Circus Xtreme Atlanta, GA - Circus Love

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We spent the night in Raleigh. The next morning before hitting the road, we decided on one more meal at The Cowfish. Although we didn't get lucky with freebies this time, we still got fantastic food and wonderful service. Jameson had a bento box with house fries, edamame, cucumber salad, a half-roll of a specialty sushi, and a mini specialty burger. He said the burger was cooked perfectly despite its small size!


I had The Nature Boy's WOOO-shi BuffalOOOO-shi roll: chipotle bison, friend green tomatoes, feta cheese, onions, and tempura flakes, topped with chopped veggies, and chipotle aioli. It was REALLY good.


After that, it was time to hit the road. We drove about five hours to Athens, where we found a cheap hotel. The next day we visited a third 2nd & Charles (we're on a roll) but didn't find anything, so got groceries and went to the train. This yard is paved, a welcome change from the muddy yard in Raleigh. I spent the rest of the evening cooking food for the week, as we'll have a lot of shows and I know I won't feel like cooking during my down time. I tried boiling half of my duck eggs. They turned out beautifully!


On opening day we learned that the tiger act would be back in. Taba looked ok...hopefully he's all right. The show went well.
Koji (BMX, pictured airborne) was performing with a broken foot and acting like it was no big deal :P

(photo courtesy Koji K.)

Like with any other job, at any given time there are always several people performing with injuries or illness in the circus. So remember to applaud :)

I received a little personal pick-me-up that day: the games for my GameBoy! I bought Tetris, Dr. Mario, Super Mario Land, and Super Mario Land 2: The 6 Gold Coins. My phone is much smaller and can do more, sure. But the nostalgic value of a GameBoy is worth having if you ask me! I still remember the day my Dad sat my sisters and I down, presented us a new GameBoy, and said, "Ladies, this is a crystal ball. You'll have to take turns looking into it."


Jameson revisiting Dr. Mario. Our cups overfloweth with nostalgia.


After the show Jameson stuck around to play poker with some circus folks (there's an informal game 1-2x every month) so I took the bus home, got ready for bed, and played with the GameBoy until nostalgia turned to "Oh yeah...some of these games were really frustrating..." haha. If you want to relive the old school action, some kind souls on YouTube have uploaded their emulations for your viewing pleasure:
Super Mario Land
Tetris
Dr. Mario
(note: these videos are being played on Nintendo DS systems, that's why they look a little different. The original GameBoy is not backlit and is therefore difficult to film!)

Thursday was a one show day. I was grateful for one last day to sleep in. I took advantage of that, then did a little writing, started preparing taxes, and other boring life-stuff. The show went well.

Friday was a split. After the first show we returned to the train. I decided to clear my cabinets out and wipe them down, then take a nap. The evening show went very well.


Saturday was the start of a pretty long weekend, with eight shows in three days! I brought my GameBoy to work to help pass the time. All of the shows were really well attended, which was great :) After the last show a young man came out of the audience to say hi to me, he's a trombone player getting ready to go into college and was wondering how I ended up on the circus. We had a nice chat. It's always awesome to meet other trombonists on my travels!

Sunday, Valentine's Day of course! Rebecca (wardrobe) usually makes a valentine box for everyone to write little love notes to each other, and this year was no exception! She even hand-delivers them! Kudos to Rebecca for taking time to uphold this cool circus tradition. As you can see the box is very fashionable :D


I was on the receiving end of some awesome valentines this year. Thank you friends!!


Others were not so lucky ;D

(photo courtesy Applesauce)

Looks like the animals were getting in on the mushy-gushy cutie-wootie action too!



(photos courtesy Adria C.)

(photo courtesy Jonathan M.)

All of the shows were very well attended. We had a, *ahem*, "special guest" during the first show...a very bad dog named Harper. Hope you enjoyed your little escapade Harper...we love you but don't ever do that again, your owner almost had a heart attack<3

(photo courtesy Koji K.)

Six shows later we returned to the train, exhausted. Jameson and I had a little candy exchange to celebrate our relationship. We happened to buy each other the same box of chocolates!! HA!!

(photo courtesy Jameson)

Jameson got me a GIANT box of Fun Dip! He knows how much I love the white candy lik-a-stix! And, you know, a card with two ice cream cones making out. He's sweet like that.


Seriously though, I am blessed to have him. Before Jameson, I had no concept of what a relationship was about, or how wonderful it could be to share your life with someone else. I'm so glad we're together, EVERY day.
(end mush)

We have two more shows tomorrow, then some of us are hoping to eat some local BBQ and see some Deadpool! Next city, Duluth!


Other stuff:

On opening day during a lull in rehearsal, lights and sound decided to drop a rave. For no reason. Why not?

Every day when I set up my equipment, Dan the camel and Robert the trainer are out getting ready for preshow.
Isn't Dan adorable??

While here in Atlanta some folks got to go see UniverSoul Circus! Looks like a fun time!

(photo courtesy Ryan H.)

(photo courtesy Adria C.)

Feast your eyes: this might be one of the last Elephant Brunch events.

(photo courtesy Ryan H.)