About Me
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This is for those who don’t know me, & yes it will be sappy. I can go off on tangents sometimes, so I’ll try 2 make this short & 2 the point.
I was born & raised in Long Island NY, moving from Queens 2 just about every other part of LI (excluding the Hamptons), with a brief stint in Michigan. I grew up under the guidance of my mother, Patty, who was a full time nurse trying 2 support us both in the overly expensive state known as NY. Got my first erection at age 5. Lost my virginity at age 7 to a 9 year old baby sitter. Went 2 many schools becoming part of what I like 2 call an experiment of the school system in NY, where every kid who acts a little different is automatically positioned into a special-ed class. This along with my moms work made it very difficult 2 stay in one place, which made it very difficult 2 have friends. We both fought tooth and nail 2 get me out. Even my teachers were supportive of me advancing, but the state of NY doesn’t care about helping it’s young. One of my teachers in Sped-Ed was extremely influential in my life. His name was Mr. Van Leer, & it was through him that I decided I wanted 2 become a filmmaker. This was around the beginning of middle school. Those years in that grade were eye openers for me as well. It was my first full-blown experience with everything involved with Sex, Drugs & Rock n’ Roll, & Rap. Oh yeah, I was the only white kid in my class too, which was very significant in my view of this country’s people as a whole.
I could go on, but then I’d have to write a book. Anyway, one thing that my mom was very good with was conserving money, which meant we went on “many†vacations around the world. This helped me see at an early age how we as Americans take everything for granted. It helped me at such a young age 2 decide that I didn’t want to become a hypocrite like most of the people in this country. That is why I hate all the flower waving hippy liberals & strict Right Wing conservatives. Their the assholes brining this country down. I believe in individuality & complete freedom, not whose left or right, red state or blue state, they’re all full of it. Sorry (going off on tangents). Any way, High School was a turning point for me & my mom. I got out of Sped-Ed & into real classes. It was an eye opener at first, but the best thing that ever happened 2 me. For once I was considered normal, not that I was, and I wasn’t made fun of by the other kids. We (mom and I) bought our first house, and I had friends, one of which would be my future wife (Jennifer). But all this happened too fast for me & my mother. Fights turned into battles with me trying to dodge full soda cans that she’d use as grenades. Then when an old boyfriend came back into the picture to try and fix me (Jimmy, an ex hit man for the mafia), who loved 2 grab my mom very aggressively, hurting her, I decided 2 leave. I ran away at age 17, just one year shy of when my own mother ran away from her family when she was a kid. It was one of the hardest things I ever had 2 do,
I didn’t speak 2 my mom for 2 years after that. My good friends parents took me in 2 finish my junior year at Newfield High, but I eventually moved up 2 VT 2 live with my dad & start my senior year. My introduction into hippies, rednecks & people who would make the freak list back home… I loved it. I learned 2 be myself even more at Harwood Union High. & how surprised I was that all the weed that was around wasn’t laced with anything. I felt safe too, away from all the stupid, gay, P.O.S. gangs that were around back home. As soon as I graduated I ended up working over the summer as a PA/Extra/Special FX guy on a local VT film. The director’s name is Jay craven, & though the movie sucked, I did get a reference from another kid on set about a local film school in Burlington (Burlington College). Low & behold, 6 years later & fighting another form of the rip-you-off school system that this country thrives on (note: never go 2 a “liberal arts school,†it’s disguise for hippy propaganda). Anyway, the first semester almost killed me, with drugs, no sleep, and many thoughts about suicide. However I still had my girlfriend back home who was the only person other than my mom who I felt calm and secure with. So, on New Years Eve, just as the ball dropped & everyone was screaming Y2K, I proposed to her… With a grape flavored ring pop. We married three days later.
Eventually my mom found out we got married and called us. It was the first time in 2 years that I talked to her. Not a mention of the past, but she wanted 2 spend as much time with me as possible all of a sudden. She was happy for me, but was still giving me pointers on life as well as helping me & Jenn with what ever cash problems we might have had. Then it hit me like a spiked bat 2 the head, she had cancer. She never told me how bad it was, just that she was taking chemo, so I got annoyed that she wanted me to call her every week. But it was a lot worse. On one of my visits 2 see her on Oct. of 2004 her best friend Pat met up with me, her news… “your mother is dying.†From that moment my whole world was shattered. Nothing mattered more than the time spent with my mom. I took off work, school, & any contact I had with friends in VT. This would be the hardest thing I’d ever had 2 do in my life. What made it worse wasn’t knowing when or where. So I tried my best 2 be there 24/7, & when I wasn’t, I was basically in a dream state meeting friends that I hadn’t seen in years, & being very reckless with my life. She died bedside, right next 2 me around 1:30am on December 14th, 2004. Of all the things she taught me in life it came down 2 a lesson I learned on my own that night. Life is given to us all at a very short span. It is what you do with your life, in that short term, that you can achieve full happiness and feel a sense of belonging in this crowded world. Don’t become part of the machine, & if you do, go out & have fun, go on a vacation once & a while, become the person you want 2 become, because when it comes 2 your time 2 go, you will forever regret not even trying. My mom lived one of the most fun-filled lives ever and she new it was her time. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be the person I am today, and I’m pretty fucking content with that… Patty Hinkle-Covino 1943-2004 R.I.P.
Epilogue:
After a year of personal solitude, I came 2 realize that the more I fight with the school system the longer I’m wasting my time, money and even though she’s dust now, I was just disappointing my mother. So I sucked it up, got back 2 finishing my degree paper on the history of Deep Throat (the porno) and tied up all loose ends of homework, paperwork, and finished my “personal†film (Emily’s Addition) as my degree film in order 2 graduate in the spring time. 2 my surprise I succeeded, and on 5/13/06 I was handed my Bachelor of Arts degree in Cinema Studies and Film Production from Burlington College. Sure I was sad that I fucked around fighting BC for 2 years causing my graduation 2 happen after my mom passed. But you can’t change the past, and even thought she wasn’t there in the flesh, she was there in my heart, and I was the happiest kid on the face of the earth. Since then I have worked non stop in television/film production, saying goodbye 2 all those 9-5 jobs I did so many of, and keeping my fingers crossed that someday, some how, I’ll get my big break.
Currently I am working on finishing my first documentary feature "Against All Odds" about a limbless hip hop artist and his partner as well as another feature doc being directed by my friend Jeff and shot/co-produced by me titled "Where Do We Go From Here?" about three black brothers from Detroit, MI who formed the band Death, a precursor to punk rock in the US in the early 1970's
