My name is Richard Roma....

Right now I'm watching Glengarry Glen Ross. Great f'n movie. Acting, tight dialog. Pacino being Pacino. I really like good dialog and good acting. What's good acting? Isn't that up to each person? I don't know the method behind the art. But damn, good stuff gets me excited. Watch the first couple seasons of The West Wing and see good acting and dialog, in my opinion. Give me bad cinematography and good dialog, and I'll still leave happy. (I know Chris, sacrilege, I know.) Back to Glengarry, I'd love to get to Broadway and watch it performed as it was written (if it's still running), or any play for that matter. I'm a fan of plays. I'm a fan of musicals. Not the TV/movie variety, but the real thing. Til today, I haven't really ever thought about why.

Most everyone has that(those) teacher(s)that they remember the rest of their lives. I have three. First on my list is Ms. Lantz, my 7th grade reading teacher. I remember feeling 'too smart' for the class and actually making the remark, "I never learned anything in your class." That said, she was the one that made me want to be a teacher. Because I got things fairly quickly, I was encouraged by her to help others who may not have been getting it as quickly as I had. She didn't stifle me, she just encouraged me. Until my senior year, I was ready for college to be for getting ready to be a teacher. Oh, and she was hot. And being a 7th grader, take that for what you will.

The second was my senior English teacher, Ms. Lee. In the middle of the 1st semester of my senior year of high school, she pulled me outside and suggested that I head down to Ms. Lockhart's debate class and check out what they were doing. She thought there was something going on down there that I might be interested in. Also, they were needing some able minds and she felt that I could help them out. Now, I don't know if she approached anyone else, nor do I know if I was her first choice, but I know I was the only person in there that wasn't already in the debate class. Mock trial was just about to get started and I came in and did pretty well for someone with no other debate schooling. I had a ball in Mock trial and was apparently pretty good at it (Best Attorney each 'match'). I helped get the team into the state semis for the first time ever. It was that experience, and our attorney-coach's influence, that pointed me towards law. Unfortunately, Ms. Lee passed away much too soon and I never got the chance to thank her.

Getting off the subject real quick, I'm not a regretful person. I feel what's done is done and it cannot be changed. I will say I have made mistakes, and I have done my best to learn from them. But, regretting acts and decisions just isn't something that I do. That said, if I did regret anything, one of them would probably be not listening to my older brother. He told me when I was enrolling my freshman year of high school that I should take debate. I didn't. The day I realized he was right, he became smarter and wiser than I had given him credit for. (Not much mind you, but nonetheless, some).

Back the matter at hand, third on the list was Ms. Larios. She ran the middle school theater department. She had a passion for theater and performance arts. Of course, I didn't notice it at the time. But the woman had a love for it. And she had me doing monologues, performing in plays, pantomiming, etc. I didn't get Best Actor in 8th grade just for my good looks. :) Anyway, my entire point is that I think I can trace back my aforementioned fondness of theater and good acting/dialog to Ms. Larios' class. I remember some lines from the plays I was in, as well as the monologue I used to did for those fun academic competitions. I see my sister-in-law doing what she is doing, and I look upon it with mild jealousy. Theater is something that I didn't get the chance to do because I was dumb enough to get married as young as I did. Theater classes in college don't lend themselves to a night student who works full time. Maybe one day I'll see what I can manage.

During my trip to D.C. over Thanksgiving last year, I got to sit in on a rehearsal of a scene that Bridget was directing and my brother played a part in. It was as cool and interesting to me to watch as it was watching a big The Music Man production at the Civic Center Music Hall. The interaction among the actors who weren't speaking at the time. The blocking. I know that's not all there is to it, but I'm starting to ramble now. And I know it might be kinda nerdy and boring to those who don't care, but its very interesting to me, and I feel, my brother and sister-in-law.

It's interesting to think back and realize the influences my teachers have had on my current life. Not just the ones that I remember as vividly as the three mentioned above, but the ones whose little bits of wisdom and knowledge sticks with me to this day. Mr. Hale, Mr. Goodger, Mr. Walcher, Ms. Brabec, Ms. Langford, just to name a few. Makes me almost regret not being a teacher....almost. :)