There’s a big difference in the jump between junior high and high school. Namely, you have to study a little bit to get an A in high school. My sophomore biology Pre-AP class taught me this.
In Junior High, the tests are often multiple choice, where you can usually narrow it down to one answer. There may be times when there are two possible answers and then you just remember what the teacher told you. But what if you took a test with an intimidating 100 blanks? Yes, that was exactly how my Pre-AP biology class worked. We had the entire class period to fill in as many of the blanks as we could on test days. Even my powerful eidetic memory was stretched to its limit. Lucky Andy and I remember having to fill in two blanks of “A cell is _______ or ________ in shape.” We actually got that one right thanks to pure dumb luck (we happened to be joking the night before that she might pull that sentence straight from the book…and we were sadly right).
One day during my sophomore year of high school, there was this brash red-headed kid who walked in and acted like he owned the place. It sucks for that new kid who moves in during the year. He gets that first day welcome and then people start ignoring him and they found out who he truly is. Not this random guy. And I quote, “I don’t need to study for biology.” Dude, random guy, even a genius like me has to study for biology. We were all incredulous. He just smiled and said things would work out. The rest of us made A’s and B’s while he barely made a C on the test. How about now, sucker?
Thought so.
Okay, so my first impression of this random guy was low. However, my first impressions of most people are usually fairly low. You’ve got to be pretty special for me to hand you my respect the first time I meet you. Otherwise, I have to give you a second chance and get to know you. The man I call random Jameson had this opportunity. I call him random Jameson because not only is he a rather random guy, but he also used random too much when I first met him and I randomly started copying him.
Stupid randomness.
He was a drama nerd, soon befriending the friend that I’ve known the longest. Through choir he got to know lucky Andy and the thief, anime Mike. His love for video games brought him closer to samurai Maph and me. He owned a Sega and those old school hockey games. You remember, NHL ’95. The ones where you could go “Juke, juke, SCORE” or “Shoot the puck at extreme angle and grab the rebound SCORE”. Ah, the old days.
He grew into the anime fold as well. Ah, the pain of sludging through the evil known as Neon Genesis Evangelion. He also understands the comic world as we watched Batman Beyond: The Return of the Joker (which is surprisingly good). He’s pretty good at playing Magic, although he’s best at playing aggro decks. He knows when to attack and when to hold back with his men.
He was part of the Everquest fold at my high school. Somehow I managed to avoid Ever Crack. Seriously, sometimes I would go to school and all my good friends would talk about is the phat lewts they plundered from the night before. It was sort of funny talking about mythical loots. In fact, I would have been sucked in if it wasn’t for my parents insistence that I not play too many computer games. My silly parents thought it might interfere with my studies or something crazy like that. Random Jameson constantly hounded me to get addicted.
No. Thank. You.
Random Jameson became known in our class as “drama announcements guy”. He was that guy who went into a Barry White deep voice while doing the announcements for drama. This was sort of cool, except it was annoying when he randomly got too low for the PA system and nobody could hear what time practice was. Yet he never wavered in his belief in making the drama announcements unique from the bland ones.
He’s also one of those guys who can annoy you into doing something you’re not sure you want to do. I may have some piano ability, but my singing ability is nonexistent. But in our junior year of high school, the drama department decided to do the production of Oklahoma! Yes, that Oklahoma! The one that Rodgers and Hammerstein produced. This was a huge risk by the drama department. Why? Well, doing Oklahoma required a bunch of guys. You could count the number of guys involved in drama at my high school on one hand. Look, if you are the typical guy in high school, your normal attitude towards drama is to think it’s “gay” (but you know, stereotypes exist for a reason…and that’s all I am saying). Father John, random Jameson, and samurai Maph were in the Drama II class and had to help recruit. Lucky Andy got recruited for his singing ability. Even anime Mike agreed to help move one box in one scene (yep, he was listed as a techie for moving one box in one scene). I was recruited…because I was a guy. But unlike most guys, I knew too many of the drama II people so they coerced me into trying out for an actual extra part on stage.
And thus, the legend of the Asian farmer was born. For all my resistance, I began to enjoy my role as the standout extra. I mean, I haven’t personally verified this, but I’m sure there had to be at least one or two Asian Boomers or Sooners back in the day. If not, then I claimed to be the Asian farmer that history forgot. It was hellacious to learn those dance numbers, though. Memorizing the technical steps of the dance choreography is not that difficult. Now having it memorized and doing it in sync with the rest of the cast is painful to get down. Think about it: If you have ten guys doing Will Parker’s “Kansas City” routine, and even one screws up, it’s VERY noticeable. “It’s a Scandal! It’s an Outrage!” was a fun number to do. I got a random farmer line in “The Farmer and the Cowman should be Friends.”
But, thanks to Jameson, I am remembered most for one speaking line in Oklahoma. There’s one part where the main character has to sell off stuff to obtain money. He offered up his gun. Now Jameson always told me that I had to make every line unique, as even an extra can contribute to the total energy of the play. I thought to myself, Hmmmm, what would an Asian farmer back in 1900 sound like? I’ve never told anyone this, but I patterned that one line after my dad’s broken English. So when Curly offered up his gun for sale…
“
Ah’ll gifv ya ayteeeen dollahs fuhr dat guuuhn!” –D2 as the Asian farmer in Oklahoma!
Alas, they didn’t give me the special treatment by listing me as the Asian farmer the program guide. Sadness. Apparently Rodgers and Hammerstein wouldn’t take too kindly to their precious script being modified so whimsically. Stupid Rodgers and Hammerstein. But it was really fun, even if I had to square dance with a complete stranger. Talking about rhubarbs and watermelons were fun. Plus it got me out of school for a few days while we presented for elementary schools.
I never realized all the hard work that goes behind into putting a production. I am humbled to have been a small part of the magic. Ah, yes, the magic. That was the rallying cry of our cast and crew before each show. We would all get into a circle and chant “Make magic” (and yes, we all did fell strangely like a cult at that moment). We made magic by coming together and forgetting who we were. We may not have the sharpest voices or the right build or look for our part, but we high school drama people made up for it with our passion. And it is in that passion that the audience can forget about themselves, if only for two hours.
That is making magic.
Jameson dragged me out to two more productions, It’s a Wonderful Life and the Merry Wives of Windsor. Oklahoma! was fun as it was my first production, but being bit parts two more times just wasn’t worth my time to go to rehearsal with my killer schedule (lots of AP classes stacked on top of extracurricular activities…mom and dad made sure I was going to be valedictorian after all). And really, I would have thought drama was “gay” if I had never gotten involved in a few productions myself. But the only people who are “gay” are those who decry the arts in such a manner.
I confess to whispering “MacBeth” a few times during productions. Sorry, that’s why all those things went wrong guys. Blame the heretic in me.
Random Jameson provides me with the source of all that is fringe in the gaming world. I knew about DDR before it exploded across the nation. I got to see the awesomeness of the world devouring Katamari Damacy. WarioWare was amazingly fun times. His latest oddball pickup was
Guitar Heroes for the PS2. Okay, the best way to describe Guitar Heroes is that it’s DDR for a small keyboard. It is not as hard thanks to its life recovery mode but it is a lot of fun just to watch Jameson play an expert song. When the notes are coming right at the limit of human ability to interpret the signals to the brain, the awe factor becomes sensational and you can not help but bow to the leetness of an advanced gamer. I would never know about these things without random Jameson.
I consider him the fighter or tank of our fantasy party because someone has to take the damage. Of course, my parents DESPISE Jameson. That’s because of the one time he stayed at our house for a week. He lived like a slob by my parents’ standards (you gotta love my parents, they tell you that you’re doing everything okay but secretly they’re angry at you for not being up their standards). He didn’t understand that my parents weren’t go to tell him he was a slob. It’s rude to tell your guest that he’s being rude. Anyone like that, my parents say, must do bad things like get drunk and do drugs. Stay away from that guy, Daniel.
Well, I don’t do that because he understands me better than most people. He has the advantage of haven seen me in my hyper state (this happens at, oh, two o’clock in the morning after we’ve been playing way too much Mario Kart Double Dash and loaded on caffeine). And sure, he acts all goofy on the outside, but inside he’s got quite a powerful philosophical machine for a brain. You’d be remiss if you assumed he wasn’t spiritual, either. And he’ll do the randomest things for me. That’s how I now have piano music to Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy VI (THANK YOU!!!). He’ll talk to me at the most random hours of night because he understands that I randomly need to do that.
Like all of us, he is not without flaws. Chief among them is that he did not go to college straight after high school despite having a scholarship on the table. He said he needed time to discover himself. I told him that he would probably find himself at college along with the rest of us, but he randomly decided to wait. And with each passing year he’s finding it tougher and tougher to realize his dream. He dreams one day of doing voiceover work, especially anime. Jameson, go major in communications or something and start trying out for the radio. Naw, I’ll take my time to achieve my dreams, Daniel.
May I randomly hear your voice in an anime some day, old friend.
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