n i c k y n a x . c o m

This is week twenty-six in my personal “If… Project” in which I answer questions from the book “If… (Questions for the Game of Life)”

There are 125 pages of this book, each with four questions. I plan to take one page each week and answer the questions as thoroughly and honestly as I am able. In addition, I invite you to answer the questions along with me, whether it be in the comments section, your own personal blog, or just within your own thoughts.

Perhaps in doing so, we will get to know each other better, but even more importantly, get to know ourselves better.

This week’s questions:

If you had to donate everything you own to a charity that you have never given to previously, which charity would you give to?

I would probably choose something like the Make a Wish Foundation. I think they do some amazing things for some amazing kids.

If you could work for any person in the world, who would it be and what job would you want?

I’m picking two because I just can’t decide between them. My first boss would be Ellen DeGeneres and I would be her personal assistant. My second boss would be Samantha Brown and I would be her paid travel companion.

If you could discover one item that belonged to someone in history, whose would it be and what would it be?

I’d like to find Walt Disney’s very first sketch he made of Mickey Mouse.

If you could “uninvent” one thing in the world so that would no longer exist, what would you choose?

Crocs.

Those are my answers to this week’s questions. What are yours?

Apparently, September is the month of endings.

Just a couple weeks ago, we witnessed the end of Rent’s twelve year Broadway run. And today, there is a new goodbye to say.

Tonight marks the final night for Pleasure Island.

This is week twenty-five in my personal “If… Project” in which I answer questions from the book “If… (Questions for the Game of Life)”

There are 125 pages of this book, each with four questions. I plan to take one page each week and answer the questions as thoroughly and honestly as I am able. In addition, I invite you to answer the questions along with me, whether it be in the comments section, your own personal blog, or just within your own thoughts.

Perhaps in doing so, we will get to know each other better, but even more importantly, get to know ourselves better.

This week’s questions:

If you could say one sentence to the leader of the country you are presently in, what would you say?

“It was a noble attempt.”

If you had to choose the best advertising campaign ever created, which one would it be?

This one…

If you could have been any person from history, who would you want to have been?

One of the original mousketeers from the 50’s. Annette would be a good choice, only without that whole MS thing.

If you could have a song written about you, what musician would you want to compose it, who would perform it, and what would it be called?

I think I’d like Jason Robert Brown to compose it. Christina Aguilera to perform it. And it would be called something hokey.

Those are my answers to this week’s questions. What are yours?

This is week twenty-four in my personal “If… Project” in which I answer questions from the book “If… (Questions for the Game of Life)”

There are 125 pages of this book, each with four questions. I plan to take one page each week and answer the questions as thoroughly and honestly as I am able. In addition, I invite you to answer the questions along with me, whether it be in the comments section, your own personal blog, or just within your own thoughts.

Perhaps in doing so, we will get to know each other better, but even more importantly, get to know ourselves better.

This week’s questions:

If you could cast an actor now alive to play you in a new film, what kind of film would it be and who would you choose?

I guess it would be a bio film even though I don’t really have a film-worthy life. But I can’t really think of any other type of film in which I would be a character.

I have two choices. For some reason unbeknownst to me, I occasionally hear from people that I look similar to Jake Gyllenhaal. I don’t see the resemblance personally, but if it’s true, then he would be a good physical choice. What do you think???

My second choice would be Elijah Wood. We both come from Iowa, so we have a little bit in common in regards to our early childhoods. Plus he’s a cutey, so I would be flattered to have him play me.

If an actor no longer alive were to play you in a film, who would you cast in the role?

I’m going to pick Bobby Driscoll. He was a child actor for some of the Disney movies back in the original days. Plus he was the voice of Peter Pan, so he gets bonus points for that.

If you could have your portrait painted by any painter in history, to whom would you give the commission?

Picasso. I would love to see what abstract mess of a painting he would come up with. Some of my favorite paintings are his, so I would love to have him paint me.

If you were given one hour to spend an unlimited amount of money in any one store in the world, where would it be?

Oh goodness. Can I just call the entire Internet one giant all encompassing store, because I could go nuts. I would love to spend tons of money someplace like Ikea or some other furniture store.

Those are my answers to this week’s questions. What are yours?

Today marks the end of an era.

For me. For Broadway. And for millions of people around the world who have been touched, inspired, and moved by RENT.

At the risk of sounding like a Renthead Fan Boy, I will gladly admit that back in 1996 when the show first began, that it did have a big impact on my life.

I can still remember the very first time I heard the music. My voice teacher had purchased the cast recorded and copied it to cassettes for me to listen to. I took it home one day after my voice lesson, sat on my bedroom floor, and followed along with the lyrics on the photocopy of the CD booklet she made for me. Five hours later I was still sitting there in the corner and had listened to the entire show twice through without moving. I was captivated.

It was during the period of my life where I was beginning to discover my sexuality and was struggling to understand it. I found solace and comfort in the show. The story and the music struck a chord with me and helped me through that difficult transition period in my life.

I lived the show. I breathed the show. It was a constant part of my life. I traveled around the country and world to see the show any chance I could get. St Paul, San Francisco, Chicago, Des Moines, Iowa City, London, and finally New York City on Broadway.

Rent also turned me back on to musical theatre. I had always been a fan of the genre and as a child had wanted to be a Broadway star. But as I grew up, I started to become more and more bored with the antiquated style of musicals and was falling out of love it altogether. But this show was so new, and so fresh and unlike anything I had ever heard before. And it completely renewed my love of musical theatre and took me down the path that brought me to New York City after high school to follow those dreams and goals I held at that time.

And a funny thing happened once I moved here. Throughout high school, all I wanted to do was to see the show. As often as I could. And once I knew I was moving to NYC, I knew that I would be able to see it absolutely any time I wanted. I took comfort in that. But, bizarre as it is, once I moved here and the show was mere minutes from my doorstep, I no longer had that need or desire to see it all the time. In fact, in the nine years that I’ve lived here, I’ve probably only seen the show three or four times. I knew it was right there if and when I ever did need it, and that was enough for me.

Over time, I’ve come to realize that maybe the reason Rent entered my life was not only to help me figure out and come to terms with my sexuality, but also to act as a beacon and help guide me out of the smalltown midwest life to somewhere where I could fully realize who I was and be whomever I wanted to be.

So, even though I’m no longer the fanatic Renthead Fan Boy that I once was, I still am and will always be a fan of the show. It touched my life deeply and for that I am forever thankful to have experienced it.

The time may have come for its Broadway run to end, but that doesn’t make it any less a bittersweet day for everyone who has been touched by the music, passion, and message of the show.

Today, in honor of the final performance of Rent, I not only say goodbye to it but I also celebrate it. It reinvented Broadway and things will never be the same because of it.

The most appropriate tribute I could find was from this past Tony Awards, where the original cast reunited to pay their last respects to the show as well. I hope you enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed the last twelve years that Rent has been a part of my life.

***Normally, I publish my “If…” entries on Sunday, but I am publishing a special entry tomorrow and I personally don’t like publishing two on the same day, so this week’s round of questions is going up a day early. That being said, here’s today’s entry…

This is week twenty-three in my personal “If… Project” in which I answer questions from the book “If… (Questions for the Game of Life)”

There are 125 pages of this book, each with four questions. I plan to take one page each week and answer the questions as thoroughly and honestly as I am able. In addition, I invite you to answer the questions along with me, whether it be in the comments section, your own personal blog, or just within your own thoughts.

Perhaps in doing so, we will get to know each other better, but even more importantly, get to know ourselves better.

This week’s questions:

If you could enact one law in your country that does not currently exist, what would it be?

I would make it a law that everyone has to be Vegan. It would save the economy. It would save the planet. It would save human lives.

If you could own only one thing for the rest of your life, what would you choose?

I think a laptop would be good. Via the internet I would still be able to remain in touch with everyone and have tons of entertainment as well. I’d have the entire world at my fingertips.

If you could be the current world champion in any one sport, which sport would it be?

Gymnastics maybe? I always wanted to be a gymnast growing up. But something like figure skating always appealed to me too. Yeah, I’m gay. Obvious answers.

If you could spend a weekend in any hotel in the world with all the expenses paid, which hotel would you choose?

It’s times like this I wish I have had the opportunity to stay in more hotels so I would have some personal experience with which to use to make this decision. Yes, I’ve watched every episode of Great Hotels more times than I can even begin to count, but seeing it on television is quite different than experiencing it in person.

I wouldn’t be Nick if I didn’t throw in a Disney answer, so that answer would be to stay in a Concierge Level room at Disney’s Polynesian Resort with a Magic Kingdom view. My non-Disney answer would be The Bellagio in Las Vegas in the best suite they have.

Those are my answers to this week’s questions. What are yours?

The new episode of Field Trips has arrived!

Not too long ago I gave you a trip report about our recent excursion to Atlantic City, and here is the video to go along with it.

You’ll remember from the entry that the trip ended up being less than perfect, and we honestly didn’t know if we were going to make it an actual episode, but as you will, we made the best with what we had, and if I may be so bold, this episode is one of the best yet.

When life gives ya lemons, make some lemonade, bitches…. in the form of a Field Trip!

Facebook normally serves as a big time waster and distraction for me, but every now and then it can also serve as a time machine to the past and cause you to reflect on where you began, where you are now, and the path you took to get there.

Recently, via Facebook, I came back into contact with my very first “boyfriend.”

His name was Adam. And this is our story.

I was 17. It was the summer between my junior and senior year of high school, and my friend Alissa had just graduated and moved to Ames, IA to attend a summer program at Iowa State University before her actual freshman year started. She was the only person in school that I had come out to at that time, so I had a close bond to her that I didn’t share with other people.

I went to Ames to spend a weekend with her at the beginning of that summer, and one of the places she took me was to a meeting of the campus’ Gay and Lesbian Alliance Organization. It was a pretty small group (it was summer break for most people, after all), but it was the first time I had been completely surrounded by people who were all like me. And I was able to be myself and completely open about myself for the first time in my life.

But even more exciting to me was the boy who was sitting in the corner of the room whom I found quite cute. He had a short little haircut, an orange shirt, and thick-rimmed sunglasses with yellow-tinted lenses. (Hey, it was 1997 and it was the middle of Iowa. Fashion was lost on us). We never spoke, and to be quite honest, I didn’t even think he noticed me.

About a month later, I received an email from a boy named Adam (him!) who had gotten my address from a friend who had gotten it from another friend who had gotten it from another friend. He said he had seen me at the Alliance meeting the previous month, thought I was cute, and wanted to say hi.

The coincidence in the situation is that when he sent that email, I was actually back in Ames visiting Alissa again. So, we set up a date.

My. First. Date. EVER.

I was petrified. I had no idea what to do. I was so nervous I felt like I was going to vomit. Alissa did her best to keep me calm, but it wasn’t working. I was a wreck. And on top of that, when I had packed for the weekend, I had no clue I would be going on a date, so I had nothing to wear except for the very dressed-down t-shirt and jeans.

He came to pick me up, and we went to a place called Ruttle’s 50’s Grill. I assume we ate food while we were there, but all I can remember are the milkshakes we drank. We had a window seat that looked out over the parking lot directly in front of his car, a little Honda Accord that he had outfitted with fuzzy zebra print seat covers.

After Ruttle’s he took a picture of me next to his car, though for the life of me I can’t remember why. I’m getting a vague memory of him saying he loved photography or was taking a photography class or something like that. But I could very well be making that up in order to make the photo shoot make more sense. He took me back to Alissa’s and we parted ways. I don’t even think we kissed goodnight. Just a hug.

And that was the end of my first date.

We kept in touch via the Internet and decided that we would be boyfriends. Pretty easy commitment to make to someone when you live over three hours away and rarely see each other. And even though we were both very young and were having an Internet relationship, it was very real to me as it was another big part of my self-discovery and growth and acceptance of my own homosexuality.

And even though we were barely actual boyfriends, it still broke my heart when he told me he had met someone else; someone who lived there in Ames. I knew he would better off being in a relationship with someone he would able to see regularly and totally supported him in pursuing that relationship, but it still hurt a little.

We saw each other one or two more times over the next year or two, and remained good friends. But after I moved to NYC, we slowly lost touch and years passed.

Then came Facebook.

Very recently we found each other (as well as finding Alissa), and we have gotten back in touch. We reminisced about the times we spent together and started catching up on what’s been going on since we lost touch.

He’s now in a relationship that’s about to hit its five year mark. They own a house together, and everything seems to be going well for him. It feels great having him back in my life and to know that he’s happy. He was a big important person to me, and it was wonderful having him there during a very transitional, and scary, period of my life.

I went rummaging through some old pictures, and was thrilled to find the picture he took of me during our first (and my first ever) date. Excuse the quality of it, as it’s a picture of a picture and therefore not the best quality. But this was a big milestone in my life, and while it may have been a little bizarre for him to take the picture at the time, I’m so glad he did and that I have it now.