Flying High

Confession time: I haven't been doing a lot of running this summer.  But I'm sure you guessed that considering how little I've written.  I've only raced twice all summer, and not in over a month.  I'm horribly out of shape.  If I were to race a 5k tomorrow, I doubt I could break twenty minutes (the twenty minute mark in the 5k and my occasional passing to the slower side of it is my usual barometer of changing fitness).

But the good news is Stevie and I finally took a trip down the shore for the first time all year on Monday, and ended up doing an impromptu photo shoot with a professional photographer we'd just met on the beach.

Photographer: Want to do a few shots of dad throwing Neale in the air?
Me: Sure, why not.

The Great Nealini flying high above the sands of Ocean City, NJ without a safety net!

Photographer: I've seriously never seen a father throw his kid that high.

This is now my favorite picture of Neale ever.

The Tempest

Those who have only met me in the last five years might be amazed to know that I used to be heavily involved in theater, owing partly to the fact that I haven't done a single show in that time, but mostly to my quiet and reserved nature.  I can claim mostly German heritage, and it seems that some German traits (quiet stoicism, for one) have made their way into my personality, which doesn't jibe with what people imagine the average theater type to be.

But there I am in the above photo, bare chested and smeared in guy liner, standing with the cast and next to my hot, corseted wife.  For the past few months Stevie and I have been working on a show together on Broad Street in Philly - Shakespeare's The Tempest.  I insisted on a small role and ended up playing Trinculo, the King's drunken jester, while Stevie ended up with the lead role of Prospera (typically a male role, but the director decided to gender bend).

Why the five year absence from the theater?  I found out very quickly that running and theater cultures don't mix.  Staying out late, drinking all the time, eating garbage food, and spending every waking moment memorizing lines do not help with attaining new PR's in running.  Five years ago I decided I could act any time, but had a closing window when it came to discovering my body's true potential in running.  So I put acting on hold and got more serious about running.

But coming off of an intense 2015, I figured now would be a good time to jump back into the theater world.

Closing night is tonight, and like any community theater production, it's been a bumpy ride to get the show ready.  I can't say it's been the most professional production I've ever been a part of, but it's nevertheless been fun rediscovering my love for performing.  Also, all the proceeds benefit Stevie's children's theater camp that she is directing later this month.

So come one, come all to Philly tonight to watch me act the Shakespearean fool!