My Own Personal Doctor Zhivago

For a person who has the reputation of brutalizing his students, to inculcating "an environment of intimidation" (to quote an infamous yearly review, I sure spend a lot of time with my students. That usually takes the form of endless impromptu discussions around campus or scheduled coffee chats (with me usually paying for the coffee).  However, this year it's also taken on the form of me being drafted for more student projects.  I appeared in a play, two student films, and did the voice over for a video game.  In all of these I was painfully inept, but they keep asking anyway.  My theory, at least my current theory, is that they just do this so that they can say that they talked me into it - or maybe they just like to turn the tables and get to boss me around for once.  One of the films was written and directed by my student Katie Lawrence, who was one of the students that I led to Spain and Portugal last November.  It was an interesting idea, and I might even include the dialogue if I can locate the script. The biggest problem was that we filmed it on a pretty bitter day right down on the lake, with the wind howling in off the water.  Katie envisioned the exchange between the characters, an optimistic young blind woman (spoiler alert) and a disillusioned older man (I won't tell you who I played) happening in warm weather and she clung to it like grim death (almost that of the actors) despite a spring storm.  It was a lot of fun, despite me falling twice on the ice and at the end starting to forget my lines because of creeping hypothermia.  I've now sworn off all student films, at least until the next one.

This scene and the words windbreaker should never go together.

The crew, who, unlike the actors, wore winter coats and wrapped themselves in blankets.

In one of the odder, and crueler, moments, my good friend Kelly Thomas had a walk-on (giving money to a homeless man, which she, a naturally good soul, would do in real life) was allowed to wear a coat.  I love the look on her face.

Prepping for the shoot, and the lead actress was very good.

Katie, the mad director.  My secret theory is that she didn't actually film anything and concocted this entire scenery to prank me (or maybe kill me).