I titled my blog "In-Betweeny" for a good reason—it’s the only term that sums up my life. Kind of sad, huh? Basically, I'm average. On a rating of 1-10 on a “normal” scale, I rate between a 4 and a 6 in every area of my life. I'm neither obese or skinny. Neither happy or sad. Tall or short. Pretty or ugly. Good or bad. The list goes on and on and on. No matter which category I’m facing, I fall smack-dab in the middle; or well enough near it. Things aren't good enough for me to be truly happy. Nor are things bad enough for me to feel justified in being depressed. And it's this "In-Betweeny" idea that truly confounds and annoys me.

Actually...I suppose I should revise that...there is one aspect of my life that is truly abnormal—definitely not average. For the sake of anonymity, let's call him Luc. And for the sake of this blog, let's add this subtitle: "Professors—A Sticky Situation.” Or…just plain old “Sticky Professors.”

Luc was my Shakespearean professor last year, and we became quite close when I approached him after class one day to ask about an essay I had written on Midsummer Night's Dream. Obliging me, we went to his office and had a nice long chat about pretty much everything. The beginning of the appointment focused on the content of my essay, but things eventually turned to the subject of our lives. He mentioned how he was the head of a local theater, and how they would soon be putting on an adaptation of Taming of the Shrew; I, in turn, mentioned that I was currently an art major, but how my interest was slowly turning from classical art, to the more modern art of set design. See the connection? We had a mutual interest in theater--his in the actual content of the plays, and mine in the behind-the-scenes work that went in to putting on a show. Spotting this connection, Luc hinted that he could use someone like me on his creative staff. I readily agreed. I needed the experience, after all, if I wanted to seriously consider becoming a set designer; and Luc, I thought, was a safe-bet to achieving this goal. 

Before I go on, let me mention that the age gap between Luc and me is not all that great. I'm currently 21, and he turns 28 mid-November.

And, for the sake of pictorial: Luc is a few inches taller than my own 5'8 height, with a mess of dark hair, and the most beautiful green--green!--eyes I have ever seen. I’ll mention more about all that, though, later. For now, on to the story.

I began meeting up with Luc and his theater a few days after class let out--usually a bit after 5--and I would help him and his staff design props, scenery, and sometimes even costumes. This routine went on for a few months (I began helping him late September, and the adaptation was to be put on for the Christmas season), and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. And, what's more, I found that Luc and I had a certain compatibility that I had never encountered before. We worked well together, and enjoyed each other's company.

Given that he wasn't paying me any money (I considered this an internship) he thought it his duty to at least buy me a drink (not that kind of drink--caffeinated!) after work ended each day, so we spent a lot of time at our local coffee shop. Without fail, he would always order the Caffe Americano, I would get a chai tea, and we would split an espresso brownie. It became a sort of routine. It was a nice cool down after a hard day of work, and we spent most of the time talking. I got to know his personality rather well, and found him to be one of the most interesting people I have ever met.

(Side-note: Just in case anyone’s wondering, my being his friend had no impact on my grade in the class. On our papers, he told usonly to put our student numbers; that way, we obtained a sense of anonymity, and he didn’t feel any bias--I think he did this for my benefit.)

It was kind of strange, seeing the slow transformation from student and professor, to colleague, to close friend. The more I got to know him, the more I found myself growing fond of him. And, in my own opinion at the time, I thought my feelings towards him could be quite dangerous, so I tried to keep them at bay. A pretty difficult thing when you’re forced day-in and day-out to stare into the most mesmerizing eyes you’ve ever seen.

This blog entry is longer than I originally intended, so I’m going to post the second part in a different post..