Going to War with the Army you have…

"As you know, you go to war with the army you have. They're not the army you might want, or wish to have, at a later time.”

Former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld

An old friend from high school, in this millennium now, of course, a “friend” of mine on Facebook, recently started a daily blog as a way to return to one of her old loves, writing.

She named her blog KDM @ 11:30 after a famous quote from Lorne Michaels, the longtime producer of Saturday Night Live.

"We don't go on because we're ready. We go on because it's 11:30."

I first read that quote in the Miller/Shales oral history of Saturday Night Live (a terrific read if you’re an early SNL fan, by the way), and it now appears in every article or interview about Michaels. It’s a great quote. It’s true about show business, but it’s true about many other things in life as well. We don’t do things because we’re ready to do them. We do them because it’s time.

Since my high school chum beat me to that Michaels’ quote, and imitation is the sincerest form of Television, not blogging, I felt the need to look elsewhere for mine.

There’s an equally famous, or infamous, Donald Rumsfeld quote, and Rumsfeld really was the Yogi Berra of Defense Secretaries, which, I think, carries a similar meaning:

"As you know, you go to war with the army you have. They're not the army you might want, or wish to have, at a later time."

And since politics is just like show business with a body count, I think I’ll appropriate Rumsfeld’s quote for this blog. And we’ll give it our own show biz spin.

I loved to act in high school plays (Harvey, Curious Savage, Hello, Dolly!, You Can’t Take It with You) and perform in skits and sketches (the Unknown Comic in our Senior Class “Gong Show,” a performance, sadly, that you will not find on YouTube) and make movies and videos as a kid.

My lovely bride was a theater major in college, and, at one time, was a card-carrying member of S.A.G./A.F.T.R.A., and both of my teenage boys have been in numerous summer theater camps and shows under her tutelage.

Some of their performances you CAN find on YouTube.

Back in my flying days (more on that in later posts), and before our two boys were born, when my lovely bride and I could hop on an airplane to New York on the spur of the moment, for free ($25 for First Class!), we would go back every year for a long weekend and see 4-5 Broadway and Off-Broadway shows in three days.

One of my now teenage sons requested Sondheim’s book as a birthday present last year. Both my boys sing songs from the latest Broadway musical comedy smash, The Book of Mormon, around the house. We just finished watching Slings & Arrows, the story of a Canadian repertory company, on DVD – all THREE seasons.

So you could say we’re a “theatrical” family.

My lovely wife now works in youth musical theater, and when she’s approaching another opening night, and starting to stress out about what is and isn’t working in the show, and which actors can’t remember their lines or choreography, I’ve thoughtfully combined the two Michaels & Rumsfeld quotes by reminding her that,

“you don’t open with the cast you want; you open with the cast you have,”

and,

“you don’t open because the show is ready; you open because it’s opening night.”

There’s a part of me that’s hesitant to even contemplate a blog because it's too narcissistic and self-indulgent. And that’s probably true.

But I like my friend’s idea to try it to force myself to write. I enjoy writing, and I wrote a great deal in high school and college, but nowadays, not so much. I continue to do plenty of shooting and editing of video, other early loves, but not any writing.

Two years ago, after fifteen years of contented residence in Sonoma County (for my money the most scenic, funkiest, best foodie area in California), we moved our family 100 miles south to San Jose, the self-proclaimed “Capital of Silicon Valley,” where I spent my youth, so our two teenage boys could attend a good Jesuit high school and play ice hockey with the largest club in Northern California.

Their school, the oldest high school in California, is, as advertised, top of the class.

They skate in the largest rink in the United States west of the Mississippi, owned and operated by one of the most successful franchises in the National Hockey League. Last season their Jr. Sharks team won the California state championship. Even their high school has its own Varsity and J.V. ice hockey teams. We can walk from our house to watch our local NHL team, the San Jose Sharks, battle in the nearby “Shark Tank.” It’s as close to nirvana as a young hockey player can reach in California.

For our boys, the move has worked out well.

Et moi? Uh…well, let's just say I left San Jose thirty years ago and never saw a reason to return.  Until now.

So I thought I’d have a little go at blogging. It might give me a chance to vent and rant on all that is wrong (a lot) and right (not so much, but the weather's lovely) with San Jose, and tell our tales of life with two teenagers in the big city.

I’ll try and mix it up with recent stories of my family and our life in the land of sun, slap shots and silicon, and also some notable things I remember from my past life as a film student, flight attendant and former resident of Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Sonoma County and even Dublin, Ireland.

I'll do my best to make things interesting, amusing and relevant when I can. And snarky when I can’t.

Not because the tales are fascinating, not because I have lots of spare time to shine and shape each paragraph into perfect prose, but because I want to do some writing each day and tell some stories.

Now let’s hit the ice. But not with the team we want. Only with the team we have.