Commencement pt. II

Ten things I learned from Justin's graduation proGRAM

1. There should be an accent over the gram in program (00:14)
2. If your partners start with the wrong part of the performance, don't play along.  Just talk over them and pretend it never happened (00:18)
3. S-T-O-P spells duck (00:29)
4. Justin needs an earlier bedtime (00:46 / 2:12)
5. 14 is the silent number on the number line (01:05)
6. "Telling time helps us to know when school time ends. Off to play we go!" The period and exclamation point in that sentence are totally optional (01:35)
7. If the microphone is not cooperating with your performance, just give it a good whack with a large piece of foam board (02:58)
8. Even if you've never spent more than 24 hours there, the word ARTIST is to always be pronounced with a heavy New York accent (03:01)
9. Justin's going to be that musical group member that inevitably breaks off and goes solo after their third album (03:28) Either that, or he's just really loud.
10. Audiences are generally not that smart.  You should always cue them on when to clap (03:56)

Okay, so about this "I want to be an artist" thing... First of all, with parents who both have engineering degrees, we kind of knew this was inevitable: At least one child would test our fortitude with a love for the humanities.  Secondly, I can at least say that it's a step up from last month's aspirations of wanting to be a waiter... although the two do seem to go hand in hand (starving artist by day, waiting tables by night).  But the truth is, Justin is undoubtedly obsessed with drawing and coloring.  It's the first thing he does when he wakes up, the last thing he'll do before bedtime, and his first option for an activity every minute in between (okay, well maybe a close second to playing video games on the computer, but he has at least figured out that video game mastery is not a profession).   I'd say that his artist aspirations started about 2 months ago when he randomly gave me his declaration of 3 or 4 things that he'd never do.  One of them was that he'd never take his training wheels off his bike.  He said it was too dangerous, and the gain in speed wasn't worth the risk of injury (all righty, then... SMH).  I can't remember all the others, but the last one was that he'd never get a job.  This was based on his observation of me going in and out of the house and off to work each day.  Now mind you, I have just about the most flexible job in the world; rarely missing breakfast, lunch or dinner with the fam.  Nonetheless, this discussion lasted about two weeks, and would come up as occasional questions during casual conversations.

Question: So... don't you get tired of going to work sometimes?
Answer: Sure I do. But you've just make sure that your job is something you really love.  This way, the good times outweigh the bad, and going to work when do don't feel like it is suddenly not such a bad thing.

A week later, this whole getting a job thing was still on the brain, and he was trying to figure out how anyone could like something enough that they'd want to do it (and worse of all, leave their family to do it) every day. And then it happened.  As she was cooking in one room and he was coloring in another, Venesa brought up the fact that there are even people that draw and color all day for a living... and Justin just about fell out of his chair (which... actually.. doesn't mean a whole lot, because he falls out of his chair at least twice a day... mommy's clumsy gene... but you get the point).  His eyes got huge, and he said really?! And she said, really!  And then he turned to me and asked, is she serious? Because this had to be joke.  In his mind, there was no way that anyone could actually get paid to do the most funnest super awesome thing in the world all day long.  And when I confirmed it (yep, people who draw and color all day are call artists)... Justin cheesed the biggest cheesy smile you could possibly imagine.  And since then there's been no turning back.  Before that conversation, I didn't think that he could color any more than he already did each day, but I'd swear that he has doubled his efforts since then as if he's now trying to intentionally hone his craft.

"My name is Justin Reyes, and I want to be an artist when I grow up." (03:01)

Well... what can you do besides applaud his dedication, fasten your seatbelt, and enjoy the long ride to first-born adulthood.  We'll see how this one ends.  And when all else fails, hey, maybe his two younger sisters (neurosurgeon and world-reknowned architect) will be able to financially support the family of their starving artist brother.