Rocky Horror Picture Show

 Where to begin...

I was maybe 16 or so, time escapes me, my first boyfriend was a football player for a high school I did not go to. He was on the defensive line so use your imagination. He was not a small guy, probably 6'3", maybe 240 lbs. I think he was 19 or so. Everyone we knew, played football, built muscle cars, had great house parties, and we cruised the hotrods down 18th Ave because it was the longest piece of road where you didn't have to turn around. (muscle cars are built to go very fast in a straight line, for those of you that don't know how that works.)

We were a very tight knit group, all 23 of the boys + girlfriends. We were always together. Movies, cruising the strip, football, High School Drags at the old race track downtown, and did I mention
football?.

One night, some of the older brothers of a team member were going to the Roxy Theatre to see the Rocky Horror Picture show with a group from their Fraternity at U of A.  They invited us along. I ended up being the only girl in the group. Had my parents, grandparents, sisters, aunts and uncles known back then, I would have been in BIIIIGGG trouble, but they didn't and I was safe from punishment for the night of debauchery!

So we get to the Roxy, it's maybe 11 p.m. We're a bit early as we all wanted to sit together, all 24 of us. We take the two middle rows stage right ( that's left for you non-camera people). The U of A frat crowd shows with another 47 or so people and fills another 4 rows. On the other side, that would be stage left, is seating 2 more rival frat houses with girl friends and alumni in tow, from U of A. In the middle of the theatre, sit the innocent general public, quiet, unassuming, well ... except for all the drag queens with assorted hotdogs, toast, and various other party favors. Imagine me, serious little farm girl, never exposed to a big city RHPS audience. I would bet I was staring slack jawed at the costumed crowd. Little did I know what was about to transpire.

There was a slight delay in getting the picture started, the house lights are still up, the crowd is of course restless but talking quietly within their groups. One of our football crew passes around a message that at the count of three, we're all going to get up and yell something at the far side of rival frat houses.
So the signal comes through, we all stand in unison, and yell and point..... "THE OTHER SIDE SUCKS!" and sit in unison. With 70 or so in our group, doing this in unison, unrehearsed, was a spectacular thing to behold. The gauntlet had been thrown down, it was now game on!

A few minutes later, movie still delayed, the other side gets up, and yells back the same phrase. Now to the little wide eyed farm girl, this was a whole new twist in life to experience. The cascading up and down and taunting went back and forth and then, with excellent secret battle plans that would have done Napoleon proud, both outer sides stood in perfect unison and pointed at the quiet innocent general public in the middle and yelled as loud and theatre shaking as possible "THE MIDDLE SUCKS!" The entire theatre finally burst into helpless fits of laughter and the theatre grew dark immediately and the picture show began to play.

To be truly honest, there was so much going on, I don't even remember the plot lines of the movie anymore. I actually had to rent it when it came out on VHS to see what it was all about. I know I've heard this from many people that did the same. The movie is really silly on it's own, but I will remember that experience forever as one of my great firsts.

The football player, he was long gone to university the next fall. The relationship didn't last of course. We've since reconnected and talk every few months by email.
We all moved on, grew up, got married, got careers, had children, traveled the world, joined the peace corps, played pro football, joined the military, became writers, lawyers, doctors, bakers, butchers, photographers, got divorced, lived, laughed, loved, cried, and laughed some more.
Slowly, we are all finding our way back to each other, thread by thread.

I of course, am remembering this story to you all because this evening I am heading to Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Palace in Kensington. I'll let you know how it turns out. :)

Don't forget to check your Compass!
Cole

Dreaming....

I had a very nice evening tonight. I went to a play with a dear friend. We stopped to meet with another friend and went for dinner to a place I'd never been. To be perfectly honest, and this may come as a shock to some of you. The photographer's life seems very exciting from the outside, but here's the secret. It's not as pretty as it looks. I get to go to all the best parties, concerts, and shows, but rarely do I ever get to sit and enjoy them, or have any meaningful conversation with anyone. My mind is always on the work, getting the action, trying to be sure not to miss a minute because you may miss a superb shot that the client will love. The food is always exceptional, and I am encouraged to relax a bit and try a bite of this or that by my clients, but by the time I can sit down to taste anything, it's usually all gone.

My clothes are usually something simple, like black pants and black top. My attire is built to manage the stresses of a photo shoot. I may find myself perched precariously on the edge of a ladder, stage, or balcony just to get a good shot for my client and I can't have a random nail or sharp edge of said ladder snagging my Prada, so Mark's Work Warehouse is more than enough. 

Earlier this week, I was sitting in exceptional seats at the Ballet. It was so moving, I practically had tears streaming down my cheeks from the beauty of it. It was a lovely performance, but that's not what had me so emotional.

In my past life, I was a single mother. There were times we barely had enough money to pay the rent, and regular meals for me were a luxury I couldn't afford. I would go without so my children didn't have to suffer. 

As I watched the dancers float gracefully across the stage, leaping and turning like they were born with toe shoes, I remembered saying to myself in the lean years how I wanted my life to be. I had imagined myself sitting at the Ballet, watching the dancers twist their bodies into pliable sculptures, and there I was this week, doing just that. Then tonight at the Theatre watching a play, meeting my friends, going for an 'after theatre bite'. Coming home and hanging up my beautifully designed clothes in my dress closet. These were things I could have only daydreamed of when I was raising my kids alone and here I am living my dreams right now. I loved being invited to an event, and I was encouraged to come without my usual appendage, and to eat, drink, and be merry. Of course those of you that know, cranberry juice is my usual poison and that's about as wild as it gets, but the food and the company were wonderful, and I only missed my camera a little bit. 

Would I have been able to appreciate those seemingly innocuous events had I not spent so long in the deprivation chamber of single parenthood, I don't know. What I do know is, I work very hard, for very long hours, for a very long time and at this moment, I am living proof that anything is possible. What are your dreams? Are you living them?

Don't forget to check your Compass!

Cole