Secondly, I’m trying something a little different this season. Besides featuring new intro and outro music from composer John Rust (check out his compositions at soundofrust on YouTube) and presenting more episodes of my audio drama series Kid Again (heard on episodes 44 and 49), I’m streamlining my approach to recording by relying less on scripted material and…just talking. In this episode, the three examples of what I am a poster person for were recorded when I had a few free moments (even while retired it’s sometimes hard to sit down and record a whole episode) and then edit it into the larger podcast. You can usually tell when this happens by a change in audio quality. And more ums…

As far as being a poster person, I saw the term “poster child” somewhere on the web and wondered about the origin of the term. It turns out it began with polio. People back then believed in science and vaccines! And so the posters of children won a lot of hearts and minds.

This got me thinking: what would I be the poster person for? I immediately thought of three health issues that I very much have knee-jerk responses to. If people say to me, “I will never get a colonoscopy!” I will tell them without pause why they need to get one. Probably with too much information. (And it’s happened often enough that it probably seems scripted, ironically enough!)

But I think everyone needs to be very aware of these three medical issues, and to be vigilant in case they’re experiencing any of the problems mentioned herein.

So please take a listen here, and find out what the other two medical issues are.

Also, I would love to see some “fan art” so feel free to Photoshop me into posters for any of these issues. I’ll be happy to share them on all my social media; find them all at http://linktr.ee/stephenschrum.

People in academia often get asked, “Why are you retiring? What will you do with yourself?” But there is more to life (and academia) than teaching. I did once think that I’d work till the age of 67, like my mother did, but now that I’m 65, I think it’s time to stop and make room for the next person.

Also: How things have changed since I was a student, both with students and with academia in general. It never occurred to me to not hand in work, or hand things in late, or produce shoddy work, or even (gasp!) ask for an extension! Things have changed in the decades that I went from student to professor and, while I try not to compare students of today to me as a student back in the day, it is very concerning.

So here’s to retirement! Glasses clink! To creative projects and travel! Now if I could just be sure that I am not retiring into a front row seat for the apocalypse and the end of the world.

Listen to Episode 48 here!

The one significant song I reference in this podcast is The Grateful Dead’s “Truckin'” which contains the lyrics, “What a long strange trip it’s been”—which would likely be this podcast’s theme song if it wasn’t for those pesky copyright laws. In the case of this episode, it’s my strange four decades long trip through the world of theatre.

I only touch on a few memorable moments here, but I think these examples will certainly have you nodding your head and saying, “Yep. Strange.”

Episode 19: Wipe Your Feet

Here’s a photo from the world premiere of my play, Aliens! 3 Miles, Turn Left, starring Al’len (the alien mentioned in the podcast) and David Scopinich. Note: This is from the last century when we had to keep photos small since download times were excessive through those dial-up modems.

TMI

Above are the photos I mention in the podcast; this is part of a reactor being taken to TMI in Aug 1970.

Looking for the meltdown/radiation range graphic above, I also found some examples of teletype news from the period. I also discovered a have a huge set of clippings day to day from the event from newspapers. My favorite headline: “No Meltdown—Freak Luck.”

Today was my day to play with, as I recorded my lines from The Tempest, in order to burn a CD I can play in my car to help learn them. This served as a nice little shakedown cruise, and now when I have time (cue laughter here), I can get back to recording podcasts.

Don’t let the picture fool you; the Behringer is much larger than the Edirol. I guess I should have tweaked the photos a bit more for a more accurate representation. Oh, well. One medium at a time…

And thus I enter the latest 15-week cycle of classes and exams, while contemplating finishing old planned projects (you know, recording the rest of series 2 podcasts) and beginning new ones (a video series on directing tips). Once again I hit the ground running—even more so, with auditions the first day of my classes—and hope I don’t slide too much on ice before the spring thaw!