A somewhat organized start to a paper...

This is a personal start to a paper I'm writing this semester. I'm actually enjoying writing this part.


Growing up with my Grandmother has made me more appreciative of entertainment many people of my generation don’t really know about. She introduced me to a couple silent films, radio shows and musicals. When I was younger, living in Columbus, I saw a silent viewing of “Phantom of the Opera”. Needless to say, not having any form of contact with silent films before this, it was nothing like I was expecting. My grandmother tricked me into to going to the viewing by tapping into my interest in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s operetta, also titled “Phantom of the Opera”. Tricky woman. The phantom was not the mysterious, half-masked man I had seen posters of. Instead, he was this gruesome, disfigured creature in dire need of some serious dental work. The viewing was not a complete disappointment, however. I was intrigued by the technique that was used to add sound to the “silent” film. While the film was showing up on the massive screen, someone was playing a piano that was sitting on the front corner of the stage. Silly me for thinking it was to add to the atmosphere (especially since it was all about a ghost in an opera hall).
In hindsight, that was an influential event in my life. Granted, I had some really weird dreams for a few nights after. From that night on, I realized I have an interest few people my age have, including the eclectic group of theatre majors I have recently met. As I mentioned earlier, my grandmother has had a lot of influence on my cultural affairs. After my parents divorced, we moved in with my grandparents and after my grandfather died, it was just my mom, grandmother, brother and me. My mom was the breadwinner of the family and ended up becoming the “father” figure, while my grandmother did most of the “mother” things, like taking care of my brother and me. This included driving us to skating lessons, scout trips and even taking on roles as scout leader. These activities gave my grandmother plenty of time to trap me in her car, where she would turn on the radio while driving like a bat out of hell. Since it’s near impossible to read while one is getting tossed to and fro, the only thing I could do was listen to whatever she had playing. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed hearing “News from Lake Woebegone”, a part of “Prairie Home Companion”, in which the narrator talks about the little town and its inhabitants. One week, my grandmother brought an episode of “The Shadow” to my brother’s cub scout meeting (that I had to attend because of lack of transportation elsewhere). My brother’s troop didn’t really appreciate the flashback from my grandmother, but I did.