This Is A Life? Chapter 10: The World Changes

In 1982, my fourth grade year began.  My teacher's name was Mr. Fraebel, and his wife was from France. The cool part about that was that he took it upon himself to teach his classes each year a bit of French, and we would begin and end each day in brief French conversation.  He was also a very innovative soul, and kept us involved in the school as a whole.  He actually had us do our own class choir, and we performed a couple of times during the school lunch period.  We called ourselves "Fame" and I even made the flyer for it by tracing the logo off of the soundtrack record that I had.  (I didn't understand copyright infringement back then.  Cut me some slack.  :-) )  The reason that I picked the video I picked for this is two-fold:  1 - This album was released and absolutely took the world by STORM, and 2 - During a "Fame" performance, we played this song, and at one point, Mr. Fraebel stuck the mic clear up in my grill, and I was singing to the entire lunch room.  So, I guess you could say that this was truly my first performance in front of my peers.

We'll do it all again Monday!

Rob

This Is A Life? Chapter 9: Evolution Continues...

So, we reach the third grade in the fall of 1981, and my second grade teacher would also become my third grade teacher.  I was really starting to understand at this point what "clicks" were, as there were certain students that were in my class that were separating themselves from me, as they felt that their athletic prowess or "popularity" were different from others of us.  Sure, it stung a little bit, but I continued on with my development within reading comprehension and wanting to help out.  The song for this particular entry is not only a favorite of mine from those days, but I also had another version of this song on an album called "Chipmunk Rock".  That's right, I have this ON VINYL done by Alvin, Simon, and Theodore.  Be jealous.

See you Friday!

Rob

This Is A Life?: Chapter 8: The New Decade Dawns

As the '80s started, so did my 2nd grade year of elementary school.  This was the point where the geek in me really started to manifest, as I was made "A/V Guy" of the class.  That pretty much meant that I was responsible for wheeling the projector in from the library on Movie Day, making sure that the Listening Station was always working, threading film strips (kids, ask your parents about those) and synching them up with the tape playing as they went, etc.  My second grade teacher, Mrs. Griffin, took me under her wing and helped me feel more comfortable in my self by fostering the talents that were starting to come to the surface.  She was an IMMENSE influence on me, and probably the first non-family to be a true mentor to me.  My guidance counselor, Mr. Boyle, was the same way.

This time in my life was also when Mom would share with me the GREATNESS of James Bond.  This film came out that same year, and it would be the first time that I would publicly screw up a lyric, as I thought "Maybe I'm an open book" was "Maybe I'm a lonely goat".  Don't ask; I was 7.  Cut me some slack here.  Trivia: this was also the first, and only to this day, theme played over the opening credits of a James Bond film that had it's artist in said opening credits "performing" the song.

Have a great weekend, friends!  We will do this all again Monday!

Rob

This Is A Life? Chapter 7: First Grade

I entered the first grade in the fall of 1979.  As the world was about to be turned on its head with what could be considered one of the most progressive decades in the history of the United States, I was starting to become aware more and more of my surroundings and that maybe I was a bit of a smart cookie.  My reading level was three years ahead of my classmates, and I was starting to come to the awareness of my geekiness.  My first grade teacher was Ms. Heiney (and yes, it is pronounced EXACTLY how you think it is), and she was very good at her job.  I remember her constantly keeping our attention with her lesson plans and fostering our creativity.  Kickball was THE thing to do at this point, and my love for basketball was starting here as well.  When I think of those days, this song always comes to mind:

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  See you Friday!

Rob