Change in Speech: Don't Judge a Dumb Kid by His Stutter

I've been reflecting on this year and the past as I approach 2011.  It's been a great year!  Although lately it's been a bit of a bummer...  I feel a bit stuck in my present situation: Temporarily broke and not totally sure which direction I'm going.  It also doesn't help when you have a college degree and get turned down for a job as a stock person- a job that I did when I was 15.  Although I guess when I did have that job at 15, I stopped going because I hated it.  So it goes.

I'm still attempting to make a living at doing what I love: Work related to film, photography, art, education, or travel.  But that still encompasses SEVERAL life paths... So I'm exploring what exactly I like doing without investing myself in a career that I don't like doing.  

While at my Grandma's for Christmas, I found her old VHS camcorder, with which she still shoots home videos. It's one of the huge cameras that feels like you're holding a rocket launcher as you shoot your 3 year old kid- man has technology CHANGED! It's equally impressive to see a lady in her 70s saddle that bad camera on her shoulder. Good work grandma! 

My state of the bummers was recently enlightened by the above home video I dug up: A document of me as a dumb 3 year old with a speech impediment. For a minute, I totally forgot I use to stutter. My mom sent me to speech school when I was 4 years old. I remember I couldn't say words like "think" because I couldn't make the "th" sound. If someone asked me their opinion, I would say, "I sink that..." or "I sink so..." Man was it difficult to express myself when my thoughts were drowning in the challenges of speech.

You can also see that I had difficulty grasping simple life questions like:

Grandma's Question: What's the name of [your guinea pig]?

My Answer: Me don't have rabbit... eh, ma, ma, my rabbit died...

Looking back at this video I realize I've come a long way! I've overcome the loss of a dear pet rabbit, 2 actually (Kelly and I bought a pet rabbit last year and it died), and I can now say what I'm thinking while answering relatively simple questions. That progress is encouraging when I now have to grapple with those big questions like, "What do I do with my life?"

Now I certainly cannot answer that yet... But hopefully I just need time and patience. And when I figure it out, I'll boast with the energy of a stuttering 3 year old and yell:

"Kia! Ha!"

Change in Hair: Cut the Mullet

I shaved my head when I graduated from college in 2008. It was liberating being hairless and finished with my undergraduate degree. No more exams and no more shampoo and conditioner for the time being.

I told myself I wouldn’t cut my hair again until something significant happened in my life. I decided to wait until I was debt free after paying off my student loans. I made my last payment on my student loans a couple of weeks ago and scheduled a haircut shortly thereafter.

For the great majority of my life, my mom has cut my hair. I’ve only been to a salon or barbershop about 10 times in my life. My aunt, my friends, or myself would cut my hair sometimes, but for the most part it was my mom. She’s given me a variety of haircuts including a shaved head, bowl cut, flat top, mullet, mohawk, and even lightning bolts shaved into the side of my head.

It’s been 21 months since my last cut and I was fond of the mass of hair I grew. I wasn’t totally ready to part with it so I made the perfect compromise: I got a mullet!

This rad mullet was cut by my friend Faye. I went to her because she had experience. She previously cut a mullet for my friend Danny who needed the hairstyle for his character Ben in the indie film Art House. Originally, I didn’t expect to like the style so much… but I’ve been rocking it for a week and half now and I love it- unfortunately to the dismay of my girlfriend Kelly.

Thanks Faye!

Honestly, I have a new fondness for the mullet. After the 80s passed in the U.S., the mullet generally passed as white trash. It seems more passable in European countries…  However, there are several variations, lengths, and modifications of the mullet that blurs its line of hip and horrendous. I feel mine falls in the middle of that spectrum…

It’s been a great conversation starter to say the least. The night I got it cut, I scored 2 high-fives within the first 30 seconds of entering a bar. I talked with one guy for a while. He made a bet with a girl that I was some guy who has been growing out his hair for a long time and got a mullet as a transitional hair cut. Right he was… at that time. However, the more I rock it, the more I think I’m gonna keep it. The guy then told me he shaved a hideous mustache right before a job interview and still got the job. He shaved the mustache off before his first day of work to the surprise of his employer who later confessed that he was confident in his skills but worried about his ugly mustache… But, he hired him anyway. And that’s the kind of people I want to continue to meet: the ones who pass off quick judgments to discover what someone is about. The people who will high-five and shoot the shit with a random person like me, sporting an awfully awesome mullet.

If anyone else out there decides to make the adventurous leap towards a mullet, contact Faye. She is building her mullet resume!

And now for a little pop culture of memorable mullets…

Don't tell me you never faked being sick in the early 90s so you could skip school and catch AC Slater's mullet in Save by the Bell.

This mullet made you hate Billy Ray Cyrus' music even more...

You could always count on Uncle Jesse's mullet to give you advice in Full House.

Remember when this kid got beat up and the principal said it was his fault for having such an awful mullet?

In this magazine ad, Mini takes a condescending attitude towards the mullet saying, "If we made the Mini any cheaper, he'd be able to afford it.  Don't make us do it."

What are you trying to say with this ad Mini?  Come on!  Are you suggesting that the mullet correlates to a certain socio-economic class?  One that you hope cannot afford your stupid car...?  Whatever.

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And who can forget the contemporary hip mullets of the indie pop duo Tegan and Sara? Their mullets are as catchy as their tunes.

And last but not least, it's a good time to recognize Wesley Willis and his smash hit single, Cut the Mullet.  RIP man.

2010: A Year of Change

The start of a new year and the start of my first blog.  Why?  Well, I feel there are BIG CHANGES coming my way for 2010 affecting my life, thoughts, attitudes, family, friends, community, and the world.

This blog will be of the variety type in both subject and content.  For subjects, I'll be serving up thoughts on film, environmental conservation, freedom, and fun- my primary interests.  For content, I'll stir in a mix of photographs and videos to delight your entertainment palate with twice the retention rate of reading text.

The first post is long as I lay my groundwork for the new year.

I'm starting a list of thoughts and things in my life that are either changing or not changing as I start 2010.

1.  Hair.  I haven't cut my hair in a year and half since shaving my head with Chris shortly after graduating from University of Michigan.  I told myself I wouldn't cut it again until something significant happens in my life...

2.  Money.  I graduated with nearly $13,000 in student loans (impressive for UofM).  Since then I've worked hard spending the majority of my money on loan payments.  I told myself I wouldn't move anywhere until I paid off my loans.  That way I could take a job I enjoyed regardless of pay.  Currently, I owe $1,483.16 and am so close to financial freedom!!  [Much THANKS to friends and family, especially Chris, Tony, Kelly, Nicole, and Brad, who have helped me out with residency and keeping my bills low during long stretches of unemployment and distraught.]

3.  Smell.  I'm entering my third year of not wearing deodorant.  Yep, I ran out in late 2007 and never bought another stick.  I found my odor is quite pleasant.  The girls at the club love me because I'm one less guy trying to dance up on them while wreaking of Axe or Old Spice.  It's also one less thing I have to do to start my day.  Do you really need it?  Especially antiperspirants. They try to prevent you from doing something that's natural: sweat.  Also, there's research that aluminum in antiperspirant is absorbed into the body through the skin's pores and can be harmful.  Since I don't wear it, I don't care enough to look into the research... but if you do, you should look into the research to find out what's in this product that we are conditioned to use at the start of puberty and the side effects it may have.  (P.S.  A friend lost a dare at a party this weekend and had to lick my two-years-in-the-ripe armpit.)

4.  Work.  In September '09 I took a job with a 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant to create and facilitate an after school film making program at three high school sites including Wayne Memorial where I graduated.  Over the last few months, I've turned an old media studio turned storage room back into a creative space.  What a powerful experience that has been with a sense of accomplishment and pride I share with the students.  This has empowered me to make change as I start 2010.  When I'm at home doing lesson plans, I know that I'm working for the benefit of the students and on a larger scale, the future of our youth.  It feels great and gives me a sense of purpose which I felt was lacking during a spell of apathy throughout college.  [You can see the work under the "Bright Futures" playlist on my youtube page at http://www.youtube.com/martystano]

6.  Health.  I made it through the entire year of 2009 without health insurance nor any prescription medications, and I think no over-the-counter meds for that matter.  Luckily, I have a pretty good immune system and no serious health conditions.  My health care plan is a preventive system of good nutrition, fair exercise, plenty of sleep, very little stress, and plenty of green tea.  However, I did get really sick once when I returned from traveling.  I think it was a combination of exhaustion and food poisoning.  I had a fever and was buying Orange Juice at the grocer when I sharted for the first time in my life (What's a shart?  You know, it's when you fart but a little shit comes out).  I rushed home to quickly explode out of both anal and oral artifices.  After 2.5 days of laying in bed, I was totally fine without any medication.  And with that, we'll go to...   

7.  Love.  Yes, there is much love in my life thanks to my girlfriend Kelly.  I'm only 23 and have found the right girl for me.  I'm so happy that I won't be wasting the rest of my life looking for that exceptional person.  Kelly is that person.  I love her, I love my job, I love my family, my friends and altogether that makes me incredibly happy and content.  I experience much love in my life and such little stress.  Being in such a privileged position, I am ready to move forward in 2010 to make positive change.  (This certainly merits cutting my hair but I'll probably hold out for financial freedom.)

8.  Travel.  Kelly and I have started our research to go on a trip of epic proportions:  The Pan-American Road Trip from Michigan to Alaska and all the way to Argentina.  Wha-what?  Yes.  Alaska to Argentina by road.  How?  We don't totally know.  But people have done it and people are doing it now.  We'll have a blog just for our research and preparation for the trip as well as updates when our journey commences: tentatively July 4th 2010.

It looks like 2010 is gonna be a great year!