. Heckert. It was my favorite college class of all time. Worth four hours of credit, I also took the night lab with a girl named Amy Stewart. I wonder what she is up to, now?

Earlier this week I saw Dr. Heckert again for the first time since I graduated. He looks pretty much the same. His red hair and beard were much bushier when I had his class, though. It was after dark when I saw him, and he was looking up at the stars as he walked across campus.

"Anything special up tonight?" I called out to him.

He stopped and looked at me. To my surprise, there was recognition in his eyes.

"When were you my student?" he asked.

I smiled. "About ten years ago. My name is Nathan."

"And your last name?"

"Nathan Marshburn."

"That's right. I remember you. You wrote a paper about an asteroid hitting the earth."

I was amazed and pleased that he recalled this. We spoke for a few minutes and caught up. Norton Hall and a softball field now occupy the place where we used to have the astronomy night lab. Dr. Heckert told me that the class now goes up to the airport, Wednesday nights at 8 to conduct the lab. There is a building that houses the telescopes up there, unofficially named "Heckert Hall." He invited me up to attend the lab with his students.

This Wednesday, however, I plan on going to see The Vagina Monologues, but I will take him up on his offer later this semester. It was great to see him again.

Tough Girls...

Today I watched our female rugby team take on the University of South Carolina. It was a valiant effort, but we simply had too many rookies out there. The girls put in 100%, and unfortunately I watched one get her ribs cracked while another probably sprained an ankle or broke her leg. The stretchers were called in.

Female rugby players and their entourage are some of the most interesting people you will meet at WCU.

And then the LSAT...

Today, I also took the Law School Admissions Test for the second time. Last night I stayed out to about 2 or 3 am socializing with some international students at an apartment off campus. I got up at 7:30 this morning to take the test.

It was a wise strategy. The first time I took the test, I went to bed early. But I could not sleep. During the test, I had too much energy and was too nervous. It was hard to concentrate. I received a decent score, but I felt like I could have done better.

This time, however, I was too tired to be nervous. It was much easier to relax and focus on the test, and I feel much better about the potential results. I am eager to get the score back, as this effort felt like it was about the best I could do.

Okay, that's enough time for the blog. Though I could go on and on, there are books to read and papers to write.

Until Next Time,

Nathan Marshburn