Some apologies

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Tony Caselli

Sometimes you take stock of your life, and realize that you have some apologies to make.

I thought I’d get a few of those out-of-the-way today.

First, to my wonderful wife. After going to the midnight showing of “Star Trek Into Darkness” last night, I slipped into the house at about 3 AM. When I did, our yappy little dogs started barking like mad, waking my wife in that
OHMYGODWHATISHAPPENING?!? kinda way. Sorry about the heart attack, Honey.

Next, I need to apologize to that raccoon I met on the way home last night. I’m pretty sure that was not how you wanted it all to end, buddy, and I’m sorry about that. (Sub-Apology to the undercarriage of my car: that sucked dude and, judging by those crunching and banging noises, you took quite a beating… but it really was his fault.)

Also, I want to apologize to all those people who use LinkedIn. I keep getting nice requests from people who want to “join my network”, and lots of lovely “endorsements” from nice folks about my work. I’m not going to lie, I have no idea what any of that means. I don’t use LinkedIn, I don’t even remember signing up for it, and I’m not even sure what you’re supposed to do with it. So, for now, I’ll add “figure out linked in” to my to do list, and I should be able to get to it around the year 2060.

Other random apologies:

Starbucks, now that I have diabetes I will not be giving you all the monies for all the pumpkin spice lattes. Sorry.

McDonald’s, I need you to come up with a quarter-pounder-with-cheese (plus mayo) that is healthy for me, helps my heart get stronger and me skinnier. Until you do that, we are done. Sorry.

To my kids, who are both teenagers now. For the next several years I will do lots of things that will annoy you – sorry. Also no, I will not explain what it means when I close my eyes and wish you into the cornfield. Ask your mother.

Happy Friday, everybody!

Milestone after milestone, life changes keep coming…

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Tony Caselli

Wow. So the last few weeks have been something else.

First, the awesome stuff: Tomorrow, my youngest kid becomes a teenager. Awesome. I don’t know when that time between “Oh my God, it’s a boy!” and “Hey, he’s a teenager” happened, but it’s come and gone and he’s 13 now.

Other awesome stuff – we’re about to go into preview performances for “10:53” at Williamston Theatre, and I’m really pleased with it!

Other milestone stuff: I got bifocals! Whooo! It’s funny, I really don’t mind the classic “He’s getting older” stuff, because it’s proof that I’m not dead yet! And so the bifocals A) are fun to get used to, and B) look pretty good on me! Now, I just need to stop getting dizzy when I turn my head too fast, and everything will be fine. 🙂

And, probably the biggest revelation of the last few weeks, I’ve been diagnosed with diabetes. So, big life change there. It’s mild, no insulin shots for me yet – we’re pretty sure we can handle it with diet and exercise. So – less sugar and carbs for me, more exercise, checking blood glucose regularly, and making sure it stays under control. Unfortunately diabetes runs in my family, so I’m not very surprised to be diagnosed, but I’d hoped to avoid it by being pretty active and fairly healthy with my lifestyle. Looks like I didn’t quite make that, but I’m currently in the “mild” range, and planning on keeping it that way. So, now I’m learning lots about sugar, health, carbs, eating healthy, etc…

So, life keeps moving us forward! It’s interesting, “10:53” is very much about having the strength to be honest about where you are in life, and recognizing when you’re stuck and having the courage to break out of that… and here is life, handing me “Your youngest is a teenager… and now you’re diabetic: Go!”. Isn’t it funny how the universe works?

Amazing. Onward and upward. I’m a lucky guy who has a terrific family, and a terrific group of friends, and a terrific life. The reminder to not take things for granted isn’t lost on me, and the reminder that my most important job is to help my kids grow into strong, wonderful people is welcome… and the reminder that there’s still a lot of life I have yet to experience, and a lot I have to learn, is truly appreciated.

So – Thanks, Universe. I hear you. Let’s do this.

A pretty terrific evening

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Tony Caselli

Had a nice night. Went to see a play with my son – he had a great time, we had some Quality Family Time. I was particularly happy we were able to schedule it because a work gig had me out of town for a lot of the last two weeks, and I missed hanging out with my family.

The best thing about the night wasn’t the play, though, or the fun power outage in the middle of Act One, or getting to hug and visit with friends I hadn’t seen in a while – although all of those things were fun.

The best thing was hanging out with my son, and having him enjoy hanging out with me, while he wore this jacket:

I’ve worn that jacket for years now. Especially in the Spring, the early Fall, and on some cool summer nights. It was my grandfather’s jacket. He wore it when he took me to Tiger games, and lots of other times too. I’ve written about him before – about 7 years ago, when this amazing thing happened.

So, tonight, it was a little chilly and rainy, and we were grabbing jackets out of the closet, and when I pulled it out I handed it to Max. He said “Cool, this’ll work” and I said “Hang on! If you wear that, you have to take care of it for me. That was my grandpa’s jacket.”

He stopped, one arm in a sleeve, “Wait – so this was my GREAT – Grandpa’s?”

“Yep. He wore it when I was your age. It’s what I have of his.”

Max went and stood in front of the mirror by the front door, admiring how he looked – “Wow. Cool. Can I push the sleeves up?”

“Yep.”

“Cool. I’ll take care of it. I won’t wear it to school.”

“Okay. It’s a loan, I get it back for ballgames.”

“Awesome. Thanks Dad!”

And then we were off. He wore it all night – our evening out was terrific. And on the way home in the car we were chatting, and he said “So my great grandpa wore this with you when you were my age?”

I looked over, and he was tracing the outline of the giant Olde English D with his finger.

“Yep!”

There was a thoughtful pause before he said…
“That’s awesome.”

And I couldn’t argue… because seeing my son wear it was pretty awesome too.

It’s all in the timing

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Tony Caselli

Sometimes – not often, but every once in a while – the single most important thing you can do is to stay in your pajamas, play games and watch tv with your family for the entire day.

Thanks, universe, for the ability, and for the reminder.

“Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.” – Ovid

Random Good Things on a Saturday Morning

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Tony Caselli

I’d better get some gas for the leaf blower!

My daughter and I decided that our dogs should enjoy Halloween too!

The Tigers are in the World Series! They’re down 0-2, but they’re back in Detroit tonight and I think they’re gonna take the next 4 games! 🙂

Any FRINGE fans out there? I love the show. Only 9 episodes left, and I had to buy a shirt from the show… So I bought a concert shirt from the fictional band that Walter listens to!

Ebenezer, the world premiere by Joseph Zettelmaier, is the next show at Williamston Theatre. It’s a beautiful piece. First rehearsal was this week, here’s the cast at the read thru:

Okay, I started this post this morning – then a bunch of Quality Family Time happened, and now I’m finishing it. Several hours of leaf work has resulted in this:

Yay Autumn! 🙂

Now, time to prep for the Tigers game: I have to make sure my couch is properly stocked with snacks and remote controls!

Wednesday pic post!

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Tony Caselli

Okay, this is the “it’s been too long since I’ve posted and I’ve been working too many hours and laid up too much with a sinus infection thank God for antibiotics” pic post! Some random things from the last week!

my son giving me a tough look

Me discussing a scene with actor Aral Gribble on the set of boom

The boom set, with actor Sarab Kamoo

Another shot of the set and Sarab Kamoo

I officiated the wedding of my friend Megan Buckley to her wife Birdie Ball! It was a beautiful night!

When shopping with the kids, may have found this Darth Vader hoodie that zips up completely over your head to give you a mask. That may be me using the force to choke someone… And it may not…

I love this picture from boom, with Alissa Nordmoe, Aral Gribble and Sarab Kamoo.

Even though I had a lot going on (or maybe because I had a lot going on), and had a sinus infection, it was a terrific week. Loads of fun stuff, lessons learned, pictures taken. Looking forward to writing more about it. In the meantime, hope YOUR week was great!

Sunday Pic Post

Posted on September 9, 2012 by Tony Caselli

Sometimes what you need to do is post a series of pictures from your week!

So, I’m juggling directing tasks on a couple of productions this week, rehearsing boom in Williamston, and remounting Ernie in Grand Rapids. Here are some rehearsal shots!

Some fun in Grand Rapids

My awesome boom cast, rehearsing:

Being in a snarky political mood last week, I made this:

Being a geek, I saw this and loved it:

Oh, speaking of boom…

Aaaaand no Sunday Pic Post would be complete without my kids showing off their finger mustaches…

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope your week was as good as mine, and next week is even better!

Tuesday – just for fun

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Tony Caselli

I finally broke down and put one of those “stick figure families” on the rear window of my car…

Yep, they’re zombies.

At the gas station yesterday, a couple on a motorcycle were also filling up their tank and they commented on the zombie family and how much they loved them, and it got me realizing that in the last few months I’ve gone from having no stickers or anything on my car at all to suddenly having 4.

Here are the others:
I’m an Apple fan…

and we just got these to sell or give out to subscribers this season at Williamston Theatre!

And after my donation, I got this nice magnet to get us through election season:

Happy Tuesday everyone! I don’t know how YOU’RE spending it, but I’m starting rehearsals for boom, and I’m very excited!

Sunday Quotes and Rambling: Time

Posted on August 26, 2012 by Tony Caselli

The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.
C. S. Lewis

Well, season 6 at the Williamston Theatre has come to an end. In a few days, we begin our 7th.

That’s amazing to me. 6 seasons have gone by?! 36 productions?

Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.
Carl Sandburg

It feels like yesterday that John, Chris, Emily and I were standing in an empty furniture store that we had big plans for, amazed and excited, opening a bottle of champagne. I still have the cork.

You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by; but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by.
James M. Barrie

6 seasons. My kids have grown up in that time. Jeanne and I both hit the “20 Year” mark of being professionals in our field. My son started middle-school and joined the diving team! Holy cow – My daughter starts high-school in a few days! A thought to make my heart skip: in less time than the theatre has been open, she’ll be off to college.

Where has that time gone?!

Well, I type that question, and mean it, but I’m also okay with the answer – it has been well spent. It’s been 6 good years of love, family, work, friends, and a fair amount of challenges… and even some days I’d rather forget – just like anyone’s life. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.
Carl Sandburg

In the next few days, we launch into things that now we describe in short terms:

“Season 7”
“21st year of teaching”
“High School”
“7th Grade”

But in a year, all of those will have such different meanings to us all…
And we’ll look back and wonder how they went by so quickly.
And then we’ll start again.

We are time’s subjects, and time bids be gone.
William Shakespeare

A little R&R

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Tony Caselli

Rest when you’re weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.
-Ralph Marston

We had a terrific vacation. Camped at the BEAUTIFUL Wilderness State Park, on Lake Michigan.

More than just yearly rituals in which we connect with friends and family, vacations are also exercises in self-definition. In affording time away from the demands of everyday life, vacations disclose what people choose to do rather than are required to do.
-Cindy Sondik Aron

A day trip to Mackinac Island for fudge, biking around the island and sightseeing was perfect.

Your family and your love must be cultivated like a garden.Time, effort, and imagination must be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing.
-Jim Rohn

The loves of my life. 🙂

Laughter is an instant vacation.
-Milton Berle

Tony Caselli

Dad, Husband, Director

Tag Archives: family