taz_39 | Entries tagged with exploring

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers the weekend.

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Backtracking Part 1:

On Wednesday night I found The Egyptian Room in our theater.

As mentioned in earlier posts, the Murat Theater that we are playing this week was formerly a Shriners shrine. It was built in 1909, and it looks like someone's idea of a mosque or temple on the outside with terra cotta trim and minarets and full-on murals of men riding camels across the desert on the backside. Like many theaters or social centers built between the 1910s and 1930s, the building's architecture and design reflect a fascination with "exotic" destinations that were new and exciting to the Western world, and in particular the "Egyptomania" that swept the Americas during those decades (first due to the romanticism of the Napoleonic campaigns there and later the sensational discovery of King Tut's tomb, so Wiki has told me.)

Anyway, all of this means that this random theater in Indianapolis has an Egyptian Room on the 2nd floor.

Detail of the chandeliers, which feature scarab beetles and lotus flowers and other fun designs. I think that's real confetti stuck in them, too.

On one end of the room was a big stage used for performances or speeches or what have you. This week it houses our Hair department, lots of Disney Magic™, and half-costumed actors having their hair done, meaning I could not photograph it. Instead here is a big decorative pillar on one side of the stage:

On the opposite end of the room is this rather dramatic, tacky, wonderful entryway:

(AAONMS = Ancient [Egyptian] Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine)

A short clip showing the Egyptian-inspired artwork which encircles the entire room, ending with the dramatic-tacky entryway:

Watch on YouTube

And now a small disclaimer. I understand that some folks may see this kind of thing as offensive, racist, cultural appropriation, etc. I hear you and I respect that. Absolutely do whatever you need to do to address that (scroll past, call Indianapolis City Hall, etc.) But when it comes to ME and my opinion on it, I really have none. I'm here to play a show, and as an added bonus I sometimes document the things I see and share them with you. That is all there is to it, my friends :)

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Backtracking part 2:

On Thursday night Michael (Key 3) and I finally received our in-ears! Ours took longer to arrive because we were the only two who took advantage of the color and style customizations that were offered. The in-ears were free, but adding customizations required an out-of-pocket cost which is understandably why the others didn't go for it.

Here are my new in-ears!! The are the UE model 7 Pro with interchangeable face plates.

Detail of the custom face plates: mother-of-pearl, and black sparkle.

Notice that the black sparkle faceplates are unfortunately scratched. I was of course disappointed by this, but will reach out to the company to see if I can get them replaced. The other faceplates are beautiful, and I am far less concerned with cosmetic issues than with whether or not the monitors actually work!

A short clip that I made for Jameson showing how the faceplates can be removed and interchanged.

Watch on YouTube

In the video I mention being surprised that these in-ears come with "ambient plugs," which I thought was an extra-cost feature. It's basically a small hole drilled into the in-ears so that they don't completely block out ambient noise. You can then use those little clear plugs that I showed in the bag to activate or deactivate that feature. Some people prefer to have audience noise, or need to hear both their mix AND the audio happening around them. I am one such person; typically I'll keep one in-ear in and leave the other out so that I can hear my mix in one ear and my own sound/what's happening around me in the other ear. But that's not how in-ears are meant to be used, so if this feature allows me to keep both ears in while still being able to hear myself/some ambient noise, that would be really cool!

I'm going to try these for the first time on Saturday's two shows. They will probably sound different than my older in-ears so there will be an adjustment, but the sooner I start using them the sooner I can get over the learning curve. Really excited and grateful for this new equipment!!

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FRIDAY

I was up early to do laundry. Glad to get back into a laundry pattern.

Ate breakfast, chatted with Jameson, and sent a support request email to UE about the scratched faceplates. Shared the Madison, WI Foodie Finds with our group. Folded the laundry, ironed my shirts, had a snack. Just Friday Things.

I'm writing this on Saturday and can't recall anything exceptional happening...I didn't go anywhere because it was rainy again. Tried to take a nap, watched anime, and gathered things to put in my trunk a day early. I rode to the theater with Dane (flute) and packed my trunk and warmed up on trombone, and the evening show was just fine.

Oh, I got a response about the UE faceplates! They want me to try the in-ears for at least a week and make sure that they're acceptable, that way if anything else needs to be fixed I can send everything in together. That makes sense to me, so I will test the in-ears through the next city before doing anything else.

And during that conversation, I asked about custom faceplates using your own images (which I know they offer but couldn't find a place to actually order them on the site.) They sent me the info, and it turned out that I could pay for those using my credit card points! In other words, for FREE! So I will be getting another set of faceplates either to replace the scratched ones or in addition to them.

They'll look like this:

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SATURDAY

I had a rough night...felt very tense and kept jerking awake, and felt very anxious upon waking up today. There's just NO reason for it. This intense anxiety has been happening actually kind of predictably, the week before and during my period...as well as that weird heartburn or a stomachache, sometimes. I'm wondering if, like brittdreams has suggested, it could be something to do with hormone changes. I really don't know what to think or what to do about it other than treat it like plain anxiety: ride it out with box breathing, a Pepto, or St. John's Wort as needed.

Anyway, despite the intensity of it I went ahead with my usual morning routine of breakfast and getting ready for the show. It looked lovely outside so I decided to make myself walk to Amelia's bakery about a mile away. It WAS a lovely morning. Because it had rained for most of yesterday, the smell of rain and steaming earth and fresh green plants permeated the air. The sun was warm and bright but the breeze was cool. Lots of birds were singing, and I saw some bunnies and geese too.

I was rewarded for going out by finding one of my very favorite flowers, a musk thistle!! They are so spiky and pretty :)

Amelia's was on a hipster/gentrified street with lots of locally-owned shops. Everything in the small bakery case looked amazing.

I walked back with a roasted carrot and whipped lemon feta danish with hot honey and pistachios. It was AMAZING.

They called it a "toast," but as you can see it's laminated like a croissant, yet it resembles a danish. Whatever you call it, it was delicious. The roasted carrots were sweet and soft and a bit peppery, the lemon feta was tangy and creamy, the hot honey gave everything a sweet heat, and the pistachios were a perfect bit of crunch and nuttiness over it all. The pastry itself was so flaky, light and crispy. I ate half and saved the other half to be an intermission snack.

After a simple and boring lunch I carpooled to the theater with the guys. And today I tried out my new in-ears!! I had tested them briefly with my computer this morning and they seemed to work just fine. Now it was time to use them in the show and see how things would sound in my mix. The answer: VERY different! As I had hoped, these new ones are significantly better than my old Shure 315s. Everything is much clearer and louder in my mix. I can hear EVERYTHING that Ryu (violin) plays, whereas before I could only hear her solo moments. I can finally hear KeyComp Bass!! In my old in-ears I couldn't hear that at all. And with my old in-ears I could hear Keys 1 and 2, but could not tell them apart in the mix, it all sounded like one instrument. Now they are completely distinct (this does matter)

As such I spent the entire first show adjusting my mix while we played. The French horn and keys were brought down nearly by half, which is a lot. Now my mix is a lot more "mid" across the board, with myself, French horn, drums, and KeyComp Bass spiked higher than everything else because those are what's important for me to hear.

I'd hoped that the little "ambient plug" feature on these in-ears would make me feel comfortable with both ears in, but unfortunately because I play a bass instrument, those low frequencies just do not translate well digitally. I can hear myself with both ears in, but what I can't hear is the QUALITY of my sound live in the house unless I take one ear out. Not sure if that makes sense but it's the only way I can think to describe it.

Through all of this I was still SUPER anxious, tense and sweating for no reason. It is wild to me that my body will do this from time to time with seemingly no reason. Between shows we got back to the hotel where I ate dinner and packed a few things, then we had the evening show which went just fine though I very nearly had a panic attack. Luckily if I KNOW it's a panic attack I can head it off using a few tactics in the moment. But it's still uncomfortable, distracting, and I wish it didn't happen.

I get the impression that my posts are too long lately and no one is reading this stuff, and it's just as well since so far my "health scares" are all false alarms. May it stay that I way I suppose, even if it feels awful.

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SUNDAY

I slept poorly and had weird dreams, but woke up completely calm. The opposite of yesterday. So weird.

Breakfast and typing this post, packing some things, and around 9:30 I walked to Enterprise to pick up a rental car because I'm driving to the next city. They gave me a convertible Mustang! I feel silly driving it but whatever gets me there. Parking in Indy is supposedly free on Sunday so I decided to drive myself to the theater.

The first show was just fine, though it is absolutely freezing in the pit again. I hope the next theater will be a break from that issue as it's very uncomfortable and makes it harder to play. Still, I think it was a good show and we had a nice enthusiastic crowd. After the show I stayed at the theater and mostly hung out in the Egyptian Room because they have cushy booths up there. I saw some members of crew using those to catch a quick nap and decided to try it myself, and wow, I did manage to doze! Ate dinner and read my book, then it was time for our last show in Indy!

It was even colder in the pit, to the point where I almost put my coat on again, but tried to tough it out instead. Partway through the show I got a text from my local friend Josh who was here with his wife and mom for Mother's Day! They came to the pit after the show to say hello. It was great to see him and meet his lovely ladies, and a shame it was on load out night so there was not much time to chat. But he seems to be doing well and I'm grateful he came to our show :)

Drove my fancy Mustang back to the hotel, typed up this post, and mostly finished packing because tomorrow I'd like to hit the road early.

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Monday: Hopefully a nice drive to Madison, WI. If I get there early enough I'll use the car to get groceries, check in, and maybe walk to Willy Street Co-op. It's Connor's (Key 1) birthday so we may have a celebratory drink with him!

Tuesday: Opening day in Madison.

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Wednesday and Thursday.

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WEDNESDAY

Ended up doing virtually nothing today. The weather was better but I wanted to save energy for the zoo tomorrow, and besides that frankly there's not much of "touristy" interest here that I felt the need to go see.

Instead I put in a lot of time on Foodie Finds and got Knoxville entirely done(!), bought my zoo ticket, scoped out the hotel's guest laundry, and received an Amazon package with my new "leak proof" containers, some baru nuts (used to be available through Whole Paycheck but no longer), and the food thermometer. The "leak proof" containers are disappointing because they are leak-resistant at best, and the sizes are smaller than listed as well (the 1.5 cup container is 1.25 at most.) Should have read the reviews more carefully I guess. Still, it's possible that they'll be leak resistant enough that it won't matter, and the slight size difference may not matter either, so I'll give them a fair chance. I just don't like false advertising.

So yes, all of that excitement plus watching anime and eating snacks. After dinner I got dressed for work and walked to the theater. It's only a 30-minute trek and pretty flat. I got there early intentionally to put some stuff back in my trunk and practice my pedal E on the bass using the video that my friend gave me in Boston.

I also visited The Egyptian Room in this theater and took a bunch of photos, but since I'm going to the zoo tomorrow I'll save those photos for the weekend so as to slightly shorten this post.

The evening show was just fine. This pit is deep and well below the stage, so audience reactions are muffled, but there was extended applause and cheering for "Gaston" so that's good!

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THURSDAY

Up early to eat breakfast before heading to the zoo!

My tactics with both museums and zoos/aquariums, for avoiding large crowds, are as follows:

A) Go right when they open. Most school groups arrive 1-2 hours after opening. The animals know this too and will be out enjoying the quiet while they can. GREAT opportunity to see them uninterrupted!

B) Move from top to bottom/work backwards/counterclockwise when possible. That way you’ll be starting at the opposite end from any large groups, and won’t be moving WITH them through the displays.

So far both of these tricks work swimmingly, and today was no exception. For an entire hour I essentially had the zoo to myself. Plus, the animals know the routine too. A lot of them were out stretching or relaxing while it was still quiet.

I started with the Ocean section. A friendly ray:

Lionfish:

There was a very cool dolphin viewing area underneath their pool.

There were other fish, sharks, seahorses, etc. that I didn't photograph. No jellyfish or urchins here that I saw. There was a ray petting pool but I left them alone knowing they were about to be manhandled by busloads of children. Next, some primates. The chimps were not out yet but I saw orangutans and this small monkey (macaque?):

Next, the Desert area. A variety of tortoises. The giant tortoises were still inside but you could view them through windows.

A meerkat standing guard:

That area led into the reptile enclosure. I love reptiles (and insects but they didn't have those here) and was delighted to see a lot of the snakes moving around and active. Most of the constrictor-types were curled up and not visible, but the venomous ones were moving all around. Beautiful!

This one has cloudy eyes and looked irritated, he'll probably shed his skin soon.

This was a spitting cobra. Beautiful and shiny.

This little viper had iridescence in his scales, but I couldn't capture it with my iPhone. Pretty little one.

This one was moving all around, it took a while to get a good photo because he would not sit still!

And this one was SO CUTE. I don't remember what it was but it was in the Indiana Native Snakes display.

I think this was a black mamba, also very energetic and climbing. Look how LONG! (CLICK HERE to watch)

Next was the elephants, two African elephants were out, one was a juvenile.

I saw three white rhinos:

Zebra:

Tiger:

Adorable sleepy lion who rolled over for me. Cuuuuute

Most special of all was getting to actually see a red panda!!! I have been to several zoos that have them, but they have always been sleeping or hiding. This is the first time I've seen one up and walking around. It was from a distance and I had to zoom in a lot, the photos are not good, but it's the best I could do.

By this point I'd been in the zoo for about two hours, and spent another 30 minutes or so looping back to see if there was anything I'd missed. The zoo is under construction currently (they're removing a coaster that used to be in the middle) so some exhibits (kangaroos, giraffes) were closed, and others (aviaries) were not open until later in the afternoon. I decided not to wait around for the aviaries and called it a day, having seen lots of wonderful animals :) Ubered back to the hotel, did my photo editing, had a snack and typed up this post.

After the snack I had an impromptu visit to a walk-in clinic because I've had stomach-or-chest-pain for like four days. It's really centralized on my stomach but as that's right below the sternum, I'm 42, and better safe than sorry especially without health insurance, I hoofed it over there just to rule out a cardiac issue. They didn't think it had anything to do with heart stuff at all (vitals were totally normal) and gave me a GI cocktail which did provide some relief right away, so it's likely just my same old stress-induced GERD or ulcer again. This flares up badly once or twice a year. Grateful that it's not anything worse than that at the moment.

Carpooled in to the theater with Michael (Key 3) and Dane (Flute), and our new in-ears were waiting for us! They look really cool with the customization options that we added, but this weekend we will find out how they SOUND which is WAY more important. Pictures to come in the next post.

The evening show went well, though I felt a bit distracted (when this happens I wish I were a robot, sometimes!)

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Friday: Laundry in the morning (After spending $$$ on laundry in Boston it is SO NICE to be back to $ per load plus doing it myself!!) and no other plans. I will either recoup from Thursday's stomping around, or might go do an explore. One evening show.

Saturday: Two shows but might go get a really delicious-sounding danish from a local place in the morning, we'll see.

Sunday: Picking up a rental car to drive to Madison (they booked us a flight but it's only a 5-hour drive and I like road trips :) ) Two shows.

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Monday and Tuesday.

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Previous Visits to Indianapolis:

Circus 2015: Aah yes, this was when PETA called Homeland Security to falsely report that someone on the circus had an active case of Tuberculosis. TB is transferrable between elephants and humans, but we all received TB shots biannually. Because of PETA's TERRORIST THREAT--because that's 100% what this was--all 200-something circus people had to go to a clinic and get chest X-rays to prove we didn't have TB. And yes, this was done intentionally by PETA both to cost Feld Entertainment money and to stoke fear and discrimination against circuses/circus people. Other than that, nothing really stood out about this visit, i.e. no time for sightseeing.

Elf 2024 (part 1 and part 2): I was in Indianapolis with Elf when I got the offer to tour with Beauty and the Beast. And now I get to return to this city, with Beauty and the Beast!!! AMAZING. We're even staying in the same hotel. Aside from that, once again I didn't do much in Indy, probably because it was winter and very cold. Discovered Shapiro's Deli, met a trombone buddy, and bought a bass trombone to begin practicing for BATB.

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MONDAY

I was up at 4:30am to have coffee and a very early breakfast before heading to the airport. Bye, Boston. The flight was on time and totally normal. I got to the hotel around 11:30am, had an early lunch, and walked over to Shapiro's Deli for fresh bagels (egg, blueberry, cranberry walnut.) I also got a black and white cookie...why not!

After putting those away I grabbed my tote bags and walked to the nearest Whole Paycheck. They had everything that I needed and even a few fun extras, like the smoked sturgeon that I love and a pizza-flavored vegan jerky. The 40-minute walk back carrying all of my groceries plus a gallon jug of distilled water for my kettle was not fun. I was overheated and annoyed by the time I got back, but the exercise was probably good for me. Had a snack, unpacked, and settled in.

Often when arriving in a new city and restocking on groceries, that's when I feel the most like an Actual Princess. Like, if you really stop and think about it, I've got more wealth than many kings and queens have had throughout history. Not gold and jewels, but economic convenience and quality of life. I fly hundreds of miles in comfort, for free, while someone serves me snacks and drinks. I live in rooms that are cleaned for me, with hot and cold water on demand and big fluffy beds and climate control so that I'm never too hot or too cold. I can have any foods that I like, and if the weather is bad or even if I just don't feel like bothering to go get food, I can pay someone to bring it to me.

Not to mention that I probably have the most complete and utter freedom and personal independence of any woman in the history of my entire family line.

It's downright opulent, I tell ya.

Anyway, just Monday thoughts as I relax in this hotel room in Indianapolis.

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TUESDAY

There was a very loud thunderstorm last night. Perhaps I should have worn earplugs but I think I still would have FELT the thunder! And anyway it sounded cool.

I was up in time to pilfer the free hotel breakfast. Mostly I will grab peanut butter and nuts (walnuts, almonds) because these are expensive. I take no more than 1-2 servings at a time so that by the end of the week I've got a little more than a weeks' worth to bring on my travels. Maybe that's "wrong" to do, but I don't think so. Whether I take the same amount daily and eat it, or pack it for tomorrow, it is still being offered for free, right? Had a nice normal breakfast and packed my lunch, but my aquarium stick-on thermometer in this fridge says it's at 46°F (7.77°C) and that kinda made something snap inside me.

I have gotten food poisoning and/or stomach virus TWICE this year already, which is way more than usual for me. And unlike when you have a normal 9-to-5, I can't just "call in sick" and spend the day hugging the toilet and hydrating. No, I have to work while sick and sometimes without access to a toilet for extended periods of time. There's nothing less Princesslike than blowing into a tube at full force while nauseous, surrounded by people in a tight space, while desperately trying to keep your body from doing what it needs to do. You can probably see why food poisoning is one of my greatest fears on tour.

For the most part, I think the food in my fridge is still safe. The tofu is vacuum-sealed and in an acidic lemon sauce. Yogurt can often be STORED at room temp as it's already a fermented product. The smoked sturgeon is vacuum-sealed and is of course smoked. The protein shakes are plant-based, sealed, and should be fine. The lettuce will be fine, the beets are acidic. My one concern was the chicken, so I reluctantly threw it out.

It's possible that the aquarium thermometer has become inaccurate (it's several years old now) and overall I am tired of having to guess whether each different fridge in each hotel is at a safe temperature. And I have a trunk now to store things, so there is no reason not to buy what I need. So I went to Amazon and ordered an instant-read food thermometer, an actual digital fridge thermometer, and a set of airtight containers (none of mine are leakproof or airtight and I'm sick of that too in relation to food safety + stuff leaking in my lunch box.) I've been guilting myself and refusing to buy these things because I already have useable containers, and I've been gaslighting myself that I'm being paranoid about food safety. But like I said, I've been stomach-sick twice this year and if it happens again, I will KNOW FOR SURE that it wasn't because of my fridge temp or leaky containers. And I will also be better able to narrow down what DID cause it so that I'm not throwing perfectly good food away. Anyway rant over, this is just how my morning went.

I had wanted to walk to the theater but it was an all-day rain and my umbrella is in my trunk. Instead I messed around for the morning, packed a dinner and snacks, and Ubered (we have rental cars but the other two in my pool wanted to get there at a different time today. Ubers are cheap here anyway.) This theater, the Murat, is another one of those former Shriner shrines like we had in Richmond recently. This one is a lot more run down, though.

Stock image of the whole building, on a nicer non-rainy day:

They went heavy on the Egyptian theme, as you can see. There is even a room upstairs called The Egyptian Room which I will want to find before we leave. For today I only took pictures of the downstairs ballroom, which is where our trunks are being kept (and of course I dug around in my trunk too)...

...and the theater ceiling which has a pretty decorative dome.

The pit is cramped but not terrible and/or average for an older theater like this. The backstage, equally cramped and kinda feels like a bunker because the ceilings are very low. We are right next to Wardrobe though, which is kinda cool because we get to see all their hustle and bustle (and the gorgeous costumes!) plus say hi to our actor friends as they pass through to get changed or whatever :)

Sound check was fine and nothing to report, and the show was fine too though we had one show hold right before Be Our Guest (better before than during, imo!) We were able to start up again quickly from the top so it was no issue. Afterward it was STILL pouring outside so Michael (key 3), Dane (flute) and I ran to our rental minivan and got quickly back to the hotel. It's only a little over a mile and I'd actually hoped to walk in to work this week if weather permits.

At time of typing I've just finished unpacking all of my trunk stuff (extra clothes and the Keurig mostly) and the rain is still coming down hard outside. The new fridge thermometer already arrived and is showing 35°F (1.66°C) which is just about perfect imo. Good opening day in Indy. Time for bed!

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Wednesday: It's supposed to rain again but not all day. If it clears up I may go for a general sightseeing walk, as I truly haven't seen much of Indianapolis. One evening show.

Thursday: Hoping to visit the Indianapolis Zoo! We will see. One evening show.

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers the weekend.

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Forgot to mention that our in-ears have mostly arrived! Everyone who did NOT get customizations received theirs a few days ago. Michael (key swing) and I were apparently the only two who went all-out, so ours will arrive in Indianapolis fingers crossed. My in-ears are 10+ years old and these new ones are a significant upgrade, so I'm really looking forward to that next week!

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FRIDAY

I finished typing the latest blog post after 1am, fell asleep around 2am, then woke up around 8am. Thankfully this job is not a traditional 40-hour workweek, meaning I have the luxury to rest as much as I like today. (Longtime readers know, but the rest of you, TRUST, I have absolutely done my time as far as working jobs with long hours, low pay, and physical labor. Resume available upon request :p )

Yesterday had been rainy, dreary, and cold. Today was sunny and lovely with a high in the 60s! I wanted to go outside at some point but was having trouble deciding what to do. While figuring that out I enjoyed a slow breakfast, shared Indy Foodie Finds with the group, and finished up Madison Foodie Finds.

I also had a gander in the mirror. A few months ago I turned 42, and my body apparently took that as a signal to start mass-producing grey hairs. Specifically, I have my dad's pattern of greying at the temples.

On a personal level this is not a problem. I'm 42; it would be kinda weird if I DIDN'T have grey hair. But this summer I'm scheduled for at least a few days of playing the character "Phillipa" at Epic Universe. And when you're being paid to portray a character, changes to your appearance will impact the character's integrity. For example my character "Phillipa" is supposed to have her hair tied back in either a ponytail or bun, at the back of her neck. This means that before returning home in July I need to ensure that my hair is long enough to tie back. If I decide to cut my hair in a short bob or something, I will need to talk with my bosses about whether "Phillipa" can have a bob (she likely could since she's from 1930s Paris, it would just have to be cut/styled in a specific way.)

TL;DR for the first time in my life I had to tell management that my hair is now visibly greying and ask if they need me to dye my hair. Actors have to do this kind of thing all the time, but for me it's an age-related first :)
(And for the record, I will NOT have to dye my hair for "Phillipa." My natural appearance is fine. Yay!)

After lunch I was itching to enjoy the lovely weather but did not want to spend more money than I already have in this city. And then I recalled that I have never been to the Capitol Building here, and it's FREE! Off I went.

Crossing through the Commons, it was such a glorious perfect day. Lots of people out enjoying it.

The State House (Capitol)

I first walked around the whole outside of the building, but much of it is surrounded by apartments and quaint side streets. The one open entrance was at a plaza with memorials to firemen and police.

I don't usually take pics of these fluffy pink trees, whatever-they-are, but this one was really going all out.

The outside and inside of the State House features white marble with black veins, I thought it was very beautiful.

Note to tourists: all Capitol buildings in the US are supposed to be "property of the people," so you can walk in any time during government operating hours (some restrictions on where you may wander inside of course.) On the advice of a security guard I went to the 2nd floor. My timing was not good for joining a tour group, but I wandered around myself and discovered beautiful architecture, art, history, and of course politics. There was a big gallery full of yellowish marble and artworks that was roped off/closed, and the Great Hall had a private event going on so I couldn't see that either, but everything else was accessible from what I could tell.

First and most prominent was Memorial Hall. It's a big rotunda with a stained glass ceiling and a collection of historical US flags.

Most of the flags in the hall are actually "transparencies," not the real flags themselves, backlit for better viewing. This was the only flag that I photographed and the oldest one in the collection, having only 13 stars.

The stained glass ceiling depicts the seals of the original 13 states, with Massachusetts in the center.

The floor here and throughout the building features ornate mosaics designed by Charles Brigham, circa 1890.

The Main Staircase.

Nurse's Hall, which was built to honor nurses who served in the Civil War. Notice the black-veined white marble again in the big pillars and stairwell.

Doric Hall. I love the pale blue, and I guess the name "Doric Hall" is because of the architectural style of the pillars? There were some artifacts of the Civil War here, as well as samples of minerals and stones commonly found in Massachusetts.

Moving on to I think the 3rd floor, I took this artistic stairwell shot.

I don't know what this room was but it was pretty and cozy, and was housing a tribute to women who have made contributions to Massachusetts (nurses, poets, scientists, suffragettes, etc)

The House of Representatives chamber. This is a wide shot but if you look carefully there is actually a judge (he was dressed like a judge anyway) on the far side doing some paperwork. There was a security guard near him who stared at me the whole time.

You weren't allowed very far into the room. When turning to my right to leave I was startled to see a large wooden fish dangling above one of the gallery areas. I found out later that there is a pretty hilarious history behind this fish: it's called the Sacred Cod and has been a fixture in the Capitol Building since 1785!! I HIGHLY recommend reading about the hijinks surrounding this fish (CLICK HERE)

(stock image, I couldn't get a good angle from my spot for a pic and with that guard lazering me from across the room)

This was a Senate reception room. I caught up with a tour group here and got to overhear some of what the guide was saying. Notably, that Massachusetts currently has a Democratic supermajority. Cool beans.

The Senate chambers. Like the House chamber, you couldn't go very far into the room but there was no guard glaring at me and the tour group. I looked up and was once again surprised to see a fish, this time dangling on the chain above the central chandelier. See it?

Now I had to look THAT fish up. Turns out, sometime around 1895 the Senate was moved to this room after some water damage occurred in their original chambers, which is also where the Sacred Cod was. They could not bring Sacred Cod with them. The Senate went on with their business as usual in this room...but they missed their fish. So they commissioned another one to hang above the chandelier......and called it the Holy Mackerel.

I did not know that politics could be so ADORABLE.

There were lots of historic paintings depicting wartime heroics, murals honoring labor and industry, and portraits of all of the Governors lining the walls of the hallways. I am not much of a history buff so didn't take pictures of much else, but did very much enjoy looking at everything, reading about many of the things I saw, and scrutinizing architectural highlights like carvings on pillars and stained glass highlights elsewhere in the building. Overall I spent about an hour in there before popping back out into the sun. It was really enjoyable, and freeeee! If you are in a US capitol city, do visit the capitol buildings, they have a lot to offer!

Back at the hotel I had a snack and did manage to take a nap for once. The evening show was, ya know, fine.

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SATURDAY

Our last two shows in Boston.
To sum things up as this is a pretty long post: both shows went fine.
Our wall tag was finished and available to sign. (reminder as always, click the pic to open in new tab, click again to zoom)

This wall tag was done by the amazing Emily Larger, who is Ensemble/Understudy/Lumiere's wife. This tag is special because everyone in the company, from cast to crew to management to musicians, have been included. It is difficult to capture the wonderful details with just photos so here is a short video. Notice that Mrs. Potts is pouring tea into the harbor (Boston Tea Party reference)!! And see if you can guess who the little black stick figures around the edges might represent! (Wardrobe, call board, lighting/sound, etc)

Watch on YouTube

The band is of course along the bottom, as though in the pit :)

And here is little stick figure me!

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SUNDAY

A rare weekend Golden Day! Normally we'd be loading out on Sunday, but Indianapolis is 947 miles (1524 km) away. We have five(?) company trucks that carry our stuff, and driving 947 miles takes about 14 hours WITHOUT counting stops for gas, breaks, weigh-ins, etc. They probably need the extra day to arrive before load in even begins.

And that's how we all got to enjoy an entire extra day in Boston!
But before that, let's take a moment to recap.

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During this visit and on previous visits, here are the things I've done in Boston:

Previous visits, sightseeing:

    - Freedom Trail
    - Historic Burying Grounds (2)
    - MIT campus
    - Harvard bookstore
    - Faneuil Hall
    - Boston Symphony concert
    - North End
    - Day trip to Salem, Mass.

Previous visits, eating:

    - Flour Bakery + Cafe
    - Mike's Bakery
    - Faneuil Hall Boston Chowda Co.
    - Boston Beer Works

Current visit, sightseeing:

    - Chinatown
    - Faneuil Hall
    - Capitol Building/State House
    - Parts of Freedom Trail
    - The Commons/Gardens/Mall
    - Berklee College of Music
    - Fenway Park
    - Newbury Street shops
    - Museum of Fine Arts Boston
    - New England Aquarium
    - Boston Harbor/Waterfront
    - Christian Science Plaza/Reflecting Pool
    - Boston Marathon
    - Maruichi Grocery

Current visit, eating:

    - Bakey (2x)
    - Tatte Bakery (3x)
    - May's Cake Shop, Chinatown
    - Potluck, Chinatown
    - Windsor Dim Sum, Chinatown
    - Nero Cafe
    - Random Italian restaurant on Newbury St.
    - Maruichi Select, onigiri
    - James Hook & Co., lobster roll
    - Faneuil Hall, Boston Chowda Co.
    - Back Deck
    - Maggiano's (company party)
    - Hobgobiln (cocktails)
    - Hotel bar (cocktails)

...plus performing 24 shows, laundry services three times, getting groceries, visiting with Jameson, and attending company events and outings.

All of the above was very expensive, but also very fun and well worth doing! Jameson and I both did, saw, and experienced A LOT. It's been a very fulfilling visit. Boston will always hold a special place in my heart thanks to the time I got to spend here :)

All of that said, please don't give me a hard time if I didn't do something that you recommended. It's not personal, it's that I'm one human with one bank account and there's only so much I can do, you know? Thanks.

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Anyway, SUNDAY. Because of all that I've already done in this city, I made ZERO plans. I have assuredly boosted the Boston economy quite enough, and probably paid someone's weekly salary over at Tatte Bakery too, lol.

I had a lovely chill morning, reading a book and listening to nature sounds while eating breakfast. Checked in for my flight, scheduled tomorrow's Uber, made overnight oats for Monday morning, and started gradually packing. For lunch I walked to Whole Paycheck and got things from the hot bar (whitefish filet, potato samosa, orange chicken, grilled veggies, rice) and a can of coffee for Monday morning so I won't have to brew any.

And that was IT, you guys. Oh, I had to revisit Madison Foodie Finds because I forgot to add coffee shops, and then worked on Knoxville Foodie Finds for a bit too. Most of the day was spent in pajamas, staring at my phone or computer, reading or napping or snacking. I have no problem chilling today because in Indy I intend to do a lot of walking. This'll be the first time I'm there when it's NOT freezing.

Dinner was random leftover groceries: the last of the PBfit, half a bagel, half a can of chicken soup + leftover grocery store chicken pieces, and some almonds. Jameson was similarly having a slow quiet day and sent me some videos of his new Roomba scooting around the house. When I get home I'm putting googly eyes on it right away :p

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Monday: Travel day to Indianapolis. Expecting to get there around noon, get groceries, settle in, maybe look around if weather allows.

Tuesday: Opening day in Indy.

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Wednesday and Thursday.

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Small Little Updates:

There's an update with Jameson!! I can't share too many details, but he's been assigned a new project at his Disney corporate job, and it involves the opportunity to leave his mark on Disney live events in a BIG way!! He got the news yesterday. I am so excited for him, and proud for him!! Wish I could share more...things should become more public and share-able over time.

Our company Media team sent a link to the recent behind-the-scenes session that a local reporter had with our show...it's pretty cool and you get to see DAR, some of our actors, and some of backstage! CLICK HERE to watch.

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WEDNESDAY

I was up early again for no reason but that's ok. A normal slow morning and Madison Foodie Finds, then I decided to walk back to Newbury Street for a shop that had intrigued me called Muji. At the time we first noticed it, Jameson and I had walked like 10 miles and were too tired to window shop. We stopped in very briefly, didn't see much before leaving. I bookmarked it in my head for later.

Turns out it's essentially a Japanese IKEA. They have affordable and minimalist clothing, pillows/bedding, containers, storage solutions, housewares, and most of the same stuff you'd see at an IKEA except much less furniture (though they did have some.)

Shirt-dresses. Basically linen muumuus. But I guess these are trendy right now.

Bedding and pillows. I especially loved that their sheets and pillowcases came in different TEXTURES, from the roughspun and intentionally coarse to the extra-soft and plush.

There was a massive selection of diffusers. The gentle glow was nice.

These pillows are specifically for napping! They were super squishy :)

I REALLY enjoyed looking at everything, and there was a lot that I wanted but couldn't get...and then I got some things that I probably shouldn't have...but Japanese home goods stores are RARE in America in general, and Muji stores in particular are only found in NYC, Boston, and NJ.

My haul:

(Realized while taking this photo that I'm totally fitting the "Millennial Grey" stereotype. I could have picked any of these items in blue, yellow, white, or tan instead. But, well...I do find grey, especially dark grey, to be a comforting color for some reason.)

The oblong pillow was advertised as having a "mochi" texture. I love it. It's small enough to bring with me, very squishy, and can be used as a neck, back, or knee pillow. But mostly I just want something to squeeze (Throughout life I have always owned small pillows or stuffed animals for this purpose.)

A cheap 16oz bottle there on the left for travel days. Typically I use a 20oz Path reusable bottle, but those are too tall for my backpack side pockets and often fall out. Also Path bottles only last 3-4 months for me before they're either damaged from dropping or start smelling no matter how well I clean them (something to do with the lid I think.) I'm hoping this biomass plastic bottle will last longer, and it looks very easy to clean too.

A tiny lightweight 6oz thermos which I was very excited to find. A lot of soups and protein shakes have two servings per bottle, and yet the containers they come in aren't resealable. Most of my tour containers are not leakproof and not designed to hold liquids. This is lightweight, it's the perfect size for a minifridge, and also looks easy to clean.

A box of brown sugar candies to share with the band (they are quite good!)

And finally, some Malay grass house slippers. I'd bought cheaper Chinese house slippers a while back, but you get what you pay for and they didn't fit properly + the bottoms wore out in no time. These are comfortable plus I love the texture and smell of the woven grass :) It would be great if they'd last at least a year.

Soooo I bought too much, but hopefully most of this will prove useful or at least enjoyable! I certainly enjoyed the shopping. Plus it was a 3-mile walk, yay cardio. Back at the hotel, lunch and chill for the rest of the afternoon. Before dinner I decided to send my laundry out again, this time using a local service ("Wicked Clean Laundry"!) Pricing looked about the same as Poplin so we'll see how they do.

The evening show went "ok," we have Michael (key swing) on one keyboard and Leslie (vacation sub) on another, plus a sub in the woodwinds...so to be honest tempos were a little less locked in than they'd usually be. But with this many people out I think that is not the worst that could happen, and the audience was very enthusiastic. Tomorrow we have our very first sensory friendly performance! I am interested to see how it will go!

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THURSDAY

I was up at 7:30 because our show is at 11 today. Normal breakfast and getting ready. 11am is two hours earlier than usual for us, however it reminds me of my circus days when we'd have "split shows:" a 10am "kiddie show" in the morning and an evening show at 7pm, with the middle of the day free.

The theater was packed with grade school kids, screaming and laughing and having a good time. Since this was a sensory friendly performance, house lights were always kept on at about 25%, many of our usual sound and lighting effects were cut (strobes, gunshots, lightning, etc), and a special announcement was made before the show to describe some of these changes so people could be prepared. There was also a special "chill out room" set up in a downstairs lobby where, if kids got overstimulated and needed a quiet place, they could go down there and color or play with fidget toys.

It all went ahead just like a normal show, only a lot quieter! It felt weird to not be able to hear some things, but also interesting, and it was kind of nice to have to pay attention a little more. And the kids were very engaged, screaming for the exciting moments and gasping in amazement at Belle in her yellow ball gown :) It's probably the loudest audience we've ever had, and it sounded like everyone had a great time!

Between shows I had a late lunch, hit the grocery for bread and protein, and relaxed with some anime.
The evening show went better than the matinee playing-wise, and afterward we were invited to hang out with Jim Abbott who is a Disney producer-of-sorts. He's a friend of Jameson's so it's pretty funny that they've just missed seeing each other in Boston by a few days! We gathered at a cool bar/restaurant called Hobgoblin with upscale Asian fusion food and some creative cocktails, many of which were based on health tinctures and came with adorable little "spell" cards which we read dramatically to each other out loud. For example there was a gin and sage cocktail meant to drive out wicked spirits, and a bourbon drink meant to attract money.

I hadn't planned to drink but Jim was buying and imo when someone offers that, it's rude not to at least have ONE drink. I went with the Cosmic Thief: cacao and vanilla-infused clear rum, passionfruit and lime essences, milk clarified for a smooth feel (which also meant I had to take a lactaid to drink it as milk-clarified alcohols do contain whey.) It was delicious, delicate, fruity, smooth, and a treat worth breaking my calorie count for :D Jim was an incredible host and made sure to talk with everyone at the table, like he even got up and moved around to make sure everyone got a chance to meet him. He and Jameson have been friends for 10+ years so I've heard a lot about him, but this was my first time meeting him. What a cool human!

I said my goodnights around midnight so I could get back and type up this post. Another late night out, but I should be able to sleep in a bit tomorrow (if my body will let me.)

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Friday: Not totally sure what I'll do today but might visit Virtuosity Musical Instruments? Or go take pics in the Public Garden? Or visit a bakery? Haven't decided and it may depend on weather. One evening show.

Saturday: Two show day, nothing planned. It's also load out!

Sunday: Golden Day in Boston!!! One last hurrah. I've already spent too much money here and done quite a lot so don't have high expectations y'all :p

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers the weekend.

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FRIDAY

Well, let's start with Thursday night. I got back to the hotel just as Jameson was boarding the T, so had just enough time for a rushed shower before he showed up. I met him in the lobby, hair dripping lol. We caught up a bit but by the time he was unpacked it was past midnight, so we went pretty much straight to bed.

Oh, and I rescheduled another Poplin laundry service because I realized that two of my three black work outfits are dirty so I'm on my last one for the weekend. Argh. Well, maybe they will get it right this time, and it's fair to give them another chance. I mention this because I scheduled it on Thursday night before we fell asleep, then on Friday morning some subconscious part of me woke me up at 7am and said, "Psst. Check your laundry app." And the Poplin guy wanted to pick up between 8am-9am. Thanks, Subconscious Me! So I got up and dragged the bag to the concierge before Jameson was up.

When Jameson was awake I had coffee while he got ready, then we decided to try Tatte, a popular cafe chain here. It was VERY good. I had whipped Greek yogurt and muesli with fresh fruit and honey, and a side of toast. Jameson had a salmon egg sandwich on brioche that looked fantastic.

From there we walked through the Commons. It was cold but sunny, a very lovely day. Jameson was having lots of nostalgia and memories...he went to Berklee School of Music and lived and worked here for a long time.

We walked through the Public Gardens area of the Commons, then down the Mall which is kind of a strip of walkable greenway.

Jameson had lived in several dorms or apartments here, and showed me each one that he'd lived in, described what it had been like for him, roommates, etc., and took pics to show friends. It was very interesting for me to hear him talk about his school days and try to picture what it must have been like. As a VERY rurally raised child, a big city would have been terrifying to me even at college age. Putting myself in Jameson's shoes, I think I wouldn't have been able to handle it!

After swinging by Fenway briefly to take some pics of the ballpark...

...he took me to Berklee, which has changed a lot since he's been here last. They've had a merger with Boston Conservatory, and there are huge new buildings all over campus reflecting that change, built to accommodate a larger student body and also today's music technology, so different than how it used to be. We sort of, erm, caught a door behind a student at one of his old classroom buildings, and he showed me some things in the lobby, but so much had changed--even the location of the stairwells!--that he barely recognized the place. He was pretty flabbergasted! I don't blame him, that's kind of how I felt at MY alma mater too.

After that we were ready for lunch, and walked down Newbury Street to see all of the upscale trendy shops and try and find a good place to eat. We found an Italian place, but before stopping in Jameson remembered that the hotel where he used to work was around the corner so we popped in there. It is a VERY fancy hotel (the Lenox) and it too has changed drastically since Jameson worked there 20+ years ago. The front desk was in a totally different location, he said, and the whole interior had been remodeled.

Anyway, we went back to the Italian place and had a very wonderful lunch of frutti de mare in a white wine sauce for Jameson, and "Clelia's Penne" for me: sauteed chicken with penne pasta, cubed butternut squash, and an apple cider gorgonzola sauce. The sauce especially was unlike anything I've had before, I suppose sort of like piccata sauce but with apple cider instead of the lemon? Very delicious!

After that we were quite tired so started heading back to the hotel, but swung by the Christian Science Plaza to see the reflecting pool.

A quick stop at CVS so Jameson could get some deodorant, then we crashed at the hotel. My laundry wasn't done yet but the room had been serviced, hooray. I was just starting to feel sleepy when we realized it was time for dinner. We decided to try a sit-down grill place next to the theater (I'm forgetting the name right now.) The food was nothing special but was fresh and served hot and quick, what more can you ask? Jameson had lamb lollipops and I had chicken kabobs with rice and salad because we're eating out basically the whole time he's here, so I gotta be KINDA healthy :p

After dinner, back to the hotel where Jameson was done for the day and settled in to eat some candy and watch the Cubs game while I got ready for the evening show. My Poplin laundry hadn't even been packed yet and was due to be delivered in an hour so I was wringing my hands over it, but after I'd walked to the theater I got an alert that it had been delivered.

I'm typing this a day later and I *think* the show went well? Nothing to report?
And when I got back to the hotel and checked the laundry, it was NOT wrinkled. Woot!

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SATURDAY

We started the day off with another walk to Tatte because their menu is so enticing, we had to try it again! This time Jameson got the French toast with whipped ricotta and berries while I had the “Greek-style pancakes.” Apparently that meant they came with Greek yogurt on the side because otherwise they seemed quite like normal fluffy delicious pancakes. And they also came with a house-made pear chutney that was fantastic. Once again, stellar breakfast in Boston :)

After that we relaxed in the hotel for a bit, lost track of time, and had to kinda rush around to find lunch before the matinee. Jameson got to chill at the hotel while I played the show (which went fine.)

For dinner we met Jameson’s musician friend Bleu at a dim sum place. It was hopping and crowded, and we ended up sharing a table with others but that was no problem. We ordered rice rolls and shrimp dumplings, steamed and seasoned greens, egg custard balls…all sorts of delights, and everything was delicious. I was stuffed! Jameson and Bleu talked about teaching and exchanged stories about their students or various gigs, and I answered Bleu’s questions about our tour and the circus and things. Tbh, he’s a bit of a celebrity and I DO like his music a lot, so I was shy to ask him anything for fear of sounding stupid, and just let Jameson handle most of the talking (which he was quite happy to do.)

After dinner we had a little extra time so walked to a nearby bar. The guys had a pint and I just listened until it was time to walk to the theater. Jameson followed me shortly thereafter.

Jameson got to see our show!!! Eeeeee!!!
Obviously his opinion on it means a lot to me. I played my best. He came to the pit before the show and got to meet a few people that way, and also at intermission. The show went really well, it was all lead cast too except for Belle but she/the understudy did a fantastic job and Jameson said as much.

After the show it happened that there was a fun company event backstage: we've been doing a "baby photo matching" game where some of us submitted baby photos and had several days to try and figure out who's who. Our company management made a big display and everything. For days we've been wringing our hands over it between shows and during intermission. My photo is up there...can you guess which one is me?
(Reminder that you can click the image to open in a new tab, then click it again to enlarge.)

So after this show was the "big reveal" where they'd reveal who's who and then give out small money prizes to the people who'd guessed the most correctly. It turned into a whole hang with snacks and drinks and everything, but I'd already planned to go to the hotel bar with Jameson so I couldn't stick around. We got to the bar and I listened to Jameon's thoughts on our show while we waited for band members to come over once the "baby reveal" was over. Overall he loved the show, praised the whole thing and the spectacle of it, with some small critiques of "Personally I wish they'd do X" which all of us have. For example he wished our audio was louder in some portions (not totally sure that I agree) and wished that the Beast's character had been kept more frightening, a la the animated version or the 90s Broadway version (I DO agree with this and wish Beast were a little meaner especially at the start.)

Eventually more people showed up and I got to introduce Jameson to them. He hit it off right away with Tim (trumpet) because they're both Cubs fans, and not surprisingly he spent 95% of the evening with Gary (drums) because they're both ROCK musicians, are into the same music, and have quite a few industry mutual friends.

Eventually we had a pretty large group, everyone except French horn, clarinet, and DAR who is on vacation.
Group photo!!

I was so proud to share Jameson with my colleagues, and grateful to them for taking time on a late night and a heavy show schedule to meet him and make him feel welcome. It was really wonderful. We didn't get back to the room until 1am so I will be exhausted for Sunday, but imo it was well worth it for this lovely experience :) :)

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SUNDAY

I hadn't gone to bed until nearly 2am, Jameson and I were up talking about the show and Boston and all sorts of things. And then I was awake at 7am, sigh. It's gonna be a long day. Made coffee and breakfast in the dark, fumbling around and trying not to make noise. We had talked about it before bed and decided that since my Sunday schedule is 1pm and 6:30pm which doesn't really allow me to eat meals at normal times, we'd do things separately today. Hence, me eating breakfast in the pitch dark. Otherwise I wouldn't get to eat until 10-11.

Jameson eventually got up, and by the time we were both ready to go out it was 11am (see?)
On my suggestion we went to Cafe Nero because it was close and had both breakfast and lunch sandwiches, European-style i.e. reasonable portions not gigantic American ones. He had caprese on a crunchy baguette and I did turkey and Swiss with fig jam on a multigrain croissant (who ever heard of a multigrain croissant! But it was very good.) The cafe was right next to the grocery so after our meal I bought a few things for the coming week (yogurt, blackberries,) dropped those off at the hotel, and Jameson walked me to the stage door.

While I was doing the show Jameson was going on a nostalgic solo walk, listening to music and visiting places that he remembered such as the bandshell on the Charles River and a record store he'd frequented while in college. He swung by a Japanese culture festival happening in the Commons and said it was very crowded with long lines for the food. There was a Greek fest nearby too but he said it was kind of sad-looking compared to the Japanese one, with only a gyro stand and not many people. When the show was done I walked back to the hotel where he told me all this and showed me the record he'd gotten (David Gilmour's daughter doing a single-take album.) Either he'll ship it to himself tomorrow or I'll put it in my trunk and ship it for him later on.

For dinner we did things separately, since he'd eaten snacks while walking and I needed to eat kinda early. He got to watch me make my mish-mash of random foods: tuna, beets, rice cake, PBFit, apple. I mean, I do the same thing at home :p When I was finished eating he walked me to the stage door and as a result got to meet Holly (Madame/Wardrobe character) and chat with her a bit, then he went off on his own to get Taco Bell.

The evening show went well, though I airballed my pedal E for the umpteenth time, lost my temper with myself, and decided that in Indianapolis I will try to get lessons from a bass trombonist. I know two who live in the city and hope one of them will be available to help me out. I just...we are at the end of April, soon I will have been on this tour for a year, and STILL sometimes when I try to play that note nothing comes out. It's happened LESS often, but I am sick of it happening AT ALL, and clearly I am doing something wrong. A little guidance from REAL bass trombonists is in order.

Otherwise it was a great show. it's also the end of Broadway Cares fundraising...and as of today we have raised $262,000!!! Wooooo!!

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Monday: Jameson's last day with me in Boston :( We want to eat at Tatte AGAIN (it really is THAT good you guys) and get clam chowder and sightsee at Faneuil Hall not sure what else we will do, he's got to leave at 4pm so we'll see.

Tuesday: I'll probably use this day to get groceries and decompress from a rather busy week of fun and NINE shows. One evening show.

HEADS UP, I made a post yesterday/Tuesday!! You can read it HERE if you missed it.

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**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Tuesday only.

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I was up early so I could have breakfast and get to the New England Aquarium right when it opened.

The plan was to spend 2-3 hours at the aquarium, then walk to James Hook & Co. for a lobster roll as I've been told that's a "quintessential Boston experience." It would have been a good plan except the aquarium is much smaller than I'd anticipated, and only took maybe an hour to completely walk through! That said, they had so many animals and reptiles and fish and whatnot on display that it was worth sticking around for an additional hour and working to get good pictures. Here are some, enjoy.

These penguins look like they're forming a band.

An aquarium worker kidnapping some penguins during a feeding and training demonstration.

Nozzlefish. No that's not what it's actually called.

Some anemones.

I forget what fish this was but he was posing.

Harbor seal.

Right whale skeleton.

This pacific giant octopus was difficult to photograph, even after spending two hours here and coming back to his tank multiple times. People were always jostling and crowding around his tank, and he additionally did not move an inch for the whole time I was there. Ah well, can't blame him. I finally just snapped this picture from the side of a group of pushing children, and gave up on getting a good shot :p

On the other hand, I was able to get REALLY good pics of the aquariums 95-year-old(!) sea turtle, Myrtle. She is huge and beautiful and lives in the big central tank along with stingrays and tuna and blowfish and such.

Here is the top of the central tank, which is four floors deep. You can see Myrtle there by the stairs.

Circling the tank for quite a while, I finally was able to catch Myrtle as she passed close to me.
The second part of this video has a short bioluminescent jelly clip.

Watch on YouTube

Poison dart frog. The kids loved this tank so it was VERY dirty with fingerprints and smudges, plus bad glare on the glass, so it took me several tries and coming back several times to get this picture. Beautiful blue frog :)

Kid looking at fish looking at kid.

By 10:30 or so it was SO PACKED in there, like major airport levels of packed. You couldn't even walk, everyone had to sort of shuffle forward. I was very very glad I'd A) worn a mask and B) come early and been able to see the animals up close before the crowds got there. Like I said, it's a small aquarium but there's a lot to see and it's definitely worth a visit, but if you want good views I'd say come close to opening or closing hours and cover as much ground as you can.

Getting back outside was a relief from the press of people, and it was sunny and nice :) I walked along the pier to James Hook & Co., which is sort of a legendary spot for fresh lobster. The Hook family is from Maine and sometime around 1925, James Hook and his sons began trucking their fresh-caught lobster down to Boston to sell on the waterfront. Soon they were selling to top Boston restaurants, and eventually the family became a distributor and opened a waterfront shack serving lobster rolls and other seafood delights. TL;DR it's a Boston institution and one of those must-eat, historic, specialty places.

The service was lousy but the lobster roll was pretty great. Big chunks of claw meat, sweet and tender, coated in mayo and served on a toasted potato bun. Simple, but that's what highlights the fresh flavor of the meat.

If you want other decorations like lemon juice or pepper they're at a condiments counter nearby. This was the cold roll but there's also a hot one that comes with melted butter instead of mayo. They also sell freshly cooked lobster, live lobsters to take home and cook yourself, misc shellfish, crab cakes, and lots more. But the lobster rolls are the main thing. I enjoyed it very much. Expensive, but what a treat and a taste of Boston history.

Had a lovely walk back in the sun and spent much of the afternoon creating this blog post. No plans for the rest of the day...I'd honestly thought the aquarium + lunch would take longer than it did. No worries, I got to binge some anime, read, eat snacks, and finally finish Indianapolis Foodie Finds.

The evening show was good and we had a really awesome crowd :) Though I gotta say, the pit was too cold even for me (I'm the last to complain about pit temps because I don't use my fingers to play.) It was 61°F (16.1°C). That may be a lovely temperature when you're outdoors and the sun is shining. But do you set your thermostat to 61 degrees in your house before you go to bed at night? No? Whyever not? Because when it comes to air-conditioned rooms, 61 degrees is COLD, that's why. And so we played wearing sweaters and coats tonight (black, of course) and we may source out some hand warmers tomorrow. I really hope tomorrow will be, like, seven or eight degrees warmer, but won't get my hopes up.

But seriously that aside, great show and I'm looking forward to a good week while Jameson is here!!

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Wednesday: Nothing planned, probably a chill day with a walk or something. Prepping the room for Jameson's arrival. One evening show.

Thursday: A rare two-show weekday, so nothing planned. Jameson arrives!

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Monday only because both Monday and Tuesday will be long posts with lots of pics.

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Up fairly early. A normal breakfast and livestreaming the Boston Marathon! I had thought it started at 7 or 7:30 but it's actually 9am, which meant I got to watch the kickoff as it happened on TV. For those who don't know (I didn't), the marathon starts in a suburb of Boston called Hopkinton and ENDS in Boston. It is a 26.2 mile route (42.195 km) and the average time to run it is about 4 hours. Top athletes can do it in around 2 hours, but the course is open for about 8 hours so that people of varying abilities can still receive an official time and certificate/medal. A lot of celebrities like to participate, and many of those run for charities. This year Chelsea Clinton ran, as well as an astronaut and a local news personality.

Anyway, after breakfast I texted with Jameson who was nervous about his epidural for his neck/arm pain. I don't blame him. The shot wasn't until 4pm so I set an alarm and made sure my phone would be on all day. Then off I went to the subway with my little tote bag and KN95, ready to face the marathon throngs!

Yeah, so...there was no getting on any train from the westbound Green Line station. Every train showed up completely packed, slowed for a moment for like two people to get on or off, then moved on again. The problem was that the runners were coming in from the west, so that's where everyone was trying to get. After waiting probably about 10 minutes and four trains, I decided that things were not likely to improve and got a Lyft instead. It didn't cost any more than it would have in Orlando so it was fine. The marathon route happened to be near where I was going, so I got to see the crowds a bit from the back of the car.

First I wanted to go thrifting, there were several good thrift stores in this area. I had fun looking but ultimately there was nothing that jumped out at me plus prices were vintage store-high, iykyk. I am more of a Goodwill-level thrifter :p

There was also a record store so I popped in to see what Queen they had in case Jameson wanted some. I did end up getting him a record to add to his collection. By then it was almost noon and I was hungry! This Maruichi is fancy, it has a tea shop and cafe across from the actual grocery. I decided to go there first and see what they had available for lunch. (REMINDER you can click on ALL pictures to open them in a new tab and enlarge them.)

In the sushi case, some beautiful rolls, nigiri, and chirashi. I have had the chirashi before and it is amazing.

At the actual cafe counter they had Japanese-style curry, karaage, katsudon, udon, ramen, and much more! But those are all pretty big meals and I kind of wanted something lighter. I saw a woman making fresh onigiri right there behind the counter. Must-have! I got the braised pork belly and egg onigiri, and the mustard leaf onigiri.

In the background are three cool snacks that I found to try: spring water from ACTUAL Mt. Fuji, a peach nectar, and mini-croissants.

Both onigiri were wonderful. I don't typically care for pork belly but it was cubed very small so it only added rich flavor, and the egg was soft and perfect. The mustard greens were pickled, very flavorful and just a little spicy. And the rice was so chewy and delicious! Onigiri are SO GOOD, and it is so rare to find them freshly made. Yum!

I also want to mention that there was a small room off to the side offering floor seating, and several families were using it. I don't know if this was a tea room or if it was meant for families with kids, or what, but I saw that people were taking their shoes off to enter the room and that there were mostly parents with young kids in there.

Next it was across the street for the actual grocery store. As usual there was an endless list of things that I wanted and only a short list of things that I could realistically get!

Some desserts, including little chestnut mont blanc cakes, roll cakes, mochi donuts, ice cream bars, tayaki, etc.

The most expensive A5 Japanese wagyu that I could find. That's $35 for 1/2lb!!

Some fatty tuna, also very expensive!! Both the beef and tuna are NOT things you find normally even in most Asian grocery stores.

Ryu (violin) had asked for some senbei. I went all out and got her this ridiculous gift assortment! LOL

They had a housewares section with umbrellas, dishes, bottles, face and hair products, utensils, etc. I saw soooo many things that I wanted but just couldn't justify buying. These beautiful tea towels for example. So many wonderful patterns! But I have no realistic use for one out on the road.

A friend had told me to look for this foaming hand soap which dispenses in the shape of a paw print. I found it! Did not buy it though.

I looked at the sake and beer and such, but they didn't have ChuHi (and I'm probably never finding it in the US except at EPCOT once in a while, I'll have to accept it.) Around then I was starting to get overstimulated and I could hear the roar of the marathon crowd and realized that the main body of runners must be nearing the final miles (I was at mile 24 and it was close to 1pm so that tracks.) I didn't even attempt the subway again, just called a Lyft but he got trapped on the other side of the marathon route and asked me to walk to him so I got out there to give it a try.

Stepping outside, people were running to the sidelines, fire trucks were parked there honking and with firemen waving, people twirling noisemakers and blowing vuvuzelas and waving signs, everyone screaming some iteration of "Yeah!" or "Woooo!" or "GO GO GO!!!" Helicopters and drones were circling overhead, adding to the cacophony. It was an amazing, fun, and inspiring thing to see!

Well look at that: I got to watch the Boston Marathon after all! :)

The Lyft got me most of the way back to the hotel but near the Commons it started getting crazy with crowds of pedestrians again, so I jumped out a few blocks early. Runners were walking slowly and stiff-legged through the streets wearing silver thermal foil blankets, clutching bananas or bottles of water, and many of them wearing medals. When I got back to the hotel it was more chaos; hotel staff had put up a huge balloon archway and were in the entryway cheering and waving noisemakers for the exhausted participants. Bottles of water and bowls of fruit were off to the side for the runners. In the lobby there was a DJ playing music full blast, the bar was packed, there was a photo op and activity station and a caricature artist...good lord, just all kinds of stuff, like a miniature indoor festival. I don't like crowds, true, but seeing people happy makes me happy! I smiled and congratulated every runner that I saw on the way to the elevator.

Finally made it to my room. Phew! Now to show you my Japanese grocery haul! In the window because lighting in hotels = abysmal :p

As usual I will rate and review everything here. The banana Hi-Chew and grape candy are for Jameson, and the mini croissants are for both of us. The rest is for meeeeeeee!

I rested and rehydrated for an hour or so, then braved the lobby again to get to the grocery for literally two things. I'd wanted to walk to Whole Paycheck and get some top-rated local pizza on the way, but was too drained. And I didn't even run AT ALL today haha! And it was still early! Jameson messaged to tell me his shot had gone well and his friend Jody had driven him home. They stopped for Taco Bell on the way so he must be feeling all right. I'm sorry he's having to go through this, but glad he's doing it if he can have a chance at going back to being pain-free.

And that was pretty much it you guys, I called it a night at 5pm. Why not? Having adventures is a treat, and so is curling up in a quiet hotel room with some snacks and a good book :)

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Tuesday: The plan is to visit New England Aquarium and have lunch somewhere. Expect lots of pictures of fishes. One evening show.

**DISCLAIMER** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Wednesday and Thursday.

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WEDNESDAY

Managed to sleep until 8 despite my neighbor having a very loud phone conversation at 6am that could be heard through the walls. Yay earplugs.

A slow morning and sort of using today to figure out what I want to do and see, and when. There are things I'll do on my own, things that I'll save to do with Jameson during the time he's here, and things I'll need to plan around our show schedule and time-consuming chores like doing laundry and walking to grocery stores.

I have THREE golden days in Boston, so there's a good chance I'll get to do all of this and more. But we will see!
("golden day" = a true day off. No travel and no shows.)

But as for today, I wanted to keep it chill. Worked on Indianapolis Foodie Finds and walked to Target to get a retinol cream. Stopped in at UNIQLO to see if they had any cool graphic tees (none that appealed to me) and past the Commons to get to Bakey for more of those scrumptious challah dough bagels! They also sell babkas, croissants, actual challah loaves, and coffee/tea.

Back to the hotel for snack and rest and binging TADC until showtime. The evening show went well, though I made a few weird mistakes. This happens once in a while especially with the bass; I get a little of what I call "slide dyslexia" in which I either accidentally reverse a slide position, or hold down the triggers on the bass in the wrong order. It is no different than a pianist hitting the wrong note once in a while I suppose. Anyway as soon as it happens I drop the note so it won't be heard, I doubt anyone noticed.

After the show we had a party sponsored by this theater's promoters/presenters, at a nearby Maggiano's. There was pasta and salad of course, but also tiramisu and cake and other desserts! I had a glass of red wine and chocolate cake :) As usual we talked a lot, and as actors arrived the volume in the room reached impossible decibels, so I left when we had to scream at each other to be heard :p Still, I am glad for the social time and interaction with the actors!

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THURSDAY

Was up at 8, breakfast and excited because today's plan was pan-fried dumplings and a walk to Boston's Museum of Fine Arts!

The dumplings were for a slightly early lunch. I'd seen them on TikTok and figured I'd better show up before actual lunchtime to avoid any rush of young people hitting this now-viral tiny takeout place. It really is just a little hole in the wall called Potluck. They have a hot bar of Chinese prepared dishes, but the dumplings come out separately on a big black wok. The bottoms are toasted and caramelized, and the tops are soft and drizzled with oil, sesame seeds, and chives. The inside is pork with scallions. They were juicy and delicious! The bottoms were so crispy and lovely. You get eight dumplings for $10.

As soon as I sat down to eat an actual CROWD of students piled in. The restaurant owner/cashier had to organize them into a line going out the door! I was right to show up early. I ate pretty quickly and got out of there, but MAN were those dumplings good! Glad I got to try them.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day and I couldn't help but oogle like a tourist on my way to the museum.

Preparations are underway for the Boston Marathon on Monday.

I stopped at an H&M to look for my Perfect Black Pants but they did not have them, sigh. That delayed me a solid 20 minutes but I still got to the museum around 1pm.

There was so much to see, they've got a gigantic collection spanning two floors and organized by geographic location (American art, European, Asian, African, etc.) I just allowed myself to wander and soak it all in. I didn't take many pictures because I wanted to be in the moment.

But I did photograph some of my favorites of the day, and here they are.

( See Some Art Here )

I walked through exhibits for a solid two hours, then decided I was tired and needed to head home. Got an Uber (Yes I know the T would have been cheaper, but not faster, and I wanted time to rest and was willing to pay for the privilege.) Got to the hotel and rested, had a snack, and got ready for the evening show. It went well, and we had an interesting "guest actor" who was an ABC anchor and who appeared during "Belle" as a villager. She even had some lines! From what I heard her lines went well, I am not sure how the acting part went but it should be shown on TV at some point so we'll find out!

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Friday: I have not found a laundromat within a mile and don't want to walk extensively/Uber tomorrow, so I will shell out extra dough for a wash & fold service this once. No other plans as Friday is normally my day of rest. One evening show.

Saturday and Sunday: Two shows each and no plans.

*Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers the weekend.

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Thursday Night Recap

I posted earlier than usual due to having an annoying day so here's the missing chunk of Thursday :p
Koz (our music supervisor) was at the theater when we arrived and was hanging out backstage with DAR. I caught up with them near the management office and the candy bowl. Koz looked over as I picked through the candy and said, "Too late, I ate all the good ones :p " and I replied "Figures :p " and that was our interaction for the evening.

The show went well (I thought) and we all played well. Connor (Key 1) conducted us. On our schedule there was a "full company" rehearsal on Friday afternoon, and we'd all been wondering whether we'd be included in that. DAR said it would depend on what Koz wanted to do. After the show Koz came down to the pit just as Connor was telling us we'd get an email or text about the rehearsal. Koz overheard and said, "What rehearsal?" Apparently we weren't even on the radar to be included! Awesome :D

As we were packing up some people came down to the pit edge, stood right next to Koz, and RAVED about how wonderful the music had been. That's right, shower us with flattery in front of our boss!

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FRIDAY

Up early to do laundry. This hotel has three washers and six dryers so getting up early probably isn't necessary, but I do it out of habit. And with my luck a 30-person boys soccer team will have checked in the night before and all of them will need to do laundry or something. I'd rather get up early and get it done before it gets busy in there.

Breakfast and then packing my trunk items early because my sister and fam will be here tomorrow. I don't want to have to worry about dragging all of my stuff to the theater in the middle of visiting with her.

It was so nice out that after lunch I decided to go for a walk. Specifically, I wanted to visit the arena where the circus used to play, and from there walk to the entrance to the train yard where we used to stay.

It was hard.

It has been nine years since I was last here with the circus. Hartford was one of our last cities, too. I remember that everyone was very emotional, self included. Though I don't get emotional easily or often, I was absolutely heartbroken over the closure of the circus. I spent much of the week capturing as much footage as I could, writing extensively about everything that was happening, and spending time with our animals. I wrote about it HERE if you're interested...nine years later I still can't read this post, it hurts too much.

It seems like a long time ago, but whoever said "Time heals all wounds" was absolutely wrong.
I have said it before and know that most people will not understand, but I'll say it again anyway: the circus was more than a job.
We lived together, traveled together, worked together, ate together, slept together, laughed and cried together.
We saw babies born here. We saw people die here.

It was not just a job, it was a whole life. A living breathing thing. And watching it end was like watching a loved one die.
It hurt just as much as that, and I mourn it just as much as that.

First I went to the arena's garage and loading dock entrance. I have many memories here; it's where we'd enter to go to work.

2017: A circus BMX biker doing a trick off the arena ramp wall. Notice the circus wagons to the back left.

Today:

Across the street is Agave, a restaurant where Jameson and I and many circus folks would hang out or go to eat after our shows were done. The band especially used to come here for apps and drinks on Sunday nights because we didn't have to load out. We'd watch the crew load the wagons and tow them back to the train.

2017:

Today:

The train yard entrance didn't have an address, of course, so I "navigated on vibes" to get there.
I followed my little heart across two highway overpasses, down a hill, and a sharp left turn to an underpass that I remembered well.

2017: This was how we'd get home to the train at night after shows were done. It looks foreboding, doesn't it?

Today. Not so scary in the middle of the afternoon.

After walking through this tunnel/underpass, you pop out the other side and cross the street on the right, and there is the entrance to the train yard which is just a dusty hill leading to the tracks.

I sent all of these pictures to Jameson along the way. If he were here he would have walked with me.
It's a comfort to know that there are still many circus people besides Jameson and I out there who remember these places, and care.
A life that no longer exists. Places that look mundane, but are kept as treasures in our hearts.

I walked back to the hotel slowly, thinking about the past and what that life was like. Lots of really great memories, and experiences that have helped me get to where I am today. Back at the hotel, cooling off and a little snack and some anime. I walked to the theater a little early to access my trunk and put stuff in there, get my horns ready, etc. Koz was still there and gave us some notes on tweaking the music, but I didn't get any individual notes. Victory! The evening show went well and we had a very excited and enthusiastic crowd. I was thankfully not too-badly nervous about Koz being there and did a good job.

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SATURDAY

I had stress dreams, not really surprising. We're back on tour, I'm tense about Koz being here and doing a good job in general, and about my sister and her family driving four hours just to see our show today. Breakfast, nervously putzing around on the computer and getting dressed for work until she texted to say she was close. I walked to the park intending to scope out a picnic spot for us but she beat me to it; I found them at a table setting up huge boxes of pizza! We hugged and got reacquainted over big NY-style slices of margherita and bruschetta. So good! And it was great to see everyone! Her son, Declan, is getting so big!! Everyone looks happy and healthy.

There was a playground nearby so when we'd finished eating we wandered over there so Declan could enjoy it. I admit I went down the kids slide once too :P We got caught up as much as we could in the short time that we had before the show started. There honestly wasn't much to report except that we're all doing our best at life? Plugging along I suppose, and that's great, it shows we're blessed.

Eventually we walked over to the theater. My sister's husband took a picture of us in front of a pretty blossoming tree out front.

I followed my sister to the box office to make sure her tickets were there, then we parted ways so I could go backstage and get ready. I forgot to mention, Kate gave me some lovely gifts! A little knit Encouragement Potato much like the one Jameson has gotten me, except this one has a sprout on top of his adorable head:

...and a little black obsidian cat, curled up in a sleeping pose. Our mom used to have a cat statue like this, only made of wood and much larger. Kate's idea was that this one would be small enough to travel with me. And symbolic in other ways, with obsidian being a stone of protection and grounding and travel safety. As always my sister is so thoughtful and sweet.

(In the background there is a note that she wrote to go with the cat, on beautiful natural paper)

Before the show started my sis was able to come down to the pit to say hi, and snap a pic of me in my "cage" haha

The show went well though I was nervous because family was there! I just want them to have a good experience (and they did!) Afterward we walked to Agave for dinner. It was nostalgic for me as this is a restaurant I frequented with my circus family, and it was fun and novel to bring my bio-family here to experience it too!

It's just a normal Mexican restaurant, but the food is always fresh :) They brought us loads of corn chips to start and there were some colorful green and red ones mixed in, Declan enjoyed picking those out :D We talked and talked about our work, Declan's homeschooling, a tiny bit of politics, plans for the summer, all kinds of stuff. The food was great, I had chicken tacos and ate them both! When finished we walked back to my sister's car where we hugged and parted ways. It was such a shame to have such a short visit but I had another show to do, and they had gotten a hotel because it was quite a long drive for them. Still, I'm glad they got to see the show and they enjoyed it very much, and I'm very grateful for our time together.

The evening show was good too, though I felt very tired. I don't WANT socializing to be a drain on me, but it IS no matter how much I enjoy it. I was glad to wrap up that show and head to bed!

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SUNDAY

Awake earlier than I needed to be out of habit. Quiet and slow morning, which I love. I lit my Chai Tea candle, which I still get to enjoy on a Sunday because we're busing to Boston so my luggage weight doesn't matter (normally it would be stored in my trunk by now.) My eyes were watery and nose itchy, probably allergies from being in the park for hours with my family yesterday (it had BETTER be allergies, I have done my time with illnesses this year!! Sheesh.) Did some light packing but we are leaving luxuriously late on Monday so I can pack a lot in the morning too.

Oh, right! I promised to share what this gigantic suite of a hotel room looks like!

Watch on YouTube

It is an older hotel so it's not "fancy," but it turns out ALL of the rooms were like this so each of us had essentially a small apartment here. A very nice treat. I do not expect Boston to be like this, being an older New England city where space is at a premium.

Walked to the theater when it was time. It was very nice out today.

The first show went well. I had packed my dinner and stayed at the theater during the break to eat, reading my book and researching things to do in Boston. Before I knew it it was time for the evening show. It went "ok" but as is typical for my first week back on tour, I felt more tired than usual. Never mind, next week I'm sure I'll have gotten back into the swing of things!

And we'll be in BOSTON!!! I have been looking forward to this city for a while!!
We are there for three weeks which is just wonderful. There is so much to see and do! And Jameson will be visiting me and seeing the show!!
I have been here with the circus but never a touring show before. And it's been 10+ years since I've been to Boston AT ALL so it will definitely seem new and exciting to me.

Can't wait!

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Monday: A nice late morning and a bus ride to Boston. Groceries, unpacking, and something nice for dinner :)

Tuesday: Opening day in Boston!

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Wednesday and Thursday.

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WEDNESDAY

I was awake rather early, so went to free hotel breakfast again to steal more peanut butter :P

Breakfast and updating Boston Foodie Finds because I found out that Maruichi, the Japanese grocery that I just visited here in Hartford, has a location in Boston too! I'd really like to go! On a less positive note, it looks like DAR's Boston vacation is happening while Jameson is visiting. Jameson was very much looking forward to meeting DAR, but that will have to wait for another time. Rats.

As planned I had a slow morning, just doing a bit of meal planning and binging several episodes of Beastars and waiting for the temp outside to get above 40°F (4.44°C.) At least it was sunny and clear out!

I ended up walking to Grocery on Broad. It's a small bodega with a portion of their proceeds going toward local job training, with a special focus on people who often have trouble finding work (former convicts, homeless folks, addicts, etc.) Sadly there was not much LOCAL produce or goods, only raw meats, and even though I have an oven I don't want to cook this week. Soooo walked all the way back. But I got some fresh air.

The rest of the day was quiet. I had a little nap and a snack, watched more anime, read my book, and talked with Jameson who was having his first day of PT for his neck/shoulder (the PT will solve nothing but is to convince his insurance to cover surgery, which like every aspect of our "health care" lately is completely idiotic.) It sounds like it went as well as it could. Later in the day I lit one of my Bittersweet Candle Co candles, listened to music, and tried to center myself. I still felt stressed by the time showtime rolled around, though. Not sure why but it's likely because Koz (our supervisor) is coming tomorrow, and my sister's family is coming on Saturday, and overall it kind of feels like Philadelphia all over again with anxiety and feeling like I'm under scrutiny and judgement.

I had a hard time performing the show because of the anxiety + acid reflux/fluttery stomach, but got through it and DAR seemed very pleased with how we played. That's great, I hope we do just as well for Koz tomorrow.

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THURSDAY

I was wide awake at 6:30am and had to force myself back to sleep. This probably means I'm caught up on sleep debt and now I'm swinging back toward restlessness and twitching to Do Things. Breakfast and chatting with my sister about her visit on Saturday/planning to have a meal together. It was significantly warmer today but I had nowhere to be and had walked five miles yesterday, so was inclined to stay at the hotel for most of the day.

I did do an Amazon grocery delivery because I'm already short on protein and there are no viable grocery stores or even convenience stores downtown (food deserts/apartheid are the WORST.) And ONCE AGAIN they screwed up: they delivered to the wrong address (I literally JUST had an Amazon order disappear in Orlando as well.) This is the picture the delivery driver sent:

One of the hotel staff recognized the floor and was able to guess where it might have ended up, but by the time I had walked all the way there and found the random corner of the freaking public transit plaza where the bag had been dropped off, someone had not surprisingly stolen it.

Fuming, I walked back and placed an identical order again, this time writing "HOTEL NAME!!!!!" all caps AND I wrote the address twice, both in the address bar and in the delivery instructions, AND I switched delivery from "drop off" to "hand off" so that they'd physically have to put it in my hands.

An hour later a delivery driver arrived, smiling, with my order. I took the grocery bag from him, relieved....
....and opened it and saw that half of the items were NOT what I had ordered.

I'm never ordering Amazon/Whole Paycheck delivery again.

Went back to my room and had a frustrated scream and threw an empty cardboard box against the wall a few times. Requested refunds for both orders (for the second one, just for the items that were wrong/missing.) Fumed some more. Then went on with my day.

At 1pm we had an "allieship" meeting, optional, in one of the hotel's conference rooms. It was pretty good but even at 90 minutes it was not long enough for such a complex topic, for this group of people from various walks of life who all have so much to contribute and learn on that topic. The presenters did a great job and I got some new perspective on what it means to be an ally and some actions that can be taken in-the-moment, but on the feedback survey I did say that I wish we could do a more involved course or longer seminar to get a better understanding. Personally the thing I was hoping for was this: I find it difficult to be a good ally when I'm coming from a place of ignorance. I don't have any idea what it's like to be black, or gay, or Muslim, etc etc and all sorts of people whom I would like to be an ally to. And this means if I try to take action or support someone from a place of ignorance, even if well-meant I can cause more harm than good. I wanted to learn more about how to navigate that. We did talk about being willing to make mistakes, and I AM willing to make mistakes, but not at cost of making things worse for someone. Does that make sense?

Anyway, afterward I was still feeling stressed from the whole grocery thing and from trying to engage during the meeting, and because I was worried about playing well in tonight's show....I was just overall not in a great mood, so I stayed in my room and tried to play some relaxing music and read and other waste-of-time stuff.

In fact, you know what, I'm just going to end this post here and call today a wash.
In about an hour I'll walk to the theater, I'm sure that tonight's show will go fine, and maybe tomorrow I can start fresh and with a better attitude.

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Friday: Laundry in the morning, possible rehearsal with Koz in the afternoon TBA. One evening show.

Saturday: My sister and her family are here to see the show so I'll spend as much time as I can with them. Two shows.

Sunday: Two shows and packing for Boston.

FRIDAY

Breakfast and coffee, working on Hartford Foodie Finds. It should be done by now but my heart is not in it, and I know that Boston Foodie Finds is immediately after and I'm daunted by THAT task.

As I was preparing overnight oats for myself for tomorrow, I reached into the spice cabinet to grab the cinnamon and saw The Dust coating every single jar of spices (I have already wiped down the spice RACK, but this is the spice CABINET, you see.) Cue a big heavy sigh and taking every single jar of spices out....wiping them down....wiping the cabinet, wet and dry....putting everything back....

...and there were three shelves, only the BOTTOM one was spices and the next one up is MEDICINES....and the one above that is bandages and first aid stuff.....

It took, I don't know, 20-30 minutes. And this is going to continue happening.
But whatever. Aside from that sneak attack, I would like a break from Dust Battle today. I've pushed really hard to do a lot in this first week, and feel that means it's OK to take a break from it for a day?

While Jameson worked on Disney stuff in his studio, I cooked some chicken breast because I'm making enchiladas for us tonight. We ate lunch together while the chicken cooled. I shredded the chicken and stored it for later, and practiced trombone for just 30 minutes or so. Took the small trombone (my Williams 6) out to give it a whirl and it feels so tiny. I have definitely adjusted "down" since starting Beauty and the Beast, such that the small horn I used to be very comfortable with now feels like a stranger. Starting tomorrow I'll be playing through some Main Street Phil stuff and the Easter gig stuff on the Williams, to get ready for those upcoming gigs.

Next, Jameson had a massage at 2pm and I had a tax appointment. UGH.
Thankfully I use a company that is familiar with musician-taxes. I thought for sure that the untaxed 1099 income from Epic Universe work would be financially devastating this year...but it turns out the withholdings from the tour pretty much covered that. Phew!! I ended up owing about the same amount that I do every year. That was a huge relief.

I cooked the enchiladas for dinner and they tasted delicious but turned out strangely mushy. Jameson thinks it's because I lined the bottom of the pan with foil, and that prevented crisping. I think he may be right.

To my surprise, Jameson suggested going to the new H-Mart tomorrow!!
It's the biggest H-Mart in the US, and just opened in Orlando last year. I've been DYING to go but it's been a madhouse. I expect it to be pretty crazy on a Saturday afternoon too, but we both really want to check it out just once. I have a short list of snacks that I want (Tokyo Banana, chocolate churro turtle chips, Chuhai if they sell it, white peach ice cream) and we're gonna have lunch in the food court. Yeeeek, can't wait!

A video because I plan to be in the moment tomorrow with Jameson, not looking at everything through my phone.

Watch on YouTube

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SATURDAY

I was up early due to H-Mart excitement :)

Breakfast and finishing Hartford Foodie Finds (finally), digging a styrofoam cooler out of the garage in case we find cold things to bring home, and doing a little tour planning...the company has booked us some rather late or tight-connection flights coming up, so I've taken more buyouts than usual and need to notate those so I don't forget them.

When Jameson was up and around he did some grading and I got dressed, and off we went. I was relieved to see there was no line to get IN...that has been the case since it opened during peak hours. We were there on a Saturday at lunch time so we were risking it.

( CLICK HERE for H-Mart Adventures )

Back home, our haul (or part of it):

Pictured:

Chocolate Churro Turtle Chips (viral)
Mystery fruit AND veggie electrolyte drink(?)
Wasabi Shiitake Chips
Pumpkin flavored yakgwa (we didn't know what this was but it looked nice, I looked it up later)
"Pine bud" soda
Muscat Grape Dessert Jelly (this is Jameson's but imma try it)
Pineapple Citrus Soda
Tokyo Banana
White Peach Ice Cream

Not pictured (Jameson's stuff):

Cheeseburger flavored popcorn
Misc grape or peach-flavored sodas and beverages
Watermelon seltzer
Sushi assortment

I am excited to try all of these! I still have two weeks at home, but might have to try packing some of this or ship it to myself if my luggage gets overweight. Because there are other things I'd planned to pack, like my sister's homemade fruit jams and my black pea coat and my black boots and, and...

Anyway I'm so glad that we got to experience H-Mart together! We were in there for two hours, but if you consider that part of that was sitting to eat lunch and a lot of it was having to move slowly due to crowding, we still got to see the entire store and it was still a lot of fun. I'd love to go back on some random Tuesday between like 2-3pm and see if it's not so crowded.

We chilled out for the rest of the afternoon and ate a late dinner, being full from lunch. I ate random things to fit my macros (an apple, canned pumpkin, tuna) and Jameson had his sushi.

Later on we enjoyed the white peach ice cream. WOW is it good. Often if a food is "pretty," it looks better than it tastes. That is not the case here. I know these are expensive, but I think that if you're able to try them, go for it just once! The peach flavor was exceptional, the ice cream was incredibly smooth and rich, the white chocolate shell painted to look like a peach was a perfect accent and texture. We want to go back for the lemon-flavored version.

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SUNDAY

I was awake at 8am and could have slept for another two hours easily, but I almost never let myself. There is always too much to do, and I feel guilty about lazing in bed (though I probably do need the sleep.)

Breakfast and starting on Boston Foodie Finds. When Jameson got up I went outside to tackle the pool deck. Sweeping the deck is something I do every few months anyway, but it's part of Dust Battle now because the contractors thought it would be smart to shove tile out the bathroom entrance door.

Before sweeping. It's hard to tell but there's a layer of grey-white dust, some small tile particles and pieces, and in the right corner there are chunks of broken tile that I guess they just shoved out the door while they were renovating the bathroom.

After sweeping.

And yes, we have a door from our bathroom to the pool deck. A lot of FL homes have this so you can go straight from the pool to the shower/toilet without tracking water all through the house.

The rest of the deck was pretty normal although there was a lot of debris because it's been too long since I did it last.

A big red millipede. These are very common, if you live here and have a pool or water nearby you will see them pretty much daily.

I had to move all of the deck furniture around and shake out the rug and wipe down the chairs and such. By the time I was done I'd burned 200 calories. Which is good because I want to eat my Asian snacks :p

Speaking of, I tried the "Pine bud drink." Doesn't it LOOK like Pine Sol? And so, it tastes EXACTLY as you are imagining right now, LOLOL

I left it out for Jameson to try (he choked and was very dramatic which made me laugh) then poured it down the drain. Kind of knew that might be the outcome but as a person who enjoys pine cone jam, you never know what might surprise you and it's good to try new things. We had lunch together, I placed a grocery delivery order for Whole Paycheck and also ordered some small replacement items from Amazon. Hate to say it but without a car, services like Amazon and Instacart are going to be necessities for me regardless of which of their business practices or politics we're boo-hooing this week.

While I waited for the groceries I practiced trombone and Jameson worked on a birthday composition for a friend. I did a little more Dust Battle by climbing up above the kitchen counters to wipe the top of the fridge and cabinets...and was shocked to find not only the expected grey dust, but also HUGE chunks of tile!!! They HAD to have used a circular saw or a REAL jackhammer, to fling huge tile pieces up this close to the ceiling!! I guess I should be grateful that they cleaned up as much as they did. Christ. I wiped the fridge and edges of cabinets but left the area with tile chunks alone and will photograph it another time. Not sure how I will approach that. Then I did the mug cabinet, removing everything, rinsing all cups, wiping the inside of the cabinets, and putting everything back.

The groceries should have been here by 3pm at the latest, but by 2:45pm the driver looked to be sitting still and far away from my address. It took a while but I was able to get a refund. I guess tomorrow I'll either try again, or Uber somewhere.

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Monday: Making Oreo truffles for the Main Street guys. More Dust Battle; probably wiping the front door, wiping the ceiling fan blades in every room, the tops of more doors and picture frames. Practicing trombone and packing for Main Street Philharmonic day.

Tuesday: All day with the Main Street Philharmonic! Hopefully they truly are OK with me just having a rehearsal day/not performing in the park, because it's been nearly a year since I've done any playing with them!!!

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Wednesday and Thursday.

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WEDNESDAY

Woke up to the sound of rain on the window. We're under a tornado watch today. The rain was off and on in the morning so I was hopeful to at least get to my hair appointment by walking.

But first, breakfast and chatting with Jameson. He's taking a day off so he can get his shoulder looked at in the afternoon. It's been bothering him since his arm surgery, and he has been waiting to see if the pain/discomfort would lessen but I guess it hasn't :/ Because of this he's been feeling rather down. I'm glad that I'll be home in a week to clean up, cook him some nice meals, and hopefully take him for dinner once or twice to provide a distraction and show-through-actions that someone cares about him no matter what's going on. <3

The sun came out briefly around 9am so I decided to get walking and go to Haymarket first, then the hair salon as they're close to each other. It was a windy but pleasant walk, and I only had to take my umbrella out once for hard rain (and luckily the wind died down during it so the umbrella was actually useful!)

The Kentucky Center today with our sign out front.

A few blocks down, the Yum! Center. The last time I was here it was in 2014 with the circus, and this is where we performed.
It is always so strange to walk where I've been before, with other tours or shows, and feel the memories of those times floating to the surface. Ghosts of past lives.

Soon enough I was at Haymarket. It's a cute little bodega-thing, and most of the offerings are rather touristy (local wine, cans of peanuts from Virginia, knick-knacks, etc.) There was some produce but I didn't need anything today. The bread, however, looked fantastic, and they had half-loaves! I got a half loaf of sourdough for five bucks.

Walked to the salon and was taken a little early which was nice. Some stylists like to talk; this one did, so of course within a few questions she'd uncovered that I'm playing trombone in a show and the questions poured fourth without interruption after that, lol. I don't mind as long as, you know, she also pays attention to cutting my hair. I was hoping she'd be able to follow the previous excellent cut that I got in OKC. She did her best but it's not a match. That's ok, I will probably let it grow out again. With winter coming to an end I'll want to tie my hair up to get it off my neck anyway.

Walked back to the hotel, had a snack, typed up this post and read my book sitting by the window until lunchtime. Lunch, a very short nap interrupted when Jameson texted to share what the shoulder/arm doctor had said. They think it's not his shoulder, but some sort of nerve pain or pinching in his neck. So, next would be a neck MRI but he has to get insurance to approve it, and that is expected to take....months. Isn't America GREAT.

Sigh. I'm sorry he'll have to wait in pain and discomfort, but at least it's not "debilitating?" What a horrible thing to have to say.

Feeling restless, I went back out to CVS to get roasted cashews. It was VERY windy but still wasn't raining. Back at the hotel and binge-watching Owl House and eating dinner before the evening show.

It turned out to be a weird one (at least for me.)

( READ MORE )

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THURSDAY

Up early, excited because today was In-Ear Day!

Well, we are getting fitted for the custom in-ear molds. The in-ear monitors (IEMs) themselves likely won't be ready for a month or two after this. But still! Breakfast as usual and typing up this post before walking to the theater around 10am. DAR (Music Director) was just finishing up when I arrived. I busied myself taking pictures of the mold-making equipment!

I have been using IEMs with custom molds for 14 years, and this was my third time getting fitted so I knew what to expect. I chatted with the audiologist as she shoved a small piece of foam on a string into my ear, pretty much as far as it would go. This is to protect my eardrums from The Goo, and the string is to pull the finished molds out when they're done. She mixed up the quick-drying silicone and used a large syringe to push it into my ear canals.

Close-up. When The Goo is in there you can barely hear anything! It feels odd and a little uncomfortable, but only takes 5-10 minutes to cure. The little piece of foam I'm biting is to keep your jaw still and your ear canals open to get a good fit.

It took maybe 15 minutes. The molds will be sent off to make custom silicone ear buds (see THIS VIDEO for the process.) I'm very excited to get new headphones!! The ones I use now are Shure 315s which I received from the circus in 2012 and are now 10+ years old. These new ones are UE7s and will be much higher quality. I can't wait to hear the difference! Very grateful to Disney for providing these for us as they are NOT cheap to buy on your own.

When I was done I popped down to the pit to grab my iPad and charger, then walked back to the hotel. I finished DC Foodie Finds while the iPad charged, then updated the iPad and downloaded my Easter gig music onto it. Later on, a snack and kinda frantically trying to get American Airlines to reimburse me for one of my trombones-as-baggage for the upcoming layoff flight because I've just found out I don't need to bring it home after all. Eventually, dinner and Owl House and walking to the theater for the evening show. It was a normal show with a good audience, nothing to report. Red Bucket fundraising has started again, so after Bows we get to listen to the actors give a little speech about Broadway Cares and showcase some of the goodies for donation-sale (signed programs and posters mostly.) And that was that. Good Thursday!

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Friday: Laundry, packing stuff to go back in my trunk, solidifying a plan for this layoff. Hopefully eating at that Korean place nearby, and going for a walk if the weather's nice. One evening show.

Saturday and Sunday: Two shows each so no plans except preparing for three weeks at home!!

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Wednesday and Thursday.

--- --- --- --- --- ---

WEDNESDAY

I was up kinda earlier than I needed to be but that's life. Itaki oats, Greek yogurt, Koia chocolate shake, and raspberries for breakfast. Some messing around online and eventual work on DC Foodie Finds, then a run-through of my masterclass.

I was supposed to meet up with an online friend,

sparkythegeek (whom I will call STG) for coffee, but it was dependent on when his car would be out of the shop. Around 10:45 he texted to say it'd be done in an hour, and could we meet at the coffee shop a little after noon? Yes! With that knowledge of time frame, I made a rather rash decision to Uber to a mall with an H&M to continue my ongoing quest for The Perfect Black Dress Pants. They are a very specific cut of black polyester pants, high waist and wide leg, with eight gold sailor-style buttons on the front. They are the most comfortable and awesome pit blacks I've ever found, and they've been discontinued, so any time there's an H&M I desperately scour the clearance rack hoping to find some.

Sadly, no luck, and I should not have wasted the $$ Uber on this!!! From now on I must have more restraint; if there's an H&M nearby it's fine to look, but expensive Uber rides just for this fruitless search are ridiculous.

But anyway, I got back in time to scarf a fast lunch and walk to the coffee shop. It's cute and modern with all the classic espresso drinks. As I get older I find that coffee in the afternoon messes me up, but for some reason the caffeine from green tea is still safeish, so I went with an oat milk matcha latte with vanilla syrup. It was both beautiful and delicious :)

STG got a bagel sandwich and an iced maple coffee, both of which looked tasty. We sat down together and basically talked the entire time, about all kinds of things. We've been following each others' online journaling for a while. Topics ranged from things we've written about, to other subjects that we perhaps don't always share online such as other jobs, boss/friend/family doings, hopes and dreams for the future, etc. He's a great listener and also had many questions about my wild and crazy life, and you guys know how I can go ON about things like the circus or what tour is like :P But I wanted to know more about him as well, and asked lots of my own questions. And I got to see some of his really cool recent tattoos in person!! Seeing STG's tattoos reminded me that I'm the only one of my siblings without one...

We were at it for a solid hour and then hugged and parted ways. I'll see him again at tomorrow's show, and we're gonna try to get a picture-selfie-thing :)

From there, my goodness it was SUCH a lovely day outside. 70 degrees (21C) and sunny. Many MANY people were out enjoying the sun. I walked up and down Broad Street and stopped in at every thrift or vintage store I could find (I think there were four.) Did not find anything but being able to be outside, in the sun, without a coat, was fantastic after what has felt like months of frigid temperatures. Even in Florida it is rarely comfortable to be outside in the heat and humidity, so I was extra-appreciative to be able to just exist outside, neither too cold nor too hot. Mmmmm so nice.

After a while I got snackish so returned to the hotel to type this post up, have that snack, and watch Owl House a bit. While that was happening other friends popped out of the woodwork to say they're coming to shows or would like to meet. Goodness! Didn't know I was so popular.

Eventually it was dinnertime, then walking over to the theater for the show. It looked like a full house again! For some reason the pit was exceptionally cold...perhaps because it had been warm out finally and they'd cranked up the AC? Whatever the reason, we were all wearing black sweaters or coats by the end of the second act! Ironic that it's finally warm outside, but not inside! Otherwise it was a good show and a nice crowd.

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THURSDAY

I woke up a bit apprehensive. Today I was supposed to meet with a friend...well, someone whom I dated way back in college. We have barely kept in contact over the years, literally one interaction every 5-10 years. But he lives in this area and wanted to meet and catch up. I said yes, but insisted on meeting near the theater and in a very public space. Because one knows the motives of bears, but not those of men.

But before all that, the usual coffee and breakfast, working on DC Foodie Finds and running through my masterclass. In the afternoon I watched Owl House, did research for things I might like to do in Louisville, ate lunch, and walked to the theater. It was kind of freakishly warm out, 80 degrees (26.6C) which is unseasonably warm even for the south at this time of year. But hey...lovely day.

Tim (the friend) was wearing a bright red polo so was easy to spot. Since I had insisted on staying downtown and we'd both eaten lunch, we decided to just kinda wander and talk. I did run out of bread and picked a bagel place 20 minutes away just to have some sort of goal. Tim caught me up on a lot of his doings: work he's had recently, work he's applying for and hoping to get, projects he's got in the works for both his jobs and interests.

One of his primary passions is disc golf; he is an amateur competitor, has won several competitions, and also now owns his own disc golf supply shop! After retrieving my bagels we walked back to his car, and he showed me his discs. These are not just frisbees. They are much smaller than frisbees, and have specialized edges, thicknesses, taper, and materials that allow them to behave in specific ways when thrown.

(image from sydneydiscgolf.com)

Tim explained to me the different types, and showed me some numbers printed on the top of each disc which tell you at what speed the disc needs to be thrown to achieve specific results, such as distance, curve/spin, and point at which momentum ceases and the disc falls toward the ground or curves back toward you. These are called Speed, Glide, Turn, and Fade. He showed me several discs with artworks on them, just like you might see on some snowboards or skateboards. One of his projects is trying to get some of his artist friends commissioned to design artworks specifically for printing onto the discs. Pretty freakin cool!

Pro footage of people playing disc golf:

Watch on YouTube

Of course I talked a bit about myself too, but this time I mostly wanted to hear about Tim because he can read up on my doings online, whereas his online presence is practically zero so I had no clue what he's been up to since the pandemic. It was great to hear about his passion for disc golf, and he expects to hear back about some exciting job opportunities in a week or so. Now I'm invested and want to know how it turns out for him! We parted ways with promises to try and do a better job of keeping in touch.

I'm grateful to Tim for spending time with me today, and most of all for being patient with me and my "man vs bear" attitude going into this meet. One of the (several) catch-22s of hanging out with men is that whether you've known them for one day or one decade, it does not change the fact that you may not know them at all. Familiarity is not a synonym for safety. I think that Tim understood this, but I still felt guilty for having been apprehensive. But also not. Because.

I put my bagels away and was considering going back out in the sun when my Aunt called! We caught up a bit, and by the time we were finished I was all relaxed on the bed. Had a short doze, got ready for the show, ate dinner, and off to the theater!

Sparkythegeek was there already, so I offered to meet up so we could do our selfie! We were near the logo truck and the lighting was all right so we took it there. Here's our smiling faces (and me looking in the wrong direction, typical!)

I followed him into the lobby because I've got more friends coming on Saturday and wanted to scope A) good places for photo ops and B) a place to get to the lobby from backstage. Then of course I went to the pit to set up. The show went mostly-ok but we had a surprising show hold in the middle of Be Our Guest...it looked like a prop got stuck and they couldn't move it! But it was fixed within 15 minutes or so and we moved on. The audience still cheered just as loud for everything as though there had never been a hold :)

After the show STG came to the pit to say hi...and he'd taken footage of Exit Music! I will check that it's ok to share, and then share it :p We chatted a bit, and then a local music teacher got my attention to say hello and express how much she'd loved the music, and to ask some questions. While talking with her I noticed that it was rather noisy in the theater and realized that there must be a talkback happening. And right as I became aware of this, we were suddenly engulfed in a MOB of small children who had run down to see the pit! Most of us musicians had left but I was there and therefore swept up in a bunch of questions:

"How does Chip get in that teacup?!"
(Answer: "It's magic!" and the little girl really believed it too!)
"How long have you been doing this?"
(Answer: I've been playing the trombone for 27 years, and this show for a little less than a year.)
"How do you get down there?"
(Answer: I pointed out where the stairs were.)
"How old are you?"
(Answer: I asked if they wanted to guess and they said yes. The first guesser said 27. Intelligent child! Wonderful child :P But at that moment the cast started coming out, so I leaned into the group and confided, "I'm 42!" before waving goodbye and escaping. Lol!)

Between that and the 15-minute show hold, I got back to the hotel much later than usual. But it's ok! I am always happy when people are interested to see what we do, to answer questions, and to get people excited for music or theater or just the whole experience of coming to our show. It really is special, and I want to make the people who see it feel special too! :) :)

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Friday: One evening show. Laundry in the morning, a tasty Foodie Find adventure in the afternoon. Possibly a hair trim if I feel up for it.

Saturday: Zoom masterclass with Full Blown Trombone Studio in the morning, followed by two shows. I'm supposed to meet a circus friend before the matinee for pictures, we'll see if that works out.

Sunday: Two shows, packing for the flight to Louisville.

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Monday and Tuesday.

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MONDAY

I was up early to grab coffee from the lobby and to finish packing. On travel days I don't like to brew my own coffee unless we are leaving late in the day (has to do with potentially putting still-damp dishes in my suitcase *shudder*) Breakfast and just a little Foodie Finds work, and before I knew it it was time to load onto the bus.

The plumber called just before the bus ride which was great (I would have hated to answer a phone call on a quiet bus) and I in turn texted Jameson to let him know they were on the way. They had to not only readjust the flanges, but also cut down some of the pipes under the toilet. A lot of parts and several hours of work later I got an invoice for $,$$$. That made me cringe...but I DO want to contribute to household upgrades! And it makes me happy to take something off Jameson's plate for once.

Back to the bus ride. I intentionally rode the "loud bus" because Holly (who plays Madame/The Wardrobe) always organizes a "bus dance," and this forces me to socialize and interact. It's also GREAT practice for working on motion sickness! LOL!

We practiced the choreo several times and then took several takes. Here's the end result:

Watch on YouTube

Not bad! I did some things a little slow or wrong, but luckily the goal is fun, not perfection :P

We had two rest stops, one 20 minutes and the other an hour.
For the 20-minute stop we were at a travel plaza. I didn't need a thing but always enjoy looking at the wacky stuff they sell there. Some of these things might be fun for my international readers to see.

For example, apparently we now have Twix cookie-cakes?? I can't imagine they could be better than the candy bar!

Ah yes, ye olde gas station knife locker.

Vast swaths of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia are forest and mountain. There are some knives here that could be actually functional in a pinch, for skinning game or firestarting or what-have-you. But clearly most of them are decorative and cheaply made. I wonder who buys these, and why (I'm joking: we all know it's teenage boys.)

What a great name for a candle.

Back on the bus to nap or read or whatever, then an hour-long stop at a plaza with a grocery. I couldn't get refrigerated stuff (the bus was very warm and we had 2 hours to go) but got some apples, a new toothbrush, and Cinnamon Drizzilicious mini rice cakes. Really knocking out those Drizzilicious flavors, I should have a definitive ranking established soon!

We got to the hotel a little after 5:30pm. Long ride! But checking in was easy and it's a nice hotel (more hotel details at the end of the week when we're leaving, for safety.) Because I had scheduled a Zoom sound check with Full Blown Trombone Studio and because of rain/cold I decided to Lyft to the grocery. Got most of what I needed but forgot a few things in my rush. Got back to the hotel, scarfed a quick hot bar dinner, unpacked, and had just finished when it was time for the sound check. We tested my two loudest videos and that was good. We also practiced the studio owner starting off as the host and then passing host-status to me. Then I practiced sharing my screen a few times. I'm not very tech savvy so I appreciated that the owner took time to work with me tonight! We also discussed the age range of attendees and it turns out that most will be high school-aged. That's GREAT to know because tbh I've been practicing as though talking to middle-schoolers! Now I know that I can talk just like I do with college kids, only the subject matter will still be "what it's like" as opposed to "here's how to craft a portfolio to go on national tour." Most high school kids will not be ready for that jump just yet.

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TUESDAY

Woke up kind of in a mood, probably from having been cramped on a bus for 8 hours yesterday and then not having time to go for a walk afterward. Also, headache. The weather changes really mess with my sinuses.

Breakfast and some work on Foodie Finds, then I tried to coordinate with two different friends who don't know each other, want to hang out with me separately, on the same day...but neither friend could give me a time. Which is totally fine, I know we're all busy...but in that case, I'm kinda going to run errands or explore or whatever until I hear from someone, because I don't want to waste the day waiting around.

Anyway, walked to Kroger for berries and face wash that I forgot yesterday. It was rainy and cold and I felt annoyed about it only because it's supposed to be warm and sunny in a few days, and now that I know this I want it to be warm and sunny NOW :p It was still a really nice walk and I needed it! Back at the hotel, lunch and a masterclass practice run-through. Packed a dinner and snacks and walked over to the theater early because I'd heard the pit is, uh, "special" this week, and we might need extra time to set up.

The theater was surprisingly pretty:

And the pit was not nearly as bad as I'd expected. My "office" was just the same as usual and with plenty of room to boot.

The main issue was that this is a rather shallow pit, and that meant DAR couldn't use his riser, which meant we might have a harder time seeing him. Personally I didn't experience this and could see him just fine.

The pit IS shallow, though...I am 5' 5" (1.65m) and when I stand up straight the net touches me right on top of the head.

The ceiling seems low, but it is also beautiful.

This theater was opened in 1927 and was originally a Shriners...uh...shrine, haha. It was pretty apparent by looking around; there are Shriners sword-and-crescent symbols on the chairs, and lots of other symbols on the walls (specific types of flowers, loads of Stars of David, etc.) Additionally, many famous people have performed here including Elvis, Whitney Houston Jimi Hendrix, and more. I can't believe that I get to perform here, too!!

After getting set up I did my usual tearing around backstage to explore and find all the bathrooms, water coolers, dressing rooms, snacks, and our trunks. In the Company/Stage Management office, there were these amazing cookies for us from theater management! There were 10-12 different cookie designs.

And this lovely note as well. How kind and welcoming :)

Our trunks were in the "ballroom," which gave massive "Egyptomania" vibes. The ballroom also used to be a swimming pool, shooting gallery, and office area? Something like that. I definitely want to take more pictures backstage this week. For now I raided my trunk and got back to the pit in time for sound check.

The theater seemed PACKED. It's also a much bigger venue than we normally do; most theaters are around 2200 seats and this one is 3500! The first act went really well, and the crowd was loving it! When the ribbon cannons fired after Be Our Guest, because the pit is so shallow we were very much in the line of fire. An especially big clump of "pink spaghetti" landed right between Sarah (horn) and DAR, and I was quick enough to capture the laughter as they untangled themselves.

Tonight I had a special visitor:

sparkythegeek from DreamWidth!! We texted a bit before the show, and have also made plans to hopefully go get coffee tomorrow. He got great seats right down front, and came to visit me at intermission. I am SO HAPPY that we got to meet in person! We've been following each others' journeys pretty solidly for months, so I felt like I know him a great deal already, and that was pretty cool :)

"STG" stuck around for our Exit Music, and took this pic of me/us playing! Not many people have gotten pics or footage of the band playing the show, so this picture is special! At least to me it is :p

Overall a really great opening night in Richmond.
Tomorrow it is supposed to be close to 70 degrees!!! (21.1C) Oh my gosh, I can't WAIT to be outside again finally!!!

Oh one more quick pic: the IUP trombone professor posted this photo along with a very complimentary caption about how much they'd enjoyed the masterclass I gave last week. Yay!

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Wednesday: Coffee meet with "STG," then possibly a trip to an H&M to desperately search for my favorite black pants, OR just walking around in the nice weather! One evening show.

Thursday: Meeting a friend in the afternoon, masterclass run-through, and possibly errands or exploring before our evening show.

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers the weekend.

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FRIDAY

I was awake early. Coffee and breakfast. Finished Richmond Foodie Finds and made big progress on Louisville Foodie Finds. I realized that I haven't done either DC or Boston, which are both 3-week sits and HUGE foodie cities, so I REALLY need to catch up!!

That took a significant portion of the morning. Jameson texted, angry because apparently the contractors who tore the house apart yesterday just-now-this-morning opened the faux wood flooring to find that it was all damaged (I don't know what type of damage we're talking about.) So, now they have to delay until tomorrow. Why is it ALWAYS like this with contractors, I wanna know. It happened with our toilets, the sinks, the AC unit, sealing our pool deck....everything! It's very frustrating! I understand that people are human but when it's EVERY contractor that you work with...well, the work needs to be done so they've just got you in a chokehold I guess, but UGH.

In fairness, we don't know yet whether this will result in more charges, but it does mean that Jameson has to live in a construction zone with no furniture and lots of dust everywhere for another full day.

After Foodie Finds I tried to do a casual run-through of my middle school/high school-aged "Fun Jobs In Music" PowerPoint. The camera kept crashing, and some of the slides didn't look right, so that turned into more editing. By the time I'd gotten it mostly-fixed it was lunchtime. Foodie Find time!

On the recommendation of

ratphooey, I walked to Alihan's Coffee and Breakfast (they have a dinner restaurant too right across the street.) It was a cozy little Turkish cafe. I was quickly seated and order taken, and while I waited all I heard around me was people exclaiming about how good the food was!

I got the menemen: a Turkish dish very similar to shakshuka except the eggs are scrambled into the sauce to create a different texture.

The sauce is a lovely savory tomato with green peppers, onion, herbs, and spices. It comes with a loaf of hot steaming Turkish bread for scooping and dipping. You can also add cheese or meat but I chose to try it OG. Close-up to show texture:

My goodness it was delicious! Hearty and warm, the perfect thing for a cold winter day. Thank you for this rec,

ratphooey! I couldn't stand the thought of leftovers so ate the whole dish (I did leave half the bread.) Yum! Typically after a meal like that I'd go for a walk, but it was a bit cold and I wanted to time out my "kiddie" masterclass so went back to the hotel room for that first. I still didn't really get a good sense of timing but am working out what I will say, so it was a good use of time anyway.

Then I did go for a walk, nowhere in particular, just wandered around to be in the sun. I found two small parks, one of which seemed to have no name and had a cool spiraly path pattern:

...and the other was I think called Melon Square but it was locked and gated. It didn't matter. I just wanted some fresh air. Originally I'd planned to go thrifting, but the idea of spending an hour in a dingy store on such a nice sunny day was off-putting :p No pictures because I was just BEING, here, now.

Back at the hotel I typed up this post and watched some Owl House and part of Mulan (was just in the mood for it). Dinner and walking to the theater.

It was a bit of a chaotic show...there was some issue with one of the keyboard's sampling software that seemed to cause it to be always slightly ahead of what we were playing? It made me feel dizzy trying to play along with it! They swapped out the entire keyboard during intermission so the second half was fine. And Connor (Key 1) was conducting because his GIGANTIC family was here!! They basically bum-rushed him before, between, and after the show lol. Showering him with hugs and praise, someone even brought him a bouquet. It was both heartwarming to see, and also pity-inducing because he kept having to say, "I've got to go now!" and "Guys, I've got to do my job now!", and I TOTALLY know how that feels, to have to explain that you are at work right now and kind of have to do your job, but your family just doesn't quite get it. Regardless, it was a decent show amid the chaos and his family seemed lovely :)

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SATURDAY

I was up early to do a second load of laundry. Not something I'd normally do but it's cheap here so why not.
Then coordinating a bit with Jameson. The floor guys are back at work, hopefully with actual non-damaged floor pieces now, and expect to be done or mostly done by tonight. The problem is that with the new flooring, the toilets will have to be readjusted. So it will be my job to call the plumber and arrange/pay for that. I don't mind at all, I want to help and am annoyed that I can't be there right now to provide support.

The rest of my morning was breakfast, Foodie Finds, and another attempt at timing out the kiddie masterclass.
The matinee went well, I thought we played really well and the audience was great. No notes!

As we finished up, Jameson sent me a video and pictures of the new flooring, which is now complete! They did the entryway, living room, dining room, kitchen, and bathrooms. The bedrooms and studio are still carpeted for now.

Before and After of the living room:

Before and after of the master bath:

He took pics of the kitchen too but they weren't side-by-sides like this. Just imagine that pinkish tile replaced by the faux wood and you get the idea :p I think it looks fantastic, and he loves it too! It's going to be SO much easier to clean, and looks loads nicer than the stained old off-white carpet and cracked pink tile. I don't yet know what it's cost us but am VERY grateful that Jameson did this for us!

One thing that Jameson has asked me to handle is calling a plumber, because now the toilet flanges are too high for the new flooring and the toilets are wobbly. I called right away and they should hopefully show up on Monday. I cannot WAIT to see the new floor in person! And acoustically it will be a lot louder in the house because the carpet is gone, that will take some getting used to!

Anyway, between shows I marched back to the hotel for dinner. The Red Bucket fundraising event is about to start again, so the cast stayed at the theater to sign programs and posters to sell. They were given pizza and it was offered to us too, but I thought they should have first crack at it since they're doing the work. Made myself a simple dinner, then walked back over early to scavenge the leftover pizza. There was plenty left :)

Josh (Key 2) conducted the evening show and did a great job. I played well myself by my own standards, with THREE mistakes that I didn't like (yes sometimes I keep score against myself. As awful as that sounds it can be helpful, because musicians have a muscle memory for mistakes too which can cause you to repeat the same mistakes the next night!! Sometimes it's good to just make a note so your body doesn't unconsciously do it again!)

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SUNDAY

The temp dropped about 15 degrees overnight. I am sad about it, but when we get to Richmond it's supposed to be in the 60s! (15.5's!) I am REALLY hoping to get out and about. Cold has been a big deterrent for exploring.

Typical morning of coffee + breakfast, working on DC Foodie Finds now, and the starting stages of packing my suitcase. I did a better run-through of Kiddie Masterclass...this one is shorter, usually between 40-45 minutes, but it is interactive and I expect that the kids will pelt me with questions and this will add at least 15 minutes to the session.

Lunch and walking to the theater. The matinee was good, Josh was conducting again but it turns out he's got a week off and won't be with us at all in Richmond! We'll have Leslie (Keyboard sub who has played with us several times now) for that whole sit.

Between shows I scooted back to the hotel and enjoyed some salmon jerky for a snack and some hot tea, and watched some Owl House. Dinner on Sundays is always scraping together whatever is left in the fridge: Today that's half a bagel, some tofu, pistachios, and 1/4 of a Sumo orange.

The evening show featured a wonderful audience, and we all played really well too :)
One of Jameson's cousins was there but she was way up in the nosebleeds. Still, she managed to make it to the pit for a quick hello at intermission. When the show was over I did the usual thing of packing up quickly and hightailing it out of there. Tomorrow we have something like a 6.5 hour bus ride to Richmond, VA. There's no crazy weather this time so I am looking forward to a hopefully relaxing ride. Thus ends our time in Pennsylvania.

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Monday: A long bus ride to Richmond, VA. There is one stop planned I believe. Settling in and then a Zoom sound check with Full Blown Trombone Studio for the masterclass on Saturday.

Tuesday: Opening day in Richmond. I don't think I've played this theater before so I am looking forward to a new venue!

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Monday and Tuesday.

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MONDAY

Woke up wishing to spend the entire day in bed. But no, I've made promises.
At least I'll get to spend PART of the day in bed?

Breakfast and prepping the room for housekeeping, though at time of typing they haven't come by and I think they may not come until Tuesday. That's ok.

Yesterday I had tried to check out the SEPTA subway system here, knowing it's the easiest way to get to Xfinity Arena, but could not for the life of me find an open subway entrance within two blocks of the hotel. Today

ringsandcoffee kindly spoonfed me the info that the Walnut/Locust station was definitely open (which I could have discovered had I downloaded the SEPTA app. Which I did posthaste because I felt guilty that

ringsandcoffee had had to take time out of their day to hold my tourist hand.)

The circus show started at noon. The train ride was about 30 minutes plus of course walking to the arena and getting in, finding a seat, etc. Before that, I walked over to a bagel shop for some lovely fluffy bagels for the week. Then to Reading Terminal Market for an early lunch: cheesesteak stuffed pretzel from Miller's Twist!

Being from PA I've had cheesesteak many times, but never in this form. The chewy, savory, shaved steak, coupled with silky American cheese and wrapped in fluffy buttery addictive pretzel....oh MAN it was good! If I lived here now I'd be in trouble, wanting to eat this all the time!!

Anyway, got to the arena and had not trouble getting in and finding my seat.

Nearly a decade later, I am still surprised at how much it hurts me to be here...to see this. Those who have followed this blog since my circus days might understand. The five years I spent with Ringling Bros--when it was still actually The Greatest Show On Earth, and there were animals and clowns, and we traveled the country by train--are a huge part of who I am today. It was more than a job. It was a lifestyle. It was a family. And as any OG circus person will tell you, the way it all came to an end broke our hearts. I am not exaggerating when I say that the closing of Ringling Bros., after 146 years, felt as though a loved one had died.

Even nine years later, apparently there is still grieving to be done. Being here today and seeing this scene made my chest tight, made my eyes sting. To be in this arena and seeing the "three rings," which are now just floor projections and mats. And the portal, which is no longer elephant-sized, and is missing the bandstands to the left and right.

How can I describe it...seeing it this way hurts in the same way as watching an old home movie of someone you love, who's passed away. You want to watch, but it also makes your heart ache.

Well, it's a new show now. Honestly the best part for me was watching and listening to the families and children around me as they took it all in! I loved to see the kids dancing, their excitement if they were picked to be on the big screen, and they way they interacted with the clowns--I mean, er, I guess we're not supposed to use the "C" word now? Whatever we're calling these guys:

Watch on YouTube

This circus is a lot more "kiddie" than Past Ringling, but that's not a bad thing. There's a Boston Robotics dog(?) named Bailey who helps out with the clown gags, and a dragon mascot named P.T. (get it? P.T. Barnum) who breakdances and interacts with a DJ. Yes, a DJ instead of a band. That was the one other thing I'll be negative about, is to say that the athletes performing have no one to "catch tricks" for them.

"Catching tricks" describes when the band goes into a vamp (repeating loop of music) until the performer does their trick, and then "catches the trick" by playing super-exciting music to complement the trick in real time. Another thing related to this is sound effects, which were especially needed in the clown gags. They keyboardists mostly handled the playing of sound effects to complement what the clowns were doing, and the drummer was prominent with "catching tricks" also, but all of us had a hand in the end effect, which was to tailor the music EXACTLY to what was happening in real time. That doesn't happen any longer.

Here's a clown gag, where you can hear the keyboardists playing sound effects and the drummer "catching tricks." You can see that the drummer has a little monitor that allows him to see what's happening better, so he can do symbol crashes and stuff when people fall down, etc. At 00:47 the band is in a vamp, and at 00:56 we move out of the vamp according to what the clowns are doing. You can tell by how the music changes.

Watch on YouTube

Anyway, otherwise, my overall impression today was that it's a good show for kids. There were lots of impressive acts including Wheel of Death, Trapeze, a bicycle act where people made human pyramids while riding in a circle, several clown gags, and several dance numbers and call-and-response portions to get the audience hyped up. The female Ringmaster had great stage presence and a good voice, and she could rap really fast which was impressive.

Unfortunately I must be bad luck, because during a 4-man high act the base-man of one of their pyramids wrenched his shoulder and it looked like he barely made it through the rest of the act. Followed by one of the Wheel of Death dudes tripping on his jump rope, on top of the moving wheel, and falling to the ground. Thankfully he wasn't very high up when it happened, but he twisted his ankle and had to be helped off.

(Fun fact: the man helping him off is Alex Vargas, who has been with Ringling/Feld for essentially his entire life. He was a trapeze artist.)

No one seemed BADLY hurt, which is good. These people are athletes, and injuries are common, just like with sports.

I saw a few "recycled" costumes throughout the show, too. These pink cheerleader dresses are originally from a show I was on (see a clip of them in use HERE) and are now being used in a contortionist act.

The finale was the Human Cannon. I was amused to see that the cannon they're using is also recycled from a 2012 show.
The Human Cannon is always impressive! (Though when I was in the circus, they additionally lit the person on FIRE...)

Watch on YouTube

Photo of the pre-takeoff pose.

After the show, Rob (friend and manager who got me the ticket) came out to say hello and share some tea about who's-dating-who, who's still around from the previous Ringling show, stuff like that. But it was load out day for them, so I thanked him and hugged him and wished him "See you down the road" as circus people do. Grateful that I got to see this show. A lot has changed, but it's good that the circus is still a source of fun and entertainment for so many.

Back at the hotel it took a long time to type up this post. By the time I was finished it was dinnertime! Since Tuesday would be non-stop, I decided to give myself a chill evening in and go to bed early.

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This post was split into two parts because it's long. The next post will cover Tuesday.

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Wednesday and Thursday.

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WEDNESDAY

I had fallen asleep early because I was tired and stressed, and woke up slightly later than usual too.

The masterclass at Temple University is not going to go through. The trombone prof called and apologized for stringing me along, and offered to help me find contacts in Pittsburgh to set up a masterclass there (which is nice of him but he's very busy and I doubt he'll actually remember to do it.) Basically what happened is, the trombone prof offered the chance to give the masterclass, I said yes, he floated it to his Department Head who was enthusiastic and supportive...and who then went on a vacation without having approved it. So, it can't happen without approval. To be honest, I am disappointed with this outcome. But I also understand that people are busy, it didn't line up this time, and it might line up at some other point in the future.

All that said, the GOOD thing about this outcome is now I've got one less thing to worry about during this insanely busy two weeks. In fact, this means I might get to go see my friends perform at the circus on Monday! We'll see!

Anyway: breakfast, coffee, packing myself a dinner and snacks for the theater, working on Foodie Finds, and a masterclass run-through (I'm going to reduce run-throughs now that I'm NOT doing multiple presentations.) Forty-seven minutes, but it's because I've been told that a bunch of music tech/engineering majors will be attending the Delaware masterclass, so I was trying to include their field in my talking points.

After lunch I walked to the theater. It was cold but clear and nice outside.

For perhaps the first time on this tour(?) here is a theater I've never played before! The Academy of Music! It has such a beautiful auditorium!

It's how I imagine playing in a theater in Italy or Spain might feel. The elaborate gold-gilded sculptures and carvings, and the ceiling murals of muses and composers surrounded by cherubs and roses, are definitely Beauty and the Beast-coded. Intrigued, I did some research and found that the Academy was built in 1857!! WOW that's old. Not only that, it was built to be an opera house and has been a theater/opera house for it's entire continuous operation. That is very impressive!! It's a privilege to perform here, that's for sure.

We had sound check and a break for dinner, then the show. It was packed to the rafters out there, and the crowd was great and enthusiastic. I have to say, though, that tomorrow The Creatives--the head honchos whose ideas made this show happen--will be here to watch the show and make adjustments. Of course this is a good thing, and I think we're all excited to do our best...but I can also FEEL the nervous anticipation about it. We all just want to do a good job. I'm sure that we will, but I am not alone in saying that we tend to put extra pressure on ourselves when we KNOW we're being evaluated. Tale as old as time.

Back at the hotel I unpacked my trunk stuff, had a nice hot shower, and took forever to fall asleep because I was anxious! Lol.

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THURSDAY

Up too early, of course. We had two shows today, and as previously mentioned all the creatives will be there. I was extra-anxious, but one can only do their best and hope that that continues to be acceptable for this show.

Anyway, breakfast and coffee and all the usual stuff, no masterclass run-through because today is tense enough without that. Instead I took myself to Target for a little retail therapy. Some cheap tees and some cheap slippers (this is such an old lady thing to say but I got chillblains while in Tulsa and want to protect my dumb cold feet) and some cheap Valentine's candy.

Back to the hotel to watch Mighty Nein, eat lunch, and walk to the theater. I went early to rearrange my chair and the plexi surrounding Tim and I, because last night he'd mentioned that I'm sounding loud again. We've discovered that sometimes this has to do with our positions in relation to each other, so adjusting that can help. It actually DID end up helping noticeably, according to Tim, which is great!

The matinee was a lot of fun because we had a packed house and they were rowdy! Lots of cheering and gasping and screaming and whatnot. I love an audience that gets into it! And also I was wrong: The Creatives were not there until the evening show. Suspense!

Walked back to the hotel in the cold, ate dinner and listened to an audio message from Jameson about his day. Bundled back up and walked back. Nervous nervous nervous. But sometimes nerves can be helpful. We were ALL nervous, but we looked at each other and smiled and said, "We'll do just fine." And we did! I thought the show went wonderfully. On a personal note, at no point did I make any mistake that I felt bad about or that I felt was noticeable. The last time we played for Koz was in Greensboro (September-ish.) I can say with certainty that my playing has significantly improved since then, and I was (relieved and) proud of how I played today. Not only that, I never forget that I am here because DAR advocated for me, and I ALWAYS want to do my very best to prove to anyone and everyone that he made the right choice in putting my name forward. That is the very LEAST I can do to repay him for the privilege of being here.

This will not be a very Disney thing to say, but here goes: after that show, and after being so tense with anticipation for the past couple of days, I felt like I needed to do a shot!! I didn't :p because tomorrow we still have rehearsal and a show and I want to be at my best-possible. Instead I typed up this post, had a nice hot shower, and cuddled up in bed with TikTok. Aaaah, now we're talking.

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Friday: One evening show, but we have rehearsal with Koz before that.

Saturday and Sunday: Two shows each day so no plans.

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TUESDAY

I was up earlier than usual, anxious to get my stinkin' groceries. But the stores here don't open until around 9am. First I hit hotel breakfast. It was "ok." I got some hot oatmeal and boiled eggs and coffee. Then since it seems like I don't have neighbors in the rooms next door yet, I ran through my masterclass (47 minutes.) Next, off to MOM's Market which is a smallish chain similar to Sprouts. They had lots of lovely things and I picked up about 1/2 of my typical groceries, then walked to Whole Paycheck for the rest.

Some newish items that I'll get to try this week: Merzbacher's Sweet Potato Buns, Mayana Spring Passion Mini Bar, and Ivy City Pineapple Black Pepper Salmon Jerky! Not sure if I'll do a food review or not because the schedule here is SO intense that I may not have time.

Back at the hotel I put everything away and ate lunch, then bundled back up and walked to an H&M down the street, hopeful to find my very favoritest black dress pants. Nope! They had them in XL but not my size. Popped into a Ross Dress for Less and they had my favorite underwear so I did pick up a pack of those. Swung into Reading Terminal Market and immediately regretted it because they have SO MUCH that I want!! Whoopie pies and Belgian candies and Amish meats and farm eggs and...ugh! At some point this week I want to eat a meal in there.

(Stock image courtesy Matadornetwork.com)

Returned to the hotel and spent some time chilling out, as that had been significant walking. Forgot to mention that here in Philly I have already seen two Waymo vans! Supposedly they are not driverless just yet. I haven't been close enough to look.

(Stock image courtesy Phl17)

Around dinnertime I met some circus friends for dim sum! From left to right: Alan, who was sound crew on the circus; Rob, who was our manager on Ringling and is a Tour Manager with the redesigned show today; Alan's wife Jenna, who was a circus teacher; and me.

This was such a treat, not only seeing these peeps again but also eating dim sum because it's not really meant for solo diners so I never get to have it. We split two kinds of soup dumplings, scallion pancakes, a fried pork noodle dish, steamed veggie dumplings, and shrimp skewers. It wasn't the best I've had but it was reasonably good, especially those juicy dumplings, yum! We got caught up as best we could in this short time. To be honest I feel like there is so much to reconnect over that we could never cover it in one meal. Alan is on tour with a popular Queen cover band and is currently on a break. His partner Jenna is still teaching though I thoughtlessly didn't think to ask where, and she is keeping herself busy when Alan is away on tour. Rob is of course managing the Ringling show and is extremely busy with that. It's possible-but-unlikely that I could attend a circus show on Monday depending on when the Temple masterclass is...I hope it happens, but won't hold my breath.

Too soon we had to part ways. But I was glad to get this time with my dear friends and circus colleagues.

Back at the hotel I had some tea to calm my nerves...(Trigger Warning for descriptions of anxiety, highlight white text to read: Over the years I have found that pretty much ANY stressful situation can trigger my fight or flight. It is random. Sometimes the trigger is standing in front of a crowd giving a masterclass; sometimes it's meeting with friends to catch up; sometimes it's even grocery shopping. When it first started happening I would freak out, hyperventilate, and make things worse thinking that I was having some sort of medical episode. But over the years I've learned to recognize that my body is expressing intense anxiety and then trying all sorts of things to get me to leave the situation. And I have learned to ignore it. Tonight I was distracted for the entire evening by a thing my body was doing to try and force me to take the "flight" option. Even though it was distracting and painful I ignored it...and knew afterward that it had been anxiety because as soon as I got back to my hotel room I felt fine. A shower and hot cup of tea helped. And I didn't give in, and got to enjoy the time with my friends anyway. Take that, evolution!) (END)

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Wednesday: Opening day here in Philly! The usual thing of getting into my trunk, setting up, etc etc before the evening show.

Thursday: Two shows so I have nothing else planned. I think that Koz will be in the audience to listen, yeeeek! I want to do my best!

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers the weekend.

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FRIDAY

My phone making little pinging sounds woke me up.
It was a friend from Ringling. The circus will be in Philly at the same time as us! They wanted to know if I could come see a show. Unfortunately most of our show times overlap too much, but there's ONE day where it might be possible, so I'm going to look into that (it's a masterclass day so I'll have to get more info.) Then ANOTHER Ringling friend texted, but he's not with Ringling any more, just lives locally. Looks like I'll get to have dinner with him and more circus people! Wooot!! Unexpected reunion!!

After that I spent a lot of time reading updates over on DW (I won't tag anyone here in case you don't want to be seen on LJ, but you know who you are) because a lot of people had an eventful week and wrote extensively about their doings. I like to sit with my morning coffee and be immersed in the interesting lives of people all over the world :)

Did a load of laundry...what a LUXURY to have in-unit washing! Didn't have to set timers or climb up and down stairs or fuss with quarters! I could consider booking airbnbs JUST for that!!! (I won't :P )

Breakfast, and ran through my masterclass early because I've actually got a lot to do today. A solid 45 minutes this time! I did stumble over a few talking points but that's ok, bound to happen. Folded the laundry, and then took myself thrifting.

It was a gorgeous sunny day and close to 60°F (15.5°C)! I soaked it in, because in Philly it's about to be a LOT colder and drearier than that. Walked to Walgreens first for earplugs. It was down a big steep hill so I had to brace myself for the climb back UP the big steep hill (panting and gasping, lol.) Went from there to what I thought was a thrift store and turned out to be a vintage clothing store. Which is fine, but I wouldn't risk bringing nice clothes like that along on tour. Womp womp. There were lots of touristy little shops in this area (I have been here before) so I wandered aimlessly, window shopping and not buying anything and just enjoying being outside in the sun :)

On the way back to the apartment I got some bagels at a local bakery.

Oh! I almost forgot to review the foods from the local co-op!

"Sweeties" Almonds: 8/10 They're a basic candied nut, sweet and delicious, but not overly sugary like the ones you get at Buc-ee's or at fairs and such. The chai spices came through nicely. I'd like to try their other flavors too :)
Blueberry Sourdough Bagels: 10/10 These are awesome!! Real whole fresh blueberries were used and that makes a difference. I bought them fresh so they were soft and chewy. You can taste the sourdough tang, too. Totally awesome.
Sweet Potato Soup: 7/10 This is REALLY thick, more like a hearty stew! Big pieces of vegetables, and made with very basic ingredients, no preservatives or excess salt. It's just slightly spicy. Tbh it was a bit gritty at times, points off mostly for that and because I found the texture kinda offputting. But over rice it was VERY good. If I saw it again I would buy it, and hope that the texture issue was a one-off.
Olyra Cinnamon Tahini: 4/10 Not impressed. I mean, they were "good," like acceptable, but very dry and crumbly and imo less flavorful than a Biscoff. I didn't get tahini flavor at all. Overall I am sorry to say these reminded me of a teething biscuit! Would not buy again. In fact I'm bringing them to the theater to see if someone will take them off my hands.

After lunch I spent the rest of the afternoon working hard on the French horn part. It looks very much like circus music at this point.

Red "Xs" across both parts indicate when to switch back to the OTHER part, and yellow dots (which I later changed to purple to avoid confusion) indicate where to pick up after a switch. Ideally I would be turning the pages of both books simultaneously, and therefore when I see a red "X" in whichever I'm reading I could instantly look to the other book and find the purple dot. There are some parts where this system won't work, mostly in trombone-heavy parts where I'll be too entrenched in my own part to switch back and forth. For those cases I will likely write the horn solo into the trombone book as subtext. There are also parts where we both have prominent lines and I obviously can't play both at the same time, so I'd ask DAR which line he'd rather sacrifice in the event of an emergency. Again, very much hoping that I NEVER have to use this and that all of this effort is for nothing.

After probably 3 hours of that I HAD to take a break, transposing was turning my brain to mush! I probably got 1/3 of the way through. Watched some Mighty Nein, had dinner, got dressed for work, and walked to the theater. We had a nice evening show, I can't remember anything special happening and that's a good thing.

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SATURDAY

Managed to sleep until 8am, then coffee and descaling my mini Keurig (first time I've done this) and drying it for storage in my trunk. Packed a bunch of trunk things. Got confirmation that I WILL be doing the additional grade-school-level masterclass with my friend whose name is BethAnn. I sent her an invoice and W9 because she made arrangements for me to be paid (unasked for, and how generous!) I still don't have confirmation from Temple but am assuming it'll go through only because better safe than sorry.

With all of that, in Philly I will have

Three groups of family attending shows on three separate days
Time presumably spent visiting with all three family groups across those days
Three masterclasses on three additional separate days, two of which are 90-minute round trips
Meeting with our Musician's Union rep on Valentine's Day between shows
Possible meeting with our creative director/supervisor
Dinner with circus friends one night
Misc other small meet-ups, coffee grabs, meals, etc with friends who have reached out
...and of course eight shows each week with completely sold out crowds nearly every night!

Heavens.

Anyway. A normal morning, masterclass run-through (46 minutes, not bad not bad) lunch, and walking to the theater a bit early to pack my trunk. Many others were doing the same. Tour ritual, I suppose!

The matinee was good, though DAR has pulled his back and was hurting :( He is going to PT between shows and I hope they can help him. If not Connor (Key 1) will conduct.

Between shows we had a special treat! For Black History Month, some of our cast members arranged for a local black-owned restaurant to cater dinner for us! It's from Wes BBQ in Fayetteville and the food was FANTASTIC. Cornbread, brisket, pork, sausage, green beans, potato salad, baked beans, big slices of Texas toast, and sweet potato pie for dessert.

I made myself a plate and scooted away back to the apartment to enjoy it. Good, much appreciated home cooking.

Back at the theater just a short while later, I saw this Mrs. Potts crochet plushie stuck to the bulletin board!

It was made by a local crew member. My favorite part is the sparkly Mickey on the spout (which intentionally or unintentionally references a Hidden Mickey.) It is being auctioned off and the current high bid is $40, but I expect that to jump up by the end of our last show. And tbh, I think that this should just be GIVEN to Kathy (the actress who plays Mrs. Potts) but also understand that a lot of work went into this and the creator should profit!

The evening show was...interesting. DAR decided to sit this one out due to his back (as he very much should!) so Connor conducted. Most things went fine but there were a few weirdnesses...I missed a note that I'd been working on all day, probably psyched myself out?? Missing it made me so annoyed, I wanted to throw my horn!! Then Tim (trumpet)'s valves got stuck during a number, which he says hasn't happened in YEARS. And something odd happened with the vocals too at one point, it was only a split-second and we recovered so smoothly that I doubt the audience noticed. But good grief, it must have been a full moon or something. I joked with Tim that I should buy the Mrs. Potts plush so I'll have something to throw every time I miss a note and get mad :p

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SUNDAY

Coffee, breakfast, prepping and packing for the trip to Philly. I made overnight oats to save time tomorrow, and even brewed my coffee ahead of time so all I have to do is heat it up (or drink it cold.) Made a few changes to Pittsburgh Foodie Finds, and wished my brother Jonah a happy birthday! His b-day falls on Super Bowl Sunday this year so he's not doing anything special. As someone with a February birthday this has happened to me too and I totally get it.

Masterclass run-through (47 minutes) and lunch and off to the theater. Mrs Potts bidding had not changed so I put in a bid of $50.

It felt odd to only have one show on a Sunday! My friend Kizzi, a former circus person, came with her friend to see our show and managed to get down to the pit to say hello just before the show started. The show went "ok." We had NINE understudies in, including a new Gaston who did an excellent job! I just got a feeling--a vibe--that people were distracted and/or thinking about Philadelphia. It is a BUSY two weeks, for all of us.

After the show I packed up super-quick, made sure to thank our French horn sub for filling in and express that it was a pleasure to work with her, and headed out. The last bid I saw on Mrs. Potts was $60.

Our wall tag had just been finished. It is interestingly situated on a corner, and looks like a beautiful book :)
Can you find my initials? (Recall that you can click on the image to enlarge in a new tab.)

Back at the apartment I showered, packed some more, ate dinner, and did a final load of laundry with the Super Bowl on in the background. And now that I'm leaving, you can see what my airbnb looked like. It was very nice and I had a wonderful stay!

Watch on YouTube

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Monday: All-day travel to Philadelphia. Hoping to get there with enough time to get groceries.

Tuesday: A Golden Day for some of us because it takes the trucks a long time to get from Arkansas to Philly and then load in. I plan to do a little shopping/get groceries if needed, and meet up with some circus friends for dinner.

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taz_39

May 2026

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Indianapolis, IN 2026 Part 3: The Egyptian Room, In-Ears, Carrot Toast
Indianapolis, IN 2026 Part 2: The Zoo!
Indianapolis, IN 2026 Part 1: Actual Princessisms, Small Rant, and the Murat
Boston, MA 2026 Week 3 part 3: The State House, The Wall Tag, The Last Day
Boston, MA 2026 Week 3 part 2: Muji, Sensory Show, Another Band Hang
Boston, MA 2026 Week 2 part 3: Jameson, Berklee, Band Hang, and More
Boston, MA 2026 Week 2 part 1.5: New England Aquarium and A Show
Boston, MA 2026 Week 2 part 1.0: Boston Marathon 2026, Maruichi Adventures
Boston, MA 2026 Week 1 part 2: Nourishing Tummy and Eyes
Hartford, CT 2026 part 3: Nostalgia, Family, Gratitude
Hartford, CT 2026 part 2: First World Problems (or are we 2nd or 3rd world now, hmm)
March 2026 Layoff Week 1 part 3: H-Mart Adventures, Dust Slog Continues
Louisville, KY 2026 part 2: Walks and Wine and Ear Goop
Richmond, VA 2026 part 2: Friend Hangs
Richmond, VA 2026 part 1: Bus Ride, A Warm VA Welcome
Pittsburgh, PA 2026 part 3: Turkish Food, New Floors, and The Routine
Philadelphia, PA 2026 Week 2 part 1.1, Monday: Cheesesteaks and Circuses
Philadelphia, PA 2026 Week 1 part 2: Nerves...Yeah Just Nerves haha
Philadelphia, PA 2026 Week 1 part 1: Air Travel, Foot Travel, Reunions Over Dim Sum
Fayetteville, AR 2026 part 3: Philly Looming, Yummy Eats

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Page generated May. 11th, 2026 10:30 pm

goofball on a train

(adventures of a touring musician)

Entries tagged with exploring

Indianapolis, IN 2026 Part 3: The Egyptian Room, In-Ears, Carrot Toast

Indianapolis, IN 2026 Part 2: The Zoo!

Indianapolis, IN 2026 Part 1: Actual Princessisms, Small Rant, and the Murat

Boston, MA 2026 Week 3 part 3: The State House, The Wall Tag, The Last Day

Boston, MA 2026 Week 3 part 2: Muji, Sensory Show, Another Band Hang

Boston, MA 2026 Week 2 part 3: Jameson, Berklee, Band Hang, and More

Boston, MA 2026 Week 2 part 1.5: New England Aquarium and A Show

Boston, MA 2026 Week 2 part 1.0: Boston Marathon 2026, Maruichi Adventures

Boston, MA 2026 Week 1 part 2: Nourishing Tummy and Eyes

Hartford, CT 2026 part 3: Nostalgia, Family, Gratitude

Hartford, CT 2026 part 2: First World Problems (or are we 2nd or 3rd world now, hmm)

March 2026 Layoff Week 1 part 3: H-Mart Adventures, Dust Slog Continues

Louisville, KY 2026 part 2: Walks and Wine and Ear Goop

Richmond, VA 2026 part 2: Friend Hangs

Richmond, VA 2026 part 1: Bus Ride, A Warm VA Welcome

Pittsburgh, PA 2026 part 3: Turkish Food, New Floors, and The Routine

Philadelphia, PA 2026 Week 2 part 1.1, Monday: Cheesesteaks and Circuses

Philadelphia, PA 2026 Week 1 part 2: Nerves...Yeah Just Nerves haha

Philadelphia, PA 2026 Week 1 part 1: Air Travel, Foot Travel, Reunions Over Dim Sum

Fayetteville, AR 2026 part 3: Philly Looming, Yummy Eats

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