A CHRISTMAS STORY

It's been a typical holiday in many ways. As a teacher I inevitably spend the vacations fighting a cold and ruing those days I chose not to wear a hazmat suit to classes filled with sneezing (but wonderful) kids. Last year I had pneumonia for the first time and it seems I've been extra vulnerable to whatever is going around ever since. Despite this, I did enjoy the Christmas weekend. I sadly missed some get-togethers with pals, but I enjoyed some solo time playing my guitar and watching the new Netflix cartoon, Trollhunters (starring recently deceased Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin). But what about, you know, actual Holiday traditions? I've been thinking about this a lot lately. My first wife and I really had fun hosting the holidays for my family and getting everyone to share their talents. We'd decorate and have people bring food, instruments, and songs to sing. It was a time in my life when I was pretty good at celebrating. After that marriage ended, I realize I got out of the habit of celebrating holidays all together. And now being so far away from my family on the east coast (and losing our matriarch some years back) the traditions have slipped even further away. But that brings me to A Christmas Story. My ex and used to love watching this movie. I even named one of my blues bands back then Triple Dog Dare after a famous line. The film was right up there with the original Star Wars films and played a big part in our annual rituals. The movie was a like a Rocky Horror experience, complete with interactive dialog. I can still hear my ex's hilarious commentary when I think of various scenes. But when I let the holidays drift away with the other memories, I also forgot all about A Christmas Story. I guess I assumed it would be too hard to watch without her. But I saw the steelbook edition last week at Best Buy and decided to bring the movie back into my life. After all these years, I figured it's far too sweet and funny to let it stayed buried with the past. And yet, I still hadn't plucked up the nerve to crack the seal on the blu-ray. I was also keeping up with Wil Wheaton's blog over the weekend. Wil is probably best known for his roles in Star Trek: Next Gen and Stand By Me, and for Big Bang Theory. But he's gone on to publish a number of fantastic memoirs, and he keeps us all updated on what's happening on his radar through his site and Twitter. I love Wil's writing because he's honest and he tends to talk about both geeky topics I care about and about universally human experiences  I really recommend the audio edition of Just a Geek, by the way! It turns out that Wil auditioned for the lead in A Christmas Story. And although it's slightly bitter-sweet in terms of missed opportunities, he also has an undying love for how the movie turned out with actor Peter Billingsly. Wil also shared some astute observations about how it's often the little movies nobody wanted to support that become the timeless classics. Hey, maybe I'll get my Nicholl Fellowship-placed Bonsai film made someday! Anyway, reading about Wil's love for A Christmas Story has given me the additional courage needed to open my copy and bring the film back into my life. It was like getting a "triple dog dare" from the universe. Maybe I'll even get good at celebrating again. I do hope so! Read more over at Wil Wheaton. Enjoy!