The Curse: a short story by Brent A. Johnson

            One day, a six-year-old boy named Joey overheard his mommy talking on the phone to a friend.

            “I can’t come out this weekend because it’s that time of the month,” she said, “and you know how bad the curse can be.”

            Joey worried about the kind of curse his mommy might have and wondered what happened to her at that time of the month. Recently, Joey had learned how to read, so he decided to check the calendar. His mommy hadn’t written anything on the calendar, but the calendar did say that there would a full moon that weekend.

            “Full moon? Curse?” shuddered Joey. “Oh no! I think Mommy’s a werewolf!”

            That weekend, Joey would run away whenever his mommy came near him. She wondered why he was avoiding her. Eventually, she cornered him.

            “Honey, what’s wrong?” she asked.

            “Stay away from me!” Joey shouted. “You’re not safe right now!”

            “What are you talking about?”

            “I know you’re a werewolf!”

            She gave him a confused look, not sure if he was serious or if he was just playing some silly game.

            “Werewolf? Where did you get that idea?”

            Joey explained about overhearing her phone call and seeing on the calendar that there was a full moon. Then his mommy just started laughing.

            “No. No. No. I’m not really cursed. That’s just a nickname for something women go through each month.”

            “What do women go through each month?” asked Joey.

            His mommy hesitated before answering, “It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

            “But if you can’t even go out, it must be bad!”

            “It’s okay,” she insisted. “We women tend to make it sound worse than it is.”

            “If you don’t tell me what happens, I’ll know you’re hiding something from me,” huffed Joey. “Maybe you really are cursed and you just don’t want to tell me!”

            Then Joey’s mommy realized he wasn’t going to let this go. He was really freaked out about this, and the only way to calm him down was to tell him the truth.

            “Okay,” she resigned. “I’ll tell you the facts of life.”

            In order for Joey to understand what women go through every month, his mommy also decided to explain the birds and the bees to him. She didn’t just give him a vague idea; she gave him all the graphic details, leaving nothing out. By the time she was done explaining, Joey was even more horrified than when he thought she was a werewolf.

Rosie Johnson (January 21, 2009 – February 27, 2017)

  

          Rosie was our family’s Brittany spaniel. She passed away due to a previously unknown heart condition. We got her when she was still a puppy. Ironically, we got her about a week after my brother Matt moved out, and she died a few days before he moved back in. When we first got Rosie, we had another Brittany named Cheetah. Cheetah passed away less than a year after we got Rosie, but they did get to have one bird hunting trip together. Rosie was able to watch Cheetah in action and learn some hunting skills from her. This started a lifelong passion for Rosie. She may have enjoyed hunting birds even more than Cheetah did, which is really saying something.

            Rosie had surprisingly long legs for a Brittany. This made her an extremely fast runner, and she loved to run. She even ran in the house, which made her wipe out when turning corners. Whenever my dad took her hunting, she would zigzag in front of him, running about ten miles for every mile he walked. If we let her out back into our family’s orchard, she’d be on the other side of the orchard within seconds. With how fast she was, we sometimes thought she should have been named Cheetah. Her athleticism and speed not only made her a great bird dog; it made her a great escape artist. There were several times when she scrambled over the back gate and got out, even after we raised its height.

            My dad often called Rosie a “Will Rogers dog” because she never met a man she didn’t like. She was never the type of dog that growled or barked at people. Any time she met someone, she wanted to be their best friend. She was like the dog Dug from the movie Up, who said, “I have just met you, and I love you!” Instead of licking people, she would nuzzle up to them. Truth be told, she was quite the little attention hog. Often times, she would poke her nose under our arms as if to say, “Come on! Pet me!” This made us roll our eyes whenever we were in the middle of something. Of course, I was always happy to absentmindedly pet her with one hand while focusing on something else.

            Rosie had lots of little quirks that made her endearing. She would howl whenever the phones rang or whenever the oil refinery turned on their sirens for the Friday drills. We called her a “thunder wuss” because thunder scared her and made her run upstairs. Like any other dog, she was obsessed with food, but there was something oddly manipulative about the way she’d look at us when we ate. Also like other dogs, she loved to chase cats. She was fast enough that she could have caught them, but she mostly just liked scaring them. When she slept, she often made funny noises when she was dreaming. There were so many little things about Rosie that we miss and will always remember.

Julie's Greenroom Review

            When I found out that Julie Andrews was doing a Netflix show educating kids about theatre, I had to check it out. I knew going into it that it was intended for children, but I had the feeling that theatre enthusiasts like myself would find it interesting as well. In Julie’s Greenroom, Miss Julie and her assistant Gus (played by the talented Giullian Yao Gioiello) teach some puppet kids (provided by The Jim Henson Company) about various aspects of theatre and the performing arts while preparing them to put on a show themselves. The educational segments and racially diverse puppets were reminiscent of your typical PBS kids’ shows like Sesame Street or The Puzzle Place.

            The puppets include the five kids of the greenroom, who are called Greenies. Hank is sports-loving piano player in a wheelchair. Fizz is a girl who is always screwing up, yet wants to be everything when she grows up. Peri is the know-it-all diva of the group. Spike is a word-loving guy who is destined to become a writer. Riley is a tomboy tech enthusiast who some viewers might mistakenly believe is male. There are also two animal puppets: Toby and Hugo. Toby is Miss Julie’s mischievous dog. Hugo is a duck that performs with the kids and helps out in miscellaneous ways. Some adults may be annoyed by the puppets’ various quirks, but children will get a kick out of them.

            Each episode also gives us different guest stars who come to share their performing arts expertise with the kids. These guest stars help make the show more interesting for adults. They include Idina Menzel, Chris Colfer, Josh Grobin, Alec Baldwin, Sara Bareilles, David Hyde Pierce, and more. Some of the lesser-known guest stars teach them about more specified fields like ballet, playing musical instruments, or improv. All of them come back for the final episode to see the kids put on their show. Also in the final episode, we get the one guest star who does not play herself: Carol Burnette. She plays Mrs. Edna Brightful, a potential benefactor for Miss Julie’s theater.

            It’s always delightful to see Julie Andrews onscreen, but these days, it makes me sad to hear her. Ever since her botched throat surgery in 1997, she’s lost her beautiful soprano singing voice. She does do a little singing during the songs of this show, but she has to talk-sing a lot of the time. The only times she actually sings are moments when the notes are low and simple enough for her to handle. I also noticed that even her speaking voice has become raspier during this show. Luckily, Gus and the rest of the cast are talented enough to pick up the slack for her. Even though her voice isn’t what it used to be, her graceful presence always adds a sense of elegance to everything she does.

            It seems like most musical kids’ shows don’t write many original songs. Most of the time, they just write new words to old, familiar melodies. Julie’s Greenroom doesn’t do that. The musical numbers in this show are all original as far as I can tell. Some of them are more memorable than others, but I imagine that some of them could grow on me, especially if they ever release a soundtrack. One particular highlight is the “Mashup Song,” which Sara Bareilles helps the Greenies write. Part of this song serves as the show’s theme song. I also love the final number of the season, “Anything Can Happen in the Theatre.” That song perfectly expresses why I love theatre so much.

            I think Julie’s Greenroom is a great way to introduce children to the world of performing arts. If this show had been on when I was a little kid, I probably would have gotten involved in theatre a lot sooner. It does a particularly good job of teaching the vocabulary of theatre. (I bet that a number of parents watching it don’t even know what a greenroom is.) The show also has some good inclusive messages. For example, it teaches that ballet is for everyone and not just for girls. Some people might accuse this show of being too cheesy and repetitive, but they need to keep in mind that it's intended for children. The show may not be perfect, but it does what it’s supposed to do.

My Rating: between 7/10 and 8/10

Experience

            Oscar Wilde once wrote, “Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.” Unfortunately, most employers don’t see it that way. They see experience as a necessary precursor for a job. When I graduated from college, I had the hardest time finding a job because I didn’t have the necessary experience. After months of searching, I was finally able to get a job for a while, but now I’m in the same position I was when I graduated. You’d think that having a bachelor’s degree with a double-major would be enough to qualify me for a number of jobs, but only experience seems to matter to employers anymore. How am I supposed to get experience if no one will hire me?

            One might argue that internships are a good way to get a starting position that gives you experience. Unfortunately, most internships are exclusively available to students who are currently enrolled in college. Some of us didn’t do internships during college because we couldn’t do work and school at the same time. College is stressful enough as it is; having a job on top of that is enough to make some students lose their minds. Why aren’t there more internship opportunities for recent graduates? There are also people who decide to change careers long after they’re done with college. They’ll need some starter jobs too. Employers need to realize this and create new ways for us to gain experience. We can’t get a future if no one will give us a past.

            Employers also need to realize that there are other forms of experience besides jobs in the same field. Sometimes jobs in one field can help a person develop skills that apply to a different field. College classes give students experience in learning about the field of their major, giving them knowledge about related jobs. Applicants could get the chance to explain these skills in job interviews, but many employers won’t even call them back for interviews because there aren’t any similar previous jobs on their applications. People forget that job experience and necessary skills don’t always go hand in hand. There are also skills that an applicant can’t gain until they’re actually hired and learn on the job.

            Most of my work experience has been in retail, fast food, and similar fields. Those types of jobs not only don’t pay well, but are particularly inflexible when it comes to scheduling. I think one reason I haven’t been able to gain better work experience is because the business world is prejudiced against millennials. We are viewed as lazy, self-centered brats with a sense of entitlement. That may be true with some millennials, but the truth is that a lot of us just have a different way of looking at the world. People of older, more traditional generations are set in their ways and have a hard time adjusting to our points of view. As a result, I may have to go back to the kind of job that society says is beneath me.

Beauty and the Beast Review

                There’s no need to start this movie review with a summary. Unless you’ve been living under a rock your whole life, you know the story of Beauty and the Beast. The new film uses the same general plotline from the classic cartoon. However, there are a few new twists in this retelling (some of which are more surprising than others), but I won’t spoil them for you. I wouldn’t say that any of the new plot elements are bad per say; it may just take multiple viewings to get used to them. The core story is still the same and as great as ever. The filmmakers knew enough not to mess with what they know works. As Cogsworth says in the cartoon, “If it’s not baroque, don’t fix it.”

            The film gives us the high-quality production values we’ve come to expect from big-budget Disney movies. The sets and costumes are Oscar worthy. We get some nice camerawork, though I still don’t like the overuse of shallow-focus shots in movies these days. The CG may not be as photorealistic as last year’s remake of The Jungle Book, but it’s still pretty good. I personally would have designed some of the object characters differently, but that’s just a minor critique. The 3D is average with a few cool effects here and there. Overall, the film looks beautiful. The most visually spectacular part of the movie is the jaw-dropping “Be Our Guest” sequence.

            The cast is solid. Some people may find it hard to see Emma Watson as anyone but Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter movies, but I accepted her as Belle without any trouble. Luke Evans (Gaston), Josh Gad (LeFou), and Kevin Kline (Maurice) aren’t as exaggerated as those characters usually are, but they aren’t bland either. The actors voicing the CG characters are spot-on. They include Dan Stevens (Beast), Ewan McGregor (Lumiere), Ian McKellen (Cogsworth), Emma Thompson (Mrs. Potts), Audra McDonald (Wardrobe), and Stanley Tucci (a new harpsichord character named Cadenza). They all did their own singing, and quite well too.

            There are a few new songs written for the movie. They’re fine, but none of them will become classics. I still wish they had used some of the songs written for the stage version of Beauty and the Beast. I’m surprised they didn’t include the delightful song “Human Again,” which was cut from the cartoon and reinstated in the special edition. At least they kept the six songs from the original movie. Initially, Disney was going to have this film be a non-musical like the recent Cinderella movie, but director Bill Condon reminded them that the music was too iconic to cut. I’m glad he did so, because the movie wouldn’t have been as good without those wonderful tunes.

            This film finds a balance between staying true to the original, yet not making it an exact copy. There’s no way to please everybody when you’re re-tooling something that’s this well-loved. I’ve heard various opinions about little things people didn’t like about the movie. I admit that there were moments that kind of bugged me. However, we mustn’t make mountains out of molehills like people did with the film’s infamous “gay moment” (which is mild and easy to ignore). There’s still plenty to admire about this film. It will never replace the cartoon, but it doesn’t have to. We just get a new telling of a beautiful tale as old as time, and that’s good enough.

My Rating: 8/10