goofball on a train

**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 EXPRESS PERMISSION. Thank you.**

This post covers Monday and Tuesday.

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

MONDAY

I was ripped out of a deep sleep at 5am by the fire alarm in our hotel going off.

I put in earplugs and almost went back to bed, but then remembered that the hotel probably HAS to call the fire department and they'd be checking rooms. So I shuffled out the door and down four flights of stairs to the side entrance, where most of the cast were standing about yawning and with arms folded in a posture of anxious waiting.


We were around the back of the building. A fire truck must have pulled up to the front pretty quickly, because only 20 minutes later the truck looped around the building and left. The firemen waved at us as they drove past. We all shuffled back up the stairs. In my room the bathroom light was on and the sink was running...I suppose that means the firemen/hotel staff had checked it? Nothing else in my room was out of place.

I read my book for a while and managed to doze for an hour, then gave up and got up.
Made my overnight oats fun today by adding little marshmallows :)


Then I spent quite a while working on notations in my Beauty and the Beast music because there will be another trombonist playing the show in Chicago (per Rule 24.) There are changes to articulations that we've decided on, or parts where the conductor is cuing us in in a specific way, or parts where tempos change suddenly. Leaving little notes in the music about these things is helpful to all the musicians who will see the part after you.

When that was done I wanted to go for a walk before it became unbearably hot (east coast United States is in a heat wave) so grabbed a water and wandered around nearby Union College campus.

I appreciated these big old trees which provided relief from the oppressive heat.


There is an interesting building near the rugby field called Nott Memorial, a 16-sided structure used as a sort of museum and lecture hall. It wasn't open for visitors, but was pretty to look at.


Equally if not more beautiful was this adorable cluster of mushrooms along one of the walking paths.


I'd wanted to spend more time investigating, but it was 96 degrees (35.5 C) and I'd been out in the sun for 30 minutes already, so headed back downtown. It was nice to get out in the fresh air at least.

On the way back I swung by The Whistling Kettle for a "sconewich." I've had one of these before while on tour with Tootsie.
Different flavor this time: cheddar herb scone, ham, Swiss cheese, and apricot jam. Delicious!


Not wanting to go back out in the blazing heat again, I ate lunch and had a cool shower and mostly chilled. I wiped down the flat surfaces in my room, played some games on my phone, read my book, chatted with Jameson, and hydrated. I put new corks on my cup mute because the new trombone has a bigger bell; I'll have to file the corks down tomorrow when the theater is open to us again.

For dinner I braved the heat once more to hit a NY-style pizza place just a few blocks away.
With all of the New Yorkers who snowbird down to Florida, you'd think we'd have better pizza...but no, we've lived near Orlando for 7 years and have never found authentic New York pizza near us.

I got one slice and a salad. Aaaaah so good!!


Watched LEGO Masters with Jameson and that was pretty much my day.

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

TUESDAY

The fire alarm went off AGAIN around 2am.
I don't like this trend.

It was shut off pretty quickly though, and it was easier to go back to sleep. I was up at 8 for breakfast and to fix my Chicago foodie finds, which I hadn't updated for the hotel this company will be staying in. Around 10 I went to the theater to practice and also to fix the cork on my bass trombone mute. I'd shaved the original cork down to fit the other bass's bell, and turns out that's too small for this bass. The added cork looks messy but it works and gives a much better sound, so hopefully that'll be an improvement until I can get the 3D-printed mutes out here.


On the way out I saw yet another photo op being set up. It's not complete yet, they are adding some kind of LED lighting and even MORE roses if you can believe it, lol.


Back at the hotel they had not cleaned my room yet so I thought I'd missed cleaning staff's pass. Ate lunch and was generally bored because it is still horrifically hot outside and I didn't want to go running around out there getting all sweaty. Cleaning staff came by right as I was finished eating so I hung out in the lobby for about 30 minutes to give them space. She did an excellent job on my room, and since we only have 10 more days in Schenectady it'll probably be the last time I get it serviced. Took a short nap, read my book, and was generally lazy.

After dinner I went to the theater early, dressed in blacks because we have an invited audience for this dress rehearsal. The band's road cases have been built, which will house all of our instruments and work-related equipment for this tour (instrument stands, mutes, cleaning supplies, etc.) Sometime this week we will get together and Tetris all of our stuff in there. 


Before the show tonight, Josh (Key 1) handed us each a program. 
Our first programs from this show, this tour! 


I've had my name in a LOT of programs over the years. But I don't think any have been as meaningful to me as this one. 
Every day I'm still digesting the fact that I'm here and doing this. I'm the trombonist for a Disney Broadway show.
It's still unbelievable and will be for a while.
I stared and stared at this program until it was time to play. 

The show went "ok," although we had to stop during Be Our Guest because one of the ensemble women was hurt (either her knee or ankle, it was unclear.) From what I've heard she's all right, but the show had to continue with one of the swings jumping in to cover her spot. 

Personally this was not one of my better shows; I felt low energy and unfocused. But that's ok...sometimes it happens, and I'd rather it happen during a rehearsal. Maybe tomorrow will be better. Ryu (violinist) and I walked out the stage door together and were startled when the huge mob of people waiting outside cheered and applauded as soon as we appeared! Usually the musicians go unnoticed. It was nice :) The actors probably got MOBBED. 

And now I'm going the heck to sleep. With earplugs in, and if there's a fire I guess I'll burn to death!

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

Wednesday & Thursday: Our first preview shows at night, possible rehearsals during the day. We are now more or less finished with "tech," and I guess this is a sort of "soft launch" in Schenectady with our official opening being in Chicago (which I'm annoyed about as I won't get to be there, but what can ya do)

A travel day. I had barely slept because drunks in the hallway again, but felt all right.

We got to the airport in the rain, unloaded, checked in, etc etc.
The first flight was bumpy enough that they couldn't give us refreshments, and I didn't handle it well because it was that horrible dropping sensation-type of turbulence which makes me nauseous very quickly and throws me directly into fight-or-flight mode. Still, it was a short flight and it wasn't THAT bad, mostly I just panicked and worked myself up. The second flight was better, and I was better, too.

At the Greensboro airport I shared my duplicate Delta trading cards with the two kid actors on our tour. They were super excited about them! And just at that moment, two pilots came through the terminal. I egged them: "Go ask for some cards!" They struggled nervously with their nerves for a moment, then got up the courage to ask and were rewarded with some cards. I've created new Delta fans :)


At the hotel, dropped the luggage and off to Whole Paycheck for groceries.
Upon returning to the hotel I pulled the fridge out a bit to adjust the temperature...AND ROACHES SCATTERED EVERYWHERE. OH MY GOD. And it wasn't adult roaches either, it was one adult and LOTS of baby roaches. NOPENOPENOPENOPENOPE.

Evidence (TRIGGER WARNING: BUGS Here is video of a tiny juvenile German cockroach in my room, one of several. If you're only seeing adult cockroaches they probably just came in from outside. But if you're seeing the babies it's BAD, that's an infestation.)

I let the front desk know immediately and packed up my things because they WOULD be moving me to a new room. They did, and I checked it very carefully and did not find any cockroaches or signs of cockroaches. Now hopefully those babies didn't hitch a ride on my stuff to the new room -_-

Unpacking AGAIN was annoying, but whatever. This is a thing that can happen on tour.

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

Tuesday, up early to finish the typing part of transcription. I will now be a Bad Person and wait to submit the job so that I can enjoy at least one transcription-free day FFS. I still have to review it for errors but will do that on Wednesday.

I also did laundry and spent a lot of time on hold with UPS trying to have a package forwarded from the hotel in NOLA (it arrived the day we checked out, AFTER we checked out) to the hotel upcoming in Indianapolis. Having packages forwarded remotely is the worst: do not recommend.

The hotel is far from the theatre so we have rental cars to get back and forth.
Greensboro's Tanger Center for the Performing Arts is another familiar one for me; I was just here earlier in the year with My Fair Lady. My phone automatically connected to the wifi :)

Before the show started I found the My Fair Lady wall tag, and my signature on it!



Nearby was the 2023 Grinch wall tag, and I found my friend Kyle's name there and sent him a pic.


I was once again given my own dressing room here. So fancy! I really do feel special for the privilege.
(Also, I tell the guys that they can come use it for a bit of privacy. I rarely use dressing rooms except to eat between shows.)


We can't see much from the pit in this theatre, but I remember it well because the ceiling looks like a UFO getting ready to beam up the audience.


Our show went just fine and was well attended. Afterward the pit was ringed by lots of people who stayed to hear us play the exit music, then applauded us! That was a really nice surprise :)

We had a random party tonight as well; some local donors had set aside money for it for some unknown reason. Whatever, I'll take free snacks and drinks! The finger food was very nice, meatballs and potstickers and zucchini fries, little mini cheesecakes and lemon bars, stuff like that. We each got two drink tickets to spend as well. I used just one of mine on a glass of wine and then spent pretty much the whole night talking with Todd, our trumpet 2 who is into astronomy and other nerdy stuff. I don't know much about it but it's way more interesting than trying to scream over a group of 20 actors about the latest backstage social dramas. We had a really good and engaging convo, and left around midnight. Overall a fun opening night!

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

Wednesday, I was up late not surprisingly.

Jameson has been to the hand doctor today and will be going forward with hand surgery :( I am very worried for him, and am also very much hoping that I'll be there to help him recover post-surgery. I think it'll happen as I expect to be around from January on, and with the holidays coming up I'd think they wouldn't schedule it for this month.

My aunt texted to say she's gotten us reservations at a chicken & waffle place near the theatre for Saturday. Awesome! I'm very much looking forward to seeing her, and wish that we could have several days together instead of just several hours.

Anyway, spent a good chunk of the morning typing this post up and texting back and forth with Jameson and my aunt, then did my audio review of transcription which took about two hours. I had forgotten my practice mute so only played a little. It was pouring outside for most of the afternoon, so it turned into a Hot Tea And Movie Day, which was relaxing and rather needed.

The evening show was all right except Notion crashed partway through "Nobody Cares About Santa Claus," so it sounded wimpy.

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

Thursday: Practicing Disney stuff, lunch at the China Buffet with some of the band guys, hopefully a thrift store. One evening show.

Friday: Turning in my transcription job and probably getting another. Hoping to go downtown for a bit before the show.

Saturday: Two shows and dinner with my aunt and uncle :)

Sunday: Two shows and peacing out. Next stop is Indianapolis.

We had a slow morning in Eugene as it was a late flight.

It turned out to be kind of a wonky travel day, though: first our flight was delayed, then United wouldn't let us check in as a group OR individually. Instead they made us line up at the counter in the order that the bookings had been made, of all things, and then proceeded to check us in AND tag our luggage, person-by-person, all 60 of us. It was absolutely ridiculous, took much more time than usual or necessary, and was probably the least efficient way to check in a large group, ever. I've been a touring musician for 10+ years, and in the hundreds of flights I've taken with all major airlines, no one has EVER demanded that we check in in-person, or in exact booking order, before. Absolute nonsense, and someone at Eugene Airport's United service counter BADLY needs to be re-trained.

Aaaanyway. Thanks to our company management being organized and awesome, it wasn't THAT bad, just idiotic.

Our flight was delayed about 30-40 minutes, and we landed in San Francisco just in time to hit rush hour traffic. The 1.5 hour ride to the hotel quickly became a 2.5 hour trip. I struggled mightily with motion sickness from the stop-and-go traffic, and finally had to resort to wearing my Sea-Bands and eating extra Travel Bagel to stop the acid sloshing around in my stomach. Thank god for that bagel!

When I could do it without my stomach rolling, I looked out the window as there is always much to admire about California.
This is the greenest I've ever seen it here. The last time I was in this area it was badly in drought, and the hills were all brown and crusty.


A housing development in which every single house had solar panels.


We passed many fields of crops, most notably acres and acres of almonds (at least I think they were almonds, the fruit looked pale green and oval. If I'm wrong, they may have been olives instead.)


At the hotel I dropped my stuff and went to Sprouts for one last "Foodie Find," a very small one. Getting just enough groceries for two days; I don't plan to eat out at all here. I found a few fun things to try including Sprout's own brand of seasoned tofu, and a single-serving carton of Woolala Banana Milk (I've had it before but Jameson loved it very much and drank it all :p )

I also picked up some new-to-me apples to enjoy: a cosmic crisp (left), a kanzi (right), and a lemonade apple (yes I've had the lemonade apple recently in another state, but this one looked different and I was interested to try it again since they're pretty rare to come across.)


- Cosmic Crisp: It was pretty good but idk why the big fuss. To me, it seemed like an improved red delicious. The skin was still thick and chewy like a red delicious, but less bitter than one, and the fruit was juicy and had a good sweet flavor. I like at least a little tartness in my apples though, so to me these are, like the honeycrisp, overly sweet.
- Kanzi: And this one was like an improved gala or fuji. Sweet and juicy, thin skin, really nice flavor, and I liked how light and not-woody the flesh was. Some people like a "harder" apple, I prefer ones that are lighter and more "crispy," and this one leans that way. Still more sweet than I prefer but I like it more than the cosmic crisp!
- Lemonade: I'll be eating this guy on the flight home.

Back at the hotel, an auspicious dinner of turkey jerky, nuts, half a NuGo bar, and canned pumpkin. I'm trying to eat down any remaining travel nonperishables, since travel days are about to be over. Unpacked, washed up, felt depressed about the end of tour, and went to bed.

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

Woke up on Tuesday a bit disoriented (where tf am I again?) and walked into the bathroom to see water all over the toilet. The room above mine, or pipes I guess, is/are leaking. If there has to be a leak I suppose better over the toilet than, say, over the bed, or my luggage.


Maintenance took over an hour to show up, so I had breakfast and worked on my court reporting modules in the meantime. When they finally did show up he took one look at the ceiling, cringed, and said he was going upstairs to see where the leak was coming from, and I never saw him again after that.

Jameson had a tattoo appointment today and was very excited about it, naturally. I chatted on and off with him while working and worrying about the expanding water zit above the toilet. Finally the front desk called to say that maintenance hadn't been able to access the room above mine because there was a pet in there (they're legally prohibited from entering a hotel room with a pet) and asked if I'd like to switch rooms. I said yes because even if the leak was fixed, there's still standing/stagnant water trapped in the ceiling and I am not a fan of it. They brought a new key up right away and it didn't take me long to switch over.

In the time it took me to switch rooms, all motivation for working on court reporting modules went out the window. I just...I feel like once again I don't have a job. Yes, I have a chance to CERTIFY and THEN start working, but for fuck's sake, that means I need ANOTHER job in the meantime!!!
WHY am I always inadequate?
Why is it never enough?
Am I not human being enough to hold just a normal-ass job?
Once again, I was supposed to know to keep applying for MORE work after being offered a job?
Honestly, I was very upset today. I'm so tired of this happening after each tour.

It didn't even brighten my mood to receive an email from The Florida Orchestra about the upcoming disco concert that I'll be involved in; or shortly after that, a text from the Main Street Phil with directions to the costuming building. I should be excited and happy about both of these fun opportunities, but right now I just feel desperate and ashamed.

With all of that in mind I unpacked (again), and walked to a small fruit stall near the hotel.
Modesto smells a lot like Mexico...hard to describe but it's a mix of, like, hot dust, decaying garbage and food and plant material, grilled meats, and perhaps a touch of brine from sea air brought inland. Just something that I noticed, going outside here for the first time today and coming from a different state.

The little fruit stall/shop had a lot more than fruit, namely dried fruits, nuts, chocolates, and honey. Lots of honey.


I didn't get anything because I'd actually hoped they'd have some veggies, and they didn't.
Went back to the hotel, did work on more court reporting, then did a depressive nap until it was time for sound check.

This theatre has an "ok" pit, and the auditorium is nothing special to look at but the acoustics are "ok" as well.
Some actors started crying a bit during sound check; these folks have performed together for twice as long as I've been on this tour, so there are a lot of emotions as our show comes to a close. After sound check we were given a photo op on stage with the Higgins study set piece.

Full cast (I'm over on the right):



Full cast goofy photo:



My Fair Lady Orchestra only:


When I saw that no one was going to the middle, I planted myself there and did what I hoped might be a good Henry Higgins pose. Note that I took care to wear my shiny reflective shoes.


Opening night went well and the audience was wonderful.

Maeghin, the actress who plays Mrs. Pierce, got us each a pair of "My Fair Shadies" sunglasses! How cute is that!


After the show was our closing night party (even though it's not quite closing night, better to have the party the night before due to load out.) The cute cake:


There were lots of photo ops set up around the event space, mainly a My Fair Lady banner that we took turns with.
Here is my set:



Another set with the band (except Abe, our bassist, who got annoyed with having to wait in line for this photo and left):


A moment before the toasts given by some of our creative team who were present. The woman on the left there is Angela Rowles, the Chief Executive Officer.


To be honest...the party gave "not with a bang but a whimper" vibes. Probably because we just got here, and it feels (to me at least) like we should still have a full week of shows before we close out. The impression is oddly like some sort of "soft closing," with just the two shows and not a lot of fanfare. But each tour is different, and going out quietly like this is a new experience for me. Hey, I got a free glass of wine and got to chat with people a bit, and it was a nice time.

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

Wednesday, I woke up at 8am to do a last load of laundry and had exactly the amount of quarters needed. A sign! Lol.
Breakfast, partial packing, and started to do court reporting but my stepmom called so we chatted it up and by the time we were done it was time to eat lunch.

If anyone is curious, I DID end up passing that transcription evaluation for employment that I was working on last week!
And then guess what! They wrote to say that there will likely be no work until JUNE. Hahahahahahahahaha.
So now I "have" two jobs, NEITHER of which will actually have me working and getting paid anytime soon.
That means that although I have two jobs lined up, I still need to find even more work.

Now is the perfect time for a crotchety 65-or-older know-it-all to appear and condescendingly sniff, "No one wants to WORK any more." So I can rip their bloody larynx out.

At least both jobs were up-front about it, and didn't leave me sniveling and groveling for updates all summer like some other transcription companies coughFedWriterscough. At least now I know, for certain, that for the month of May it's back to $12/hr data entry and scrubbing toilets for elderly people via Papa Pal.

Look well, all ye who are envious of my touring lifestyle! For this is the price.

Would YOU be willing to pay it, for the adventures I've had?
As much as I gripe and curse and worry and rant...in the end, I Will Pay That Price every damn time, for as long as I can.
That's how much it still means to me.

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

I had planned to get my hair trimmed back in Orlando, but a salon nearby happened to have an opening so I did it today instead. One less chore. The rest of the evening seemed to fly by and before I knew it, it was time to walk to the theatre for the final show.

I am not a very boo-hooey person, and still don't even know half of these people, but can empathize with the emotions that they felt tonight. The audience was fantastic and supportive, and cheered heartily for everyone. They knew.
I played the show "like normal," but was so conscious that this was our very last time together. We'll never be here again.

So, ya know. I wore my shiny shoes. For posterity :p


At intermission I joined everyone in signing our very last wall tag, at the top of the stairs leading down to the pit.


And before I knew it, it was over. We were playing the bows, and our MD was crying and so was half the orchestra, the audience was giving us a standing O and I don't know what was happening on stage but can guess lots of emotions. And then we all started packing up like normal, but shook hands and hugged and gave goodbyes. I said, "See you down the road" to everyone because that's the traditional circus parting phrase, implying that you're not saying goodbye; your paths are just forking and they'll come together again someday.

Walking back alone, on a quiet Wednesday night in Modesto, was strange. My mute bag and trombone felt heavy. I had many mixed feelings. But quietly, in the bottom of my shriveled cantankerous little heart, I felt the tiniest ember of hope that this show may be revived overseas. That's the rumor, but as for reality we'll just have to wait and see.

At the hotel packed carefully to protect my mutes and Jameson's souvenirs, and the luggage scale says I'm below 50lbs so hopefully all's well for flying. I missed a text from our MD begging for an impromptu band toast down at the hotel bar...I think he forgot to announce it in the midst of emotions post-show. I felt bad for not going but, I have to be up at 4am tomorrow for an entire day of flying, and though the sentiment is sweet, I don't want to drink tonight (or get weepy haha.)

Packed up, shoved a foam cone into my trombone bell, washed up, typed this blog. And went to bed.
And the curtain is closed on My Fair Lady.

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

Tomorrow (or today depending on where you read this) I'm up at 4am, 4:30 shuttle call, 5am departure on a 2-hour drive to SanFran airport. I'll eat breakfast at the airport, then a 5 1/2-hour flight directly to Orlando. Jameson should be able to pick me up, maybe we'll get dinner and groceries.
And the next several days will be spent unpacking, cleaning, catching up with my sweetheart, and preparing for the stationary life.

Was up at 5am to apply for as many jobs as possible and eat breakfast before the bus departed at 8am.

One interesting one that I found is called Papa, it's kind of similar to Taskrabbit but the main focus is on companionship for the elderly and/or small tasks like housework, running errands, or transportation. There's no bathing, cooking, restroom assistance, dressing, administering meds, or other stuff that a certified/insured professional would do. I figure Orlando is probably a good area for such things, so will give it a try or at least have it in the back pocket to pick up side jobs (it's 1099 work.)

The bus ride was uneventful, I was very stressed because I'm about to lose my "me time" for the next four days and psychologically that's a blow to me. I hate not having control over when I get to work, especially, because no matter how much I repeat, "I need to be there by X time" the person I am forced to trust to get me there on time cannot manage it 50% of the time and I end up in a desperate rush to be warmed up and ready for the show. That means I am constantly watching traffic, watching the clock, and generally not being in the moment or fully focused when we are spending time together the closer and closer it gets to show time.

Whatever, there's nothing I can do except give myself an ulcer about it, which I am doing a great job of doing. Whether or not I am at work on time, for the next three shows, depends on other people who are not entertainers, and I'm supposed to be perfectly happy about it. Calm like a little Hindu cow.

We arrived in plenty of time to check in and unpack, but I had to be suuuuuuper careful about unpacking, because the room belongs to Raven this week, really. Tonight I'll use the desk, but after that my suitcase goes in the closet and one of the beds gets to act as my bed, desk, and wardrobe.

The one solo outing that I gave myself was to visit a local grocery co-op. It was really nice, and I would have liked to look around more, but we still had a show tonight so I went as quickly as I could and was grateful for the 30 minutes that I got.

Here is my haul:


- Eldorado Vitamin Drink, Dragonfruit: It's like a Gatorade but made locally. I was fooled into buying it because the nutrition label said it was only 50 calories…but I realized later there were three servings in a 16oz bottle. I don’t like liars, or deceptive marketing.
- TSK Blue Corn and Mulberry Granola: They had about five different flavors, all of which sounded amazing, but this was the most unique and also the lowest in fats and sugars. Won't get to eat this until I get to Orlando.
- Bluefly Tulsi-flavored Sparkling Water: They also had Lavender, Rosemary, and Peppermint. Tulsi is a type of basil, I think used in Thai cooking normally. This company is an herb farm in NM and does not ship these beverages, so you can ONLY get them in New Mexico. I tried it last night and it was very good! Kind of...minty and peppery? I don't know but I liked it so much I went back for another can later in the week. Very good stuff :)
- Local Beef Jerky: It's buried in that pile, it's just locally-made peppered beef jerky. Always a good travel food.
- Bean Stalk Vegan Protein Sticks: Made from soybeans, I haven't seen these before so got one of each flavor to try. Fairly high in protein, low in sodium and fat.
- Spelt Blueberry Coconut Scone: VERY good! They had many kinds of scone, sweet and savory, and it was difficult to choose just one. Delicious with lots of great textures. I cut it in half and ate half for breakfast, instead of oatmeal on Friday.

The sound check and show were fine. This backstage is really weird and maze-like.
On top of that...pardon me, there's a MORGUE??


We looked but did not find it. Mystery.

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

Back to Friday. I slept super poorly not surprisingly, then got up very early so I could have time for coffee and half a scone before spending the day with Kayle and her family. I cleaned up the hotel room as much as possible and cornered all of my things in the closet and on the bed. Last night I left a work outfit and some snacks at the theatre in case I end up having to run to work over the next three shows, and might pick up some toiletries while we're out today in case I have to shower at the theatre too (this hotel doesn't have mini-bottles.) Isn't visiting with family during work hours FUN!

Kayle picked me up. She has a sort of station wagon thing, and with her tall husband and three small children all using car seats plus their stroller, diaper bags, etc, the only space available for a third adult is wedged between the trunk and the back of the rear seats, sideways, with your knees under your chin. We took turns wedged into that space all day, starting with Kayle's husband (who is WAY too tall to have to sit back there!) and with Kayle taking majority of the time back there, to her motion sickness detriment.

Anyway, we got to Old Town and enjoyed looking around. Here's some ABQ history for you: at some point there was a misspelling on some railway ledger or something(?) and for a while "Albuquerque" was spelled "AlbuRquerque"!


Skylar, Kayle's husband, grew up here and has lots of childhood memories, including the house that his dad built with his own hands (the family went there and took pics before they picked me up.) In Old Town we started off exploring the tourist shops, all with turquoise and silver jewelry and canned goods and clothing and such. Eventually we got to San Felipe de Neri basilica, which is a historic church founded in 1706. You can read more about it HERE if you like.


Behind the church was a sculpture garden so we checked that out too.


When lunch time rolled around we went to Mary & Tito’s Cafe, a NM institution since I think the 70s. The kids were pleased with tacos, buttered tortillas, and refried beans. I had carne adovada, which is pork slow-cooked in NM red chiles, served with both red and green chile sauces and rice and beans. It was quite spicy, I was sweating, but man it was good! Smoky and tender.


After lunch they took me to a small market called The Fruit Basket. You walk in and are hit with the pungent, spicy smell of dried peppers! This place dries their own New Mexico red chiles, and stews their own green chiles as well. They had lots of other tasty treats, like candies and dried nuts and fruits and produce and all kinds of spices.


The stewed green chiles were in Ziplock bags near the counter, still warm. The red ones were in huge bulk bags stacked in piles.


I didn't need anything but bought some lollipops for the kids and enjoyed the sights and smells :)

We drove from there to a park and nature preserve where we could walk right up to the Rio Grande. It was pretty low right now, but there were flood plains with big rows of netting to help catch debris (I didn’t take a pic of those and should have.)


There was a little info/activity center with fun things for the kids to do. We checked that out and signed the guestbook before leaving.
Kayle's family at the Rio Grande:


Kayle got me back to the hotel in exactly enough time to get a rushed shower, before Raven was at the door with her luggage. I got her settled in and we attempted to find dinner (near the theatre at my insistence, I am selfish like that, wanting to be able to get to work on time.) We got to the restaurant at 6pm, ordered a sandwich and salad…and 50 minutes later still did not have our food.

So I got to abandon my sister at the restaurant, run across the street to the theatre, and enjoy a dinner of stale bagels and granola bars before playing the evening show. It wasn’t Raven’s fault, but if I hadn’t put food at the theatre for myself in case of exactly this, I would’ve had to perform the show hungry. Now think if this had happened at a restaurant 20 minutes away! I would have been f*cked for getting to work on time AND for getting to eat. But when I try to explain that this is why I'm so neurotic about sticking around the theatre, or having a time buffer, it’s like I'm describing some wildly foreign concept. If there’s no time/distance buffer and something goes wrong, I could lose my job. But I guess that’s on me!!!

——————————————————————

Saturday, I slept barely at all. We Ubered to Frontier restaurant, another NM institution that’s been around since the 70s and is right on campus, close to the theatre. It was slam-packed in there so we queued up. It was very loud and chaotic, every time you turned around there was someone carrying full plates or drinks and there were many near-collisions happening. There was barely room to turn around, so many people in there. I could feel myself getting really anxious from sheer noise and amount of people.

The food came out quickly but I was so obviously anxious and flustered that everyone asked if I was ok and I wasn’t even sure how to answer. But I felt better when we were sitting together, because it felt less claustrophobic. I guess I hate or struggle with a feeling of being trapped in “herds” of people, and this felt like that. Similar to being packed into a tight line at airport security, or on a hot crowded jet bridge with a bunch of screaming kids.

Anyway, I got a big cinnamon bun and we cut it up to share. It was very good! Sticky gooey :)


Afterward we walked around the campus, the kids ran around and explored sculptures and stairwells and the big duck pond in the center of campus.

Eventually Kayle wanted to return to Old Town but I opted out, planning to take Raven to the food co-op because I thought she’d like it. But she wasn't feeling well and Ubered back to the hotel to lie down. After making sure she got back safely I went to the co-op myself, had a small snack, and walked to the theatre for the first show of the day.

Kayle and Elliotte came to that show (her husband stayed with the younger kids.) There was a 20-minute hold for technical issues, and since Raven texted to say she was feeling better I asked her to order us some dinner for pickup from a restaurant of her choice, to eat at the theatre. I’m sure that’s inconsiderate of me but my dinner break was now only about 1.5 hours instead of 2, and after yesterday’s experience I didn’t want to risk a sit-down dinner with “only” an hour and a half to eat and get to work.

The show went well other than the hold. Elliotte managed to stay for the whole show, and they came down to the pit afterward to say hello.


We said our goodbyes, and from there I met Raven and we ate tamales and some local chocolates at a bench on campus. This was of course a very quick dinner, so I felt guilty that I’d insisted on takeout instead of a sit-down, but the food was good and we got to enjoy fresh air and conversation anyway.

Very soon it was time for the next show, which Raven attended, and there was no hold thankfully. She had fun, and I was glad. We rode back to the hotel in one of our company rental cars with Joel (trumpet) and Victoria (flute) so Raven got to meet and chat with them.

——————————————————————-

Sunday, Raven was up at 5:30 for her flight so of course I was up too. When her Uber was almost here we hugged and parted ways. I grabbed a coffee in the lobby and started packing back I the room, but realized Raven had left a coat behind. So now I must ship her coat to her, making sure to make room for it in my luggage since today is a Sunday. I’m sure I can throw out some of my own things to make sure my luggage is not overweight, or carry her coat on the plane.

I decided to do laundry, and it turns out the laundry is at a sister hotel behind our hotel, so I got to take a nice long early morning walk to get there. Typed most of this post up while waiting for my clothes.

After that Kayle had wanted to “hang out” at the hotel…not sure what that meant and was prepared to shut down any attempt at “hanging out” with three small children in my room with my half-packed suitcase lying tantalizingly in the middle of the floor. But it didn’t matter because 8:45 rolled around and she wasn’t here, and my friend Lauren was en route to pick me up. So, we called it off and I gave Kayle a texted goodbye.

Lauren has been my longest friend; we’ve known each other for almost 30 years. We don’t always see eye to eye but so what, who’s compatible 100% of the time?


That’s her dog Coco, eyeing our eggs Benedict (her husband made them for us.) We ate the delicious runny eggs, crispy ham, chewy English muffins, and homemade hollandaise and talked and talked about parts of each others’ lives that we’ve missed. Our mothers both died when we were young, and that has always been a strong common thread tying our relationship. We talked about how strange it is to be turning 40, to be getting close to the age that our mothers were when they passed. I think that Lauren looks a little rough, so I asked about her health but she didn’t seem to want to talk about it right now. I hope that in the coming weeks we will be able to get a little more one on one time. A few hours at breakfast isn’t really enough to hash things out on the deeply personal level that our long friendship deserves.


My voice was horse by the time we parted ways, we talked so much. She invited me to breakfast tomorrow morning, but I had to decline mostly because I am just so tired, and even though I care deeply for my friend I have a low social battery and it’s at the limit this week. We promised again to FaceTime in the near future. And she dropped me off at the theater on the campus of the University of New Mexico.

Here's a photo of us as innocent bebes in the 90s, and the selfie we took today. Not much has changed, tbh!



Our first My Fair Lady show went all right, although something is up with our conductor. I think the altitude finally got him. Not surprisingly he called out for the second show, so our assistant conductor took over for that one. I hope he is OK.

Between shows I stayed at the theater because there wasn’t really time to go back to the hotel. Drank a cup of coffee to try and stay awake, and ate the dinner I packed for myself, chatted with people. Pretty soon we'll all be going our separate ways. Hard to think about.

The evening show was just fine. We packed up quickly, and back at the hotel I packed and went to bed just as soon as I could, feeling like my brain was melting and my battery was dead. I love my family, but this was definitely not the best city for visits for many reasons including a very tight show schedule, a lot of physically demanding changes (elevation, dryness), and multiple friends and family groups visiting at once, making it difficult to make sure everyone got as much time as I could give while still doing my job to the best of my ability. I talked about how I felt with each family group, and tried to explain why I was having such anxiety over their visits this particular time. I'm not sure if I got across, but I think so, somewhat.

I just hope next time there will be a little more consideration for my work schedule, and taking into account that between shows I have to do things like get a shower, eat, warming up my instrument for the next show, etc. Additionally, maybe a little empathy for what being "at work" means for an entertainer. I am not hourly and my "free time" is NOT time off. I am literally in these cities TO WORK. I have been contracted to be in this place as part of ACTIVELY WORKING. That means that if I am called to do anything at all in the middle of the day--a last-minute rehearsal, or a covid test, or a PR event, etc--I am AT WORK and HAVE to go do it. Everything else--sightseeing, family visits, personal plans--I can do those if and when there is "free time", but I am still AT WORK and it still has to come secondary to that.

Anyway. Goodbye, Albuquerque. Hello, layoff.

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

Tomorrow I'm flying to Orlando. There were no early flights, so I won't arrive until 8pm or so. It'll be good to see Jameson, cook him some meals and clean up and give him what support I can as he works through the emotional aftermath of that Disney interview.

After this layoff we'll have our last four cities: Spokane, Eugene, Yakima, and Modesto.
I'm excited because I've never been to any of these, but also sad because it signals the end of tour life once again, and a return to feeling worthless at some low-paying job. But I will do my best no matter where I am.

In closing, a photo of Kayle and I in Old Town.

We didn't leave Kalamazoo until 11am, so there was plenty of time for a lovely slow morning.

The bus ride felt incredibly long, even though it was the shortest one of the week! It's because we wanted to be in Chicago so badly! And when we could see the city in the distance suddenly everyone was talking excitedly about their plans, where to eat, what to see and do. It was refreshing. This tour got off to such a rough start, and we've had so few extended stays anywhere. We needed this.


The hotel is the Allegro Sonesta, and it's a fancy old one, formerly a Bismark hotel built in the 1920s. As homage to that the decor is Deco-themed.


As with most inner city hotels, the room is small and has limited counter space and outlets. The ironing board will do time as a table for me this week. Because of the limited counter space I was forced to do some furniture rearranging before heading off to Eataly.

Elen (cellist) came with me, although I tried to deter her by essentially being cantankerous and saying I didn't want to socialize. She said she'd walk with me and then leave me to shop, and I agreed to this. We chatted and walked, and shared our worries about what will happen when tour ends. She broke her hand partway through tour and missed several weeks and THOUSANDS of dollars of income that she was depending on :( It is terrifying to lose work, plus, it's incredibly hard to get a basic job any more. We're constantly hearing how "No one is willing to work these days," but have any of the people saying that tried getting a job lately?? I am lucky if I get one interview for every 50 applications, that is NOT an exaggeration.

Anyway, we got to Eataly and I had the pleasure of seeing Elen gape at three floors of Italian awesomeness. I gave her vague directions for where things were likely to be (it's been years since I've been there after all) and we parted ways. I started on the ground floor, where there are grab-and-go cafes with pizza, sweet breads, Italian coffee, chocolates, prepackaged cookies/crackers/biscotti, and dessert pastries.



Near the checkout they tend to keep smaller items that make good gifts for shipping, so I started there and got many nice things for my siblings and their kids, stepmom, step-grandparents, and Jameson of course. Tiny jars of Italian honey; an herbal tea blend for Kate; strawberry-flavored chocolates; a packet of fruit chews for the kids; limoncello prepackaged pastries; a chocolate pistachio "cigar" for Jameson to hopefully "celebrate" good news, haha. And a bag of mezzaluna cookies/pastries for the band :) I wanted to get more savory items like maybe some special olive oils or spices...but those are SO EXPENSIVE. There wasn't a single truffle-adjacent item under $20!! Booo.

On the second floor were the sit-down restaurants, the huge wine department, meats and cheeses, sauces, and pastas fresh and dry.



I got everyone dry pasta last time, so only got some for my stepmom (she didn't get Eataly souvenirs at all last time.) Found a cured salami to send to people, even though it's made in the US I know people wouldn't buy it for themselves. Back on the ground floor I fretted over what to get for dinner. Everything always looks amazing and I want to try all of it! Eventually I settled on a slice of mushroom and a slice of margherita pizza. I checked out and everything was around $250, ouch, but also well worth it. None of my family has ever been to Chicago, and none of us has even a drop of Italian blood, so these are rare delicacies indeed for them. I have the privilege of being here, of being able to spend time and money here. I want to share that experience any way that I can.

Some of my haul to send to family:


It was almost dinner time so I heated and ate the mushroom pizza, it was VERY good and my favorite part was that it didn't depend on loads of cheese. There was some but it was tastefully applied, the mushrooms were so flavorful and the true star. I ended up eating half the margherita later...it was disappointingly bland. Eataly's pasta has NEVER been disappointing in any way, just sayin.

Since it was still early I decided to walk to the nearest Amazon GO store.
Amazon GO is a cashierless, "frictionless checkout" store. You enter using a credit card or your palm (if you have Amazon One), then pick up the items you want, and just leave. No scanning each item, no digging in pockets for card or cash. The store itself is very basic, it looks just like an airport convenience store. But the technology involved in being able to shop like this is FASCINATING, and I wanted the experience.

Here's a video I made of what it was like. It still feels quite strange to walk out of a store without interacting with someone, scanning the items, or proccessing some sort of payment. But I love it :)
(CLICK HERE to watch)

Also, please don't whine at me about jobs being lost to this. Our economy is changing so drastically that we're going to have to reevaluate what humans will be doing for work in the very near future, across many industries. Also, being an underpaid cashier at a convenience store is NO ONE'S dream job, and it does not pay enough for one adult to survive, much less a family. It's a desperation job at best. And as mentioned in conversation with Elen on the way to Eataly, people like us are applying for actual, available, open cashier positions...and not getting them. The purpose of cashierless checkout is to increase efficiency/time savings, and I am FOR that. We all waste YEARS' worth of time standing in line.

Anyway, I got to check out some extremely cool technology that is still very much in the testing phase. If this ever goes mainstream, grocery shopping will be SO much faster! Back at the hotel it was time to fully unpack and chill out for reals. Typed this post up and chatted with Jameson and my sisters, made plans for the week. It's good to be in one place for a while.

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

I slept better than expected and enjoyed coffee, oatmeal, yogurt, and fruit in my hotel room.
Worked on some Foodie Finds, looked at and bookmarked some jobs. Worried about how I'm gonna get laundry done this week.

And walked to Russian Tea Time for lunch.

(2nd photo courtesy VOX)

It was slow, and I was seated immediately. This was a moderately upscale place, and even though I'd dressed nicely I felt worried about how...AUSTERE the vibe was. It made me worry about my table manners! But the servers were friendly and helpful with decision-making, which made things feel less stuffy and more friendly. I wanted to try their house-infused vodka but couldn't decide on a flavor. The server said she liked the horseradish one the best, so I was about to get that but she said the smallest pour you could get was 2oz. And a flight of THREE flavors was 3oz. So I mean...!

Beet, horseradish, and coriander. (On the menu the middle shot is tea, but they were happy to switch in the horseradish.)


From spending time with Russians in the circus, I know that you're not supposed to SIP vodka served this way. So I started with the coriander shot; smelled it and threw it back. "Будем здоровы!"
I was surprised at how smooth it was, no booze face at all, and the pickle was a great chaser. The beet shot smelled very good, so I DID sip that and was glad I did. It was sweet and earthy, complex, and it would have been a waste not to savor it.

I waited a solid 15 minutes to do the horseradish shot, hoping they'd bring my food out. I killed time texting pictures of the experience to Jameson, his parents, my siblings, etc, and chatting with them about how their day(s) were going. But in my peripheral vision I could see the servers hovering, like, waiting for me to finish so they could bring out my entree. Fine then: I smelled the shot (powerful horseradish smell!) and down the hatch. IT WAS SO GOOD. Spicy of course, but so flavorful and clean. Obviously would be excellent in a Bloody Mary, but also with charcuterie, or pumpernickel bread, lox, capers, olives...I was seriously impressed, and not just because I had a great buzz going :p

The minute I set the shot glass down my food came out (uh huh, that's what I thought.)
Grilled wild quail, mashed potatoes, polenta, arugula, stewed prunes, and raisins in a Madeira-wine berry sauce.


My goodness. I was worried about how to eat the quail but luckily a gentleman across the room had ordered the same thing, and I saw him picking up the leg and wing bones and eating them as you would wings, so I did that too. I've never had quail before today; it's very good, maybe like deeply marinated chicken thigh meat. Very flavorful. Everything else was fantastic too, with most things being savory and smoky and the sauce bringing a beautiful sweetness. And the portions were perfect.

They sell their infused vodkas in 375ml or 750ml bottles. I decided that Jameson NEEDED the horseradish vodka. He loves Bloody Marys, and nothing would be more perfect for that. I'll ship it with his Eataly and Chinatown treats.


On the way back to the hotel I stopped at Target for a few small things and to kill time and because the weather was shockingly nice (mid-60s, in Chicago, in early March!! Global warming indeed!) Then hydrated and relaxed until sound check at the Nederlander Theatre. Which is gorgeous. It was, of course, formerly a 1920s movie palace. (CLICK HERE to see my view from the pit)

Our cellist showed up with food poisoning, and had to call out (she was shaking it was so bad and kept having to leave to puke) so we got an emergency cellist named Mark. Poor guy had to sightread the book, but he did an absolutely excellent job! And Elen is ok, she hydrated and rested and last I heard was feeling much better, having gotten whatever-it-was out of her system.

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

Wednesday we had two matinees and they were earlier than usual (1pm and 7pm) so there was not time for adventures. I booked a laundry service and they said they'd pick up by 1pm, but they weren't there by 12:30 so I had to leave my dirty clothes at the front desk (eew, sorry guys) and get to the theatre for a day of work.


First of all our cellist was feeling much better, having barfed out all of whatever made her sick. Yay! (And now you know why I almost always do my foodie adventures for LUNCH lol. No seriously that is why.) Also, at each of our spots in the pit was a surprise: a bag of Garrett Popcorn from our conductor, DAR. The "Chicago Mix" of cheddar cheese popcorn and caramel corn, of course.
I love this popcorn but have to eat it with Lactaid due to the powdered milk and cream (which I did, immediately. So good.)


The show went well and it was a good audience that laughed a lot. Afterward we saw several of our tour's head honchos checking in at the hotel where we're staying; two Crossroads shows are in town playing simultaneously, so this is a good time for corporate to visit. Gosh, I'll have to behave myself (far too late for that :p )

During the break I did nothing special, just ate dinner and showered and made plans with two of my sisters who are coming to Albuquerque to see the show next week. The evening show was good, it sounded like a full house out there and it was a very responsive crowd.

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

On Thursday I'm walking back to Eataly because a local trombonist very generously gave me a gift card! To get something nice for the band. It is convenient because the bag of mezzaluna that I bought for them only has six cookies in it (I didn't realize until I got home) so I will buy more cookies and also some fruit gummies.

In the afternoon I get to enjoy an omakase experience at Jinsei Motto, thanks to a gift card from my sister Raven!
And in the evening we'll have a show and a meet-and-greet with the cast of Pretty Woman (and corporate.)

Weekend Chicago plans include a whole day in Chinatown on Friday; shipping souvenirs to family; two shows on Saturday and one on Sunday; and a Golden Day on Monday whence I hope to try Japanese omurice and visit the art museum!

The bus ride was long and blessedly uneventful.
There were some light flurries blowing around that didn't lay on the roads but coated all the trees with sugary crystals.


That was our view for pretty much all of West Virginia. I had a hard time on this ride because of stupid motion sickness. West V is mountainous, even the highways are winding. You go up and down in altitude so your ears are constantly popping, and the bus had to pump the brakes on the downgrades. By the time we got to the Walmart lunch stop I was feeling a little green around the gills, but took care of myself and was all right.

In Walmart I played with the big Valentine's Day plushies. Best find was this massive manta ray plush.


I got a very few groceries, mostly restocking travel-sized cleaning supplies. We were still far enough away and the bus was warm enough that I didn't want to get refrigerated things.

Our bathroom stop was the Pennsylvania Welcome Center, where we found shelves and shelves of fliers for nearly the entire state. I dug through the NEPA section until I found the place where I'm from: Columbia/Montour. And of course there was a flier for Knoebels, the small rural amusement park where I'd gotten my first-ever job, circa 1998, scooping ice cream at The Old Mill for $4.25 an hour!


Back on the bus and just an hour later we were in downtown Pittsburgh, checking in to the Omni William Penn.


It's a big, old, historic hotel, having been built in 1916 and hosting many famous people including quite a few US presidents. And therefore as soon as we got to our rooms everyone started tittering about it being HAUNTED. I will say that while unpacking, two of the four lamps in my room suddenly went out, and even though they shared outlets with other appliances (one with a phone and the other with a Keurig) the other appliances still had power, but the lamps would not turn back on until I physically unplugged each one and plugged it back in. I mean...I'd call that Old Hotel Things. But who knows...:p

Anyway, after ensuring that the tiny box fridge was functional I took an Uber to Whole Paycheck, intending to spend the gift card that my aunt got me. I ate at the hot bar and got all of my usual groceries plus some treats like local canned coffee, puffed lotus seed snacks, and a bag of baru nuts. And then at checkout without even thinking I hovered my hand over the Amazon One sensor and completely forgot the gift card. Boo! That's ok, there's no question it'll be put to good use eventually.

Back at the hotel I finished unpacking and had a nice shower and got the heck in bed.

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

Tuesday I was up early early early to eat breakfast and go do laundry. Because fancy, historic hotels do NOT have washers. I also wanted to do some sightseeing, because I've got today and Wednesday to do it and that's pretty much it.

It was cold and windy and I was not inclined to walk across the highway bridge over the river, so for the first time in my life I rode the city bus. How have I made it to age 40 without having ridden a city bus?? Light rails and trolleys and subways and trains and charter buses and taxis and Ubers...but somehow, not the bus. It was great. I paid with the app and the buses were on time. Easy.
The downside? They're stinky. But so are subways.

Did my laundry and rode back, then since it's a 3-hour transit pass I rode it again to get to the Strip District for a loaf of bread from Mancini's, a historic Pittsburgh Italian bakery.


I got "the twist that started it all," which was just a loaf of white Italian bread in a twist shape. It is simple as hell and has no preservatives, probably just yeast, water, flour, and salt. Crispy crust, fluffy white crumb.


There's not enough room to store half in the fridge like I normally would, so I'll just have to eat what I can before it goes moldy or stale. I've wrapped it up tightly so that should help.

After that I meant to walk next door to Wholey's fish market for sushi, but didn't know the sushi counter was closed until mid-February (Google says it's open.) Still, I admired the beautiful seafood for sale.


Wholey's hot bar just had fried foods, so instead I went to Peppi's and got a hot chicken mushroom Swiss hoagie made using Mancini's bread. It was simple but really good and flavorful.


There was a huge coffee/tea shop next door to Peppi's called Prestogeorge, I popped in and was overwhelmed by all the choices. Shelves and shelves of teas and coffees on both walls, like a library but for beans and leaves.


The sales folks were very helpful, and I ended up with Ethiopian Harrar Deep Blue entirely because the salesperson liked it, and with two sample-sized bags of their herbal orange tea and spicy chai.


I was THRILLED that neither of the herbal teas contained rooibos!! Nothing against rooibos, but it is used SO FREQUENTLY in caffeine-free teas and I am tired of tasting it as the base flavor for everything (that and liquorice root, they're in EVERYTHING and it's very annoying!) I tried the orange spice tea as soon as I got home and it was wonderful, flavor-packed and sweet. Might have to start ordering from these guys, especially in the summer when Jameson and I go through iced tea so frequently.

After that I decided to be done and walked back to the hotel, where I cut up/wrapped the bread, put away my laundry and the other foods, packed myself a dinner to bring to the theatre, and got to sit still for about an hour before sound check.


What a lovely theatre! The Benedum was built in 1928 as a Stanley Theater (a movie palace) so it is ornate and gilded. To my great delight and surprise, this theatre has not only been restored but also RENOVATED: it has bathrooms backstage!! And water fountains!! Hallelujah!! I love these gorgeous historic theatres, but most of the Foxes and Orpheums out there have only been restored, so there'll be one 1930s toilet for the entire company to use, or one toilet per floor and ours is the 5th floor or something. I know this probably sounds like, "So what," but let me tell you as a touring musician, that it matters. Very, very much.

Sound check was fine, and the show was fine. Well-attended, and everything went smoothly. A few props fell into the pit (a coin used in one of the first act scenes, a bouquet from "I'm Getting Married in the Morning"), but that happens from time to time.

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

Wednesday I had planned to visit a museum, but now my stepmom and sis want to visit one when they come to visit on Friday so I held off and instead enjoyed a slow morning. The coffee from Prestogeorge was very good, very smooth and creamy. They've definitely made me a fan :)

In the afternoon I took myself for a walk. There are many "little things" around Pittsburgh, that are beautiful, that are not in museums.

The bridges, for one thing. (CLICK HERE to see)

This lamp! I love it. It has toe beans :)


Kaufmann's corner clock.


Some bike racks. I have a friend who runs a bike rack Instagram, so I send her pictures from time to time.


The Badenum Theater. We are performing here through my birthday :)


Entrance to our hotel.


It was a short walk, but it was in the mid-40s and sunny and nice.
The rest of my day was chilling out, because starting tomorrow things get busy.
We'll have rehearsal AND the show. Then on Friday my family gets here and we've got lunch, the botanical garden, dinner, and the show planned. We'll probably also have breakfast together the next day before they leave, then I'll have the matinees over the weekend.

In fact the only other thing that I've got planned is to try and eat at APTEKA, and I've just learned that they're so exclusive that I should have preordered food days ago so that probably ain't happening. 

As I finish this post I'm getting dressed to walk to the theatre. It looks like a lot of people had a fun day today; some of our cast took a group tour of PNC Park, others went to the science museum, and others like me just enjoyed the nice day :)

(photo courtesy Zoe, cast)

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

We were supposed to leave the NOLA hotel between 9-9:30am.
Per my custom I got up two hours before that to have coffee and breakfast and get my soul into my body before the travel day.

Around 8am, though, a message went out to from management that we'd be leaving between 10-10:30am instead.
I wasn't surprised. There was a big winter storm moving through Mississippi, and I guess the hope was to delay travel and see how things played out. "Stop and assess," they kept calling it. I think that for FINANCIAL reasons, what they were waiting for was an official cancellation from the theatre...thereby allowing the touring company to recoup some monies. Something like that.

Regardless, we had to be out of the hotel before noon.
The drive to Jackson was only about 2.5 hours, all on I-55 which is an interesting highway and probably some kind of engineering marvel, because for miles and miles, it is almost entirely built on the water. From this highway you can see swamps, and weird little houses built on stilts or DIY pontoons, like so:

(stock images)

We stopped at a Walmart, and perhaps because of the state of emergency it was very poorly stocked. I crossed the street to explore a local grocery, where I admired (but did not buy) this massive jar of pickled pig feet.


As we piled back onto the bus we were informed that the show in Oxford had officially been cancelled (by the venue, $$$) so we would be staying the night and an extra day in Jackson instead. This news was met with cheers and high fives. I'm sorry for the weather, the lost revenue, and the disappointed patrons :( but also, I would much rather be safe. No show is worth trying to drive in dangerous temperatures, on a sheet of ice, to go see.

The hotel was only 15 minutes from the Walmart. We got there around 3pm, and I spent a little time unpacking and asking myself, do you need anything? Because if you do, you have to get it NOW.

I have been through many severe weather events and state-of-emergencies in my life: floods, hurricanes, and blizzards mostly. And one thing I know is that the clock is ticking before you no longer have access to goods and services AND you may not be able to leave your house after a certain point. This is why people buy up all the bread and milk at the store. Sometimes it's an overreaction...and sometimes it's being prepared.

I decided to Uber to the nearest grocery, knowing full well that the clock was ALSO ticking on how much longer ride services would be available. I didn't need much but got what I hadn't seen available at the Walmart: Greek yogurt, some lower sodium soups and prepared meal options...and most importantly, a jug of distilled water. Jackson does not usually experience single-digit temps like this, and they're about to be in it for several days. During that time, uninsulated water pipes could burst leaving us without running water. This is not paranoia, I am speaking from experience. Plus, Jackson was under a boil water advisory just a few days ago. Go figure.

I barely, BARELY managed to get a ride back to the hotel (I really should have done the grocery run before unpacking.) Back at the hotel it was only 5pm but I put away the food, showered (because the pipes might be frozen in the morning, people), and got into pajamas. The sun had set and I knew there was no point going out any more, because if businesses weren't closed yet, they were about to be.

Sure enough, the cast chat was filled with exclamations over how "early" everything was closing, and people out trying to find food and water in the dark in 10°F weather. I was actually a little flabbergasted that so many folks didn't seem to understand what a "state of emergency" entails. Hopefully it'll be safe enough for some businesses to reopen tomorrow, otherwise some people might find themselves in trouble.

There was nothing to do but chill, drink hot tea, and appreciate that I was safe and warm.


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

Tuesday morning I had breakfast and entertained myself by watching cars slide around on the icy road.

At first it was only police cars drifting carefully through the empty early morning intersections.
But soon they were joined by civilian cars...and I'm guessing many people in Mississippi aren't used to driving on a slick of ice. (CLICK HERE to watch)

I only saw this one car get stuck, everyone else was able to kind of creep along and slide around corners.
I saw a few pedestrians carefully picking their way around. It's only a thin layer of ice, but it doesn't take much to make walking and driving dangerous. In New York there would have been brine and rock salt on the roads, and plows making the rounds, and everyone would have gone about their day no problems. There is no infrastructure for that here, and what equipment there is is being used in higher-traffic areas like the major highways.

Anyway, there was nothing to do but ride it out. The high for the day was 26°F with an 11-degree wind chill, so I felt no motivation to go outside. The situation reminded me of a circus train run, actually. When our train was moving between cities, you had only whatever food was on hand in your room, and whatever was being served at Pie Car. The train could take days to reach its destination, so all you could do was eat, drink, nap, walk up and down the train cars, spend time on the vestibules if the weather was nice...and just CHILL.

So that is what I did. Breakfast, then walking through the hotel's conference rooms and up five flights of stairs, for exercise. Watched some live action Yu Yu Hakusho. Lunch, another five flights up and down in the stairwell. Working on Foodie Finds. More anime. A snack and some TikTok, and Lap Three in the hotel stairwell. Then a shower and dinner.

Throughout the day people were in the chat trying to find food or seeing if anyone wanted to go out (to where? everything was still closed and there were no Ubers.) The hotel did offer food, but last I heard there was a 45-minute wait for food because so many people showed up for dinner, and they were quickly running out of their already-limited menu items.  I hope that the majority of our group was able to get what they needed to keep themselves fed and entertained. As for me, I had plenty. Fresh water, butternut squash soup with pistachios and wheat bread for dinner, hot tea and chocolate for dessert. Sometimes being prepared pays off. I felt bored but it was ultimately no different than any snow day, and I was still very grateful to be safe and warm. Tomorrow, businesses should start to reopen.


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

Wednesday, and the sun was out and the weather was cold but clear. There were beautiful frost patterns on my window.


There were still spots of black ice on the roads, but overall everything had melted and temps were supposed to jump up to more "normal" winter temperatures in coming days.

I had a slow breakfast and scheduled myself a doctor's appointment, and took stock of my food supplies and options. We travel to Lafayette tomorrow and now that restaurants are open I decided to enjoy a nice sandwich or something and save my nonperishables, since we probably won't have much time to source dinner before the Lafayette show. So before sound check I walked to Martin's, a local bar and grill, for a redfish sandwich.

Walking downtown Jackson was kinda depressing. Lots of burnt-out buildings (I overheard some cast who have been here before saying it's been like that for years with no updates or changes) and lots of closed businesses. It's definitely a depressed town, a food desert to boot, and when it's this cold no one is out and about so it resembles a ghost town. The bar at least had some locals in it, but otherwise I didn't run into a single person on the half mile walk.

At the theatre it was cold everywhere we went. I was glad for my black fleece to keep me semi-warm, but my trombone was cold AF so I kept putting my mouthpiece in my pocket when we weren't playing.

After sound check, ate my fish and chatted with bandmates about this and that but mostly circus stuff because our bassist asked about my time with Ringling...and as you all know by now I LOVE to talk about the circus, so he got an earful whether he wanted it or not (sorry Abe!)

Then our show, which was uncomfortable due to the cold but the audience seemed to have fun, so it wasn't bad for a one-nighter. At least we finally got to play a show!

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

Tomorrow we bus to Lafayette, LA. We arrive just an hour or so before sound check and then the show, so there won't likely be time to see the town or sit down at a restaurant. I might order something for delivery, haven't decided yet. But the temperature will be blessedly warmer so we are all looking forward to that! And after that, San Antonio for two days!

My schedule is about to get a bit crazy starting this weekend.
I've got another gift card from my sister to spend in San Antonio, and have a haircut there too at one of my favorite salons, both of which will be difficult to squeeze in because it's a weekend and we've got matinees.
Then in Columbia SC I have my virtual doctor visit followed by my very first masterclass at the University of South Carolina! 
After that is Greensboro where I'll spend time with my Aunt and Uncle (I've already got them tickets to the show.)
And then Pittsburgh where we'll FINALLY be somewhere for a full week, but it's my 40th birthday and I've got family coming to see the show and visit, plus the band wants to do something since it's both my birthday and Joel's (trumpet)!
And in between all of this I'm still running Megan's Foodie Finds.

It's a lot, but hopefully it'll be interesting and fun!

A normal travel day.

This TSA agent at Lubbock International gave me the creeps.
The minute our large group started piling in and lining up at the baggage drop, his hand went straight to his gun and he stood there staring at us and clutching it the entire time. Dude, CHILL :(


My stomach did not do well on the rapid-fire double flight with basically no layover (I tend to need time to recover from motion sickness between flights and didn't get it) but I didn't barf. Today my stomach feels temperamental, but I'm ignoring it.
Stress and travel, blah blah blah get over it.

The hotel in Kansas City. You guys.
I walked into my room and could swear they finished building it minutes before we pulled up.



Everything new and shiny and so clean that I could possibly be the first person to stay in this room.
And it's very "Millennial Grey", which made me laugh.

It's a nice way to end this nearly three-month stretch on the road.
Three days of shows, then we get to go home for a bit.

I walked to the Whole Paycheck, also SPANKING new.
Since we only have three days I got limited groceries, and the only "new" items that I tried were an ayurvedic lemon chai-thing that was spicy and kinda grainy, and an Urban Remedy drink called "Blue Magic" that I've seen many times and have wanted to try.

Back at the hotel, unpacking and chatting with Jameson as we got ready for bed.
Oh, and finding our company rental car in the garage for easy access tomorrow.

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

Friday morning, it was dreary and rainy out which suited me just fine as I have a lot of prep work to do.
Starting with pre-interview paperwork for Osceola County.

I now have a PCP appointment on Tuesday, an interview for Court Clerk with Osceola County that same afternoon, and an interview with Sprouts the day after that. Orange County hasn't set up an interview with me yet for their Court Clerk position, so we will see if that happens. All of that plus my usual cleaning, gardening, cooking, repacking, errands, and actually spending time with my Jameson, will keep me very busy for the whole week home I'm sure.

In the afternoon it was raining pretty hard and my umbrella was six miles away at the theatre, so I took the rental car to Andre's Confiserie Suisse for lunch. At first glance online it looks like a chocolate shop...and it is! But they also serve three square meals, wine and beer, and of course desserts.

( CLICK HERE for Andre's! )

The afternoon was lazy as it continued to rain steadily.

In the evening we drove out to the Starlight theatre.
I've been excited to play here ever since finding out that it's an outdoor stage.


I've played outdoors for theme parks, and this definitely had that theme park vibe.
Backstage entrances disguised as ivy-covered walls, castle-like structures, the sound booth shed.
Reminded me of Busch Gardens.

In the pit we had a surprisingly large space.


There were difficulties with the MD's setup, however.
The primary difficulty being the expensive and vital laptops, keyboards, and Ableton rigs exposed to rain.


Because of that, after sound check the MD station was moved completely under the stage.
He'll be viewing and conducting the show via a camera.
This is the first venue where we've been FULLY remote.


It felt very odd. The pit was super quiet; we couldn't hear our own sound out there in the theatre at all.
That makes a big difference because how we hear the sound in the space impacts how we play in that space.
I don't know about everyone else, but it certainly made me play with more hesitancy.
The fun part, though, was that we could still hear audience reactions.
And I think being outdoors gives a certain casual vibe, which results in people being more raucous.
Lots of loud whistling, cheering, "woooos", and of course laughing :)

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

Saturday I had a slow morning and worked on applying to be a Notary in the State of Florida.
Because half of these government jobs seem to want it, and it's actually pretty easy to become one.

Partway through I took a break for lunch and a walk to Bay Boy, a sandwich shop only a few blocks away but up a steep hill.
They specialize in sandwiches made on Dutch crunch bread (also called "tiger bread".)

Today, it being a weekend, they had BACON crunch bread in addition to the regular!


I got one of each (had planned on only one but they were only $2 each!)
Here is the plain one. The bread is brushed with a mixture of rice flour, sugar, and yeast.
When it bakes the flour dries and creates the crackled pattern, a crunchy exterior but soft interior, and a little sweetness.


I tore off a piece of the bacon one to try and thought it was delicious! The bacon was in thick chunks but was also super crispy and delicious, and the inside of the bread was pillowy soft and divine. The bacon one was more dense than the regular due to the weight of the topping and probably some extra fat residue, but both were amazing.

After that I wanted to go for a walk as it was sunny and lovely out.
In the hotel lobby I came across Kevin (Head of Sound) who said that he and some friends had gone to a soul food restaurant I'd recommended for this week, and it had been amazing. Then as I continued on my walk, my phone kept dinging with all of the messages, pictures, and links that people were sharing in Megan's Foodie Finds.




As this tour comes to an end, it makes me feel really good knowing that I contributed something that brought enjoyment to some of my coworkers. The recommendations lists were fun to make, and lots of people got to eat locally and try something new that they may not have experienced otherwise. I'm glad I did it :)

I walked to a little plaza with a Half Price Books and a food co-op.
There was nothing that I needed but of COURSE I always find something to bring back!
This time it was a brand of jerky I'd never had before, and a can of local chocolate raspberry flavored coffee.

The show this evening went well, I had several friends in the audience!


This is my friend Kristy (far left) and the friends that she brought to see our show.
The Starlight is WAY too big for our little production, so the box office is giving away free tickets with the passcode "Tootsie Pop".
It's nice to be able to get my friends free tickets for once!

They had a great time, and after the show we had a quick hug and a selfie before parting ways.


It's too bad that we didn't get time to actually catch up, but with the show ending so late and having to carpool back (and me with the keys) I didn't think it fair to keep my passengers waiting or to keep Kristy out late. It was good enough that we had a moment to say hi in person.

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

Sunday I woke up with my brain buzzing through all of the to-dos that come with a layoff.

After breakfast I booked a taxi for Monday's airport trip because I'm paranoid about Uber availability at that hour.
Two coworkers wanted to come with me, so at least it turned out to be a useful booking.
Printed and signed my paperwork for my notary application, then in the afternoon walked to CVS for an envelope for said paperwork.

And that was pretty much it.
Packed, prepared for tomorrow's travels, ate my meals, and finally got ready for the show.

It was a pretty normal show, except we all got to wear graphic tees because Brandon (bass) is leaving us, and it was his departing request. I'm sad that he's leaving, but he lives in Florida so hopefully I'll see him around!

The show went normally, and afterward we packed up as usual and maybe a little extra because we're all about to be home for a week!
Near the stage door here at the Starlight is this plaque:


The wall in question:


There is not much space, but I made do. My initials are there somewhere at the Starlight.
Until we meet again, KCMO.

I drove the guys back to the hotel, filled the rental car with gas, and turned in the keys.
I weighed my luggage and set it waiting by the door.
Only a few hours of sleep, then it's off to Orlando!

*Rant Alert* Regular blog continues after rant.

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

Our bus call was at 7am, so around that time I stepped into the hallway with all of my luggage to find a queue for the elevators that wrapped partway down the hallway. There was a robotics competition in town, and I guess all of them were leaving at the same time as our group...and there was only one working elevator.

Heart sinking, I texted our tour manager to make sure she knew what was happening.

This hotel has been, frankly, the worst hotel I've ever stayed at in my life.
Even worse than the terrible, dirty Golden Nugget where they made me come to the lobby with 102°F fever and an active case of Covid on Memorial Day Weekend because they wouldn't let their staff bring food to my room.

Friends, seriously, if you go to Dallas do not under any circumstances stay at the Crowne Plaza Downtown.
Over the course of the two weeks:

My key cards stopped working three times,
I was walked in on by hotel staff three times in a single day,
had a clogged sink and leaking toilet in two separate rooms,
had to switch rooms (and no one checked to make sure fixtures were working in the new room),
lost a night of sleep to a massive after-prom party that ended in violence and a mass-arrest,
lost last night's sleep to a crazy/drugged up/irate adult man screaming in the hallway and POUNDING on the door across from mine,

....and finally, to leave this hotel, I waited FORTY-FIVE MINUTES for an elevator.

I am unfortunately not joking. I was in the queue at 7am, and by the time I got on a car it was 7:43, made it to the lobby at 7:45 on the dot.
The bus was supposed to leave at 7:30. I was on the 19th floor with close to 100lbs of luggage so could not use the stairs, and in any case the stairs at this hotel don't lead to the lobby but to an attached parking garage.

I was not the only one trapped on their floor, several others from our group made it to the lobby at about the same time as me.
Pardon my french but this entire stay has been incredible, inexcusable, mind-blowingly awful bullshit.

As I got on the bus coworkers were asking if I was ok and I couldn't even answer because I was afraid I'd say or do something that might get me fired or at least written up. That's how livid and fed up I was. And I'm not only going to write reviews across multiple sites for this hotel, I'm also going to contact their corporate. No one should be giving money to this location until they get new management. I don't care if that makes me a "Karen", no one staying in a 3-star hotel should have to go through what I went through these past two weeks.

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

Let's get back to some positivity.

Once on the bus, I had time to doze and de-stress.
I ate some snacks and chatted with Jameson and felt interested to see Orange, TX.
This will be my view for the next several days.


We stopped at a Buc-ee's in Madisonville.


I exercised incredible self-control and only got an enamel pin (I've been looking for a Buc-ee's enamel pin for a while but the FL locations haven't had any), no food despite all of the tempting offerings. This location even had a Beaver Nugs scented candle! Good grief.


We continued on and got to Orange somehow earlier than expected, so I had just enough time to unpack a bit, get a shower, and get quarters for laundry from the front desk (that's another thing, the Crowne Plaza would not give quarters for their washers, wtf). Then it was back onto the bus to get to the venue.

Orange, TX and the Lutcher Theatre were actually the very first place that I ever performed on tour, way back in 2010!
It was strange to be here again. I was so much younger then, so nervous to be on my first tour and certain I'd be sent home the very first day for sucking at the trombone lol.

Now as then, the wonderful staff of the theatre offered us a home-cooked meal which was VERY appreciated as most of us, especially crew, had ZERO time to find dinner. The meal was homemade chicken or cheese enchiladas, rice and beans, beef soft tacos or nachos, vegan chick'n dip, and an assortment of desserts served with sweet or unsweet tea. It was very good!


After dinner we had sound check, then I went for a walk around the grounds.
On the way to the theatre I had seen little statues of oranges on many street corners, in front of local businesses and landmarks, and in seemingly random places, scattered all throughout town. I thought, this is the only time I get in Orange...why not try to find some oranges!

( CLICK HERE for Oranges )

I had fun finding as many of these as I could, and got some exercise too after being on the bus all day.

The show went smoothly, and we immediately packed up and loaded back onto the bus, because tomorrow we do it all over again!

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

Tuesday was indeed wash-rinse-repeat, with the exception of WORKING elevators so that we could actually leave on time.

Our lunch stop was at H-E-B, a Texas grocery chain that's pretty good.
I got shrimp spring rolls and a few proteins for the week, then we were off again.
We arrived at the hotel nearly an hour early (they've been planning for traffic) so I took the opportunity to walk to Mi Tierra in Market Square.



There are lots of other shops here selling Mexican crafts and clothing and such, but I didn't have time to explore sadly.

The bakery was big and colorful.


I wanted one of everything!
(CLICK HERE to see the bakery cabinet)

Instead of baked goods this time I went for the dulces, Mexican candied pumpkin and sweet potato.



I had thought these would be sold by the pound (like American candies are) but no, it's sold in huge hunks...whole candied sweet potato halves, and huge wedges of pumpkin. So, I got one of each.

Close-ups to show texture:



I chopped them up to share at work since I hadn't been expecting to get so many.
The pumpkin tasted good but still had a vegetable aftertaste and a pretty wet texture, so tbh it wasn't my favorite.
The sweet potato was very good, though, and if it weren't so very sweet I could probably have eaten the whole thing.
My coworkers also liked the sweet potato best!
Anyway it was fun to try these, I've never had candied vegetables before.

Back at the hotel I cleaned up and walked to the theatre for the show.
A year ago Tootsie played The Majestic downtown, which is historic but VERY old and cramped.
This theatre is modern and nice, with a large open pit and comfortable backstage.
I ended up having very little time for pictures because of some band issues that required me to actually be a Band Rep for once, but here is the outside of the theatre post-show. Lit up very beautifully.


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

Wednesday was supposed to be a day of non-travel, a day to sleep in and relax, but I had a lot to do so ended up sleeping poorly and getting up early, feeling stressed.

Wrote this post, prepped my Crowne Plaza corporate letter, drafted an email for the Band Rep issue, repacked my luggage because tomorrow we're off again for Tyler TX. Set aside some show tickets for my grandma, who I'll hopefully get to see in a few days in Columbus, GA. Badly wanted to do laundry but there are just no facilities close enough, not enough time, and I'm not paying $50 to have a service rush it.

In the afternoon I had a zoom meeting with someone doing a documentary on the clown scare of 2016, basically she wanted contact info for actual clowns which was easily given. Then a short walk to CVS for necessities, then to the theatre to take the temperature in the pit. I was heckled the entire way by a homeless man calling me names and wanting to know "Where'd your ASS go?"

I think he was saying I've got a flat ass. He's not wrong. I blame the Asian portion of my genome :p

The show went well, although there was a little weirdness with lines and also a bit of disruptiveness in the audience.
I'm thinking we're all getting kind of loopy-tired with all of this back to back travel and endless shows.
But after tomorrow's show in Tyler we'll at least have a travel day without a show at the end of it, and that should help.

It is my dream to do a load of laundry.

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

Other stuff:

Wigs & Makeup area backstage.


The moon was close to full last night, with a beautiful nimbus.


Some reviews of the Asian foods that I enjoyed last week!


- Corn husk tea: also surprisingly good! Slightly sweet, corn-flavored tea. It would probably be amazing with honey and milk.

Thursday was basically a wash.

I felt very tired, perhaps because of the weather or maybe I was fighting the cold that's going around from entering my body.
Either way, I had a lovely indoor day of doing laundry, watching Ousama Ranking, researching jobs, updating Foodie Finds, and sharing Jameson's excitement as he flew to Chicago to MEET DARREN HAYES!!!!


Eeeeeeee!!!

If you don't know, Darren Hayes was the vocalist for Savage Garden, a popular 90s-2000s band.
You'd probably recognize the song "I Knew I Loved You", among others.

Jameson and Darren became internet friends somewhere in the late 2010s, and somewhere in there Darren asked Jameson to arrange some of his classic works to rejuvenate them for his albums and upcoming tour.

Darren is now on tour, and Jameson was able to finally meet Darren in person and hear his own arrangements performed live, in front of an audience of thousands, by his friend and pop idol. I mean HOW FREAKING COOL IS THAT!!!


To say I'm proud, happy, and excited for him would be the understatement of the year.
Jameson has worked very hard for musical recognition throughout his life, and often hasn't received it.
I hope that today was very rewarding for him, and fun, and a great experience.
His dad was there with him for all of it, which is absolutely wonderful.
It's got to be an amazing thing to be a proud parent watching your son hug a pop star, and listen to music your son wrote for said pop star, live to an arena full of people singing along. Just, amazing :)

Anyway, that's mostly what Thursday was for me.

Then we had a show which went well, but the band did get a note that we need to step up our game and stay focused, so I will try very hard to meet those expectations. I think that after playing a show 400+ times, perhaps we (I) can go into autopilot too much. I want to stay engaged and give the best possible performance each night!

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

Friday started off with disappointment: once again my sink was fully clogged.
I don't know why or how this is happening...all I've done is brush my teeth and wash my dishes (no I am NOT putting food in the drain either!). The hotel offered to have me switch rooms but then didn't have any rooms available, so I packed everything up anyway.

I waited around to see if maybe they'd move me in the next hour but it didn't happen, so walked to a convenience store for some fruit.

Along the way, this giant eyeball:


I wanted to get close but it was in a fenced-off area and it looked like you needed tickets (had I been in a better frame of mind I ABSOLUTELY would have. Maybe next week.)

I canceled lunch with my friend Brandon (the drummer who came to our show a few nights ago). It was just stressing me out to be waiting around when the hotel could call any minute to have me move and we might be out somewhere, plus Brandon revealed that he wouldn't be ready until 2pm which is WAY too late for lunch for me personally (my body still thinks it's east coast time, remember). I'll try to catch him again next week.

Around lunchtime I got the ok to move to another room, so off I went, riding elevators up and down, dragging luggage, unpacking everything, stealing the microwave in the old room because the new room didn't have one and I'm rude like that. By the time I was all moved in and unpacked it was close to 2:30, so I was glad I'd canceled on Brandon though I felt bad about it.

It was a lovely sunny day out, but as I only had 2-3 hours until dinnertime/show prep I wasted it searching for jobs and researching activities for next week. The show went well. Back at the hotel the lobby was packed, some sort of conference in town coinciding with prom festivities. It took a long time to get the elevator to our rooms...and then my key cards didn't work. Alllllll the way back down to have them re-keyed. Straight to bed.

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

It seems the prom night festivities got out of hand last night.
There was an absolutely WILD party happening on my floor, it sounded like WAY too many people for one room, a lot of screaming and general party noises, but around 3-4am it all dissolved into a fight of some sort. Someone had brought young children who were screaming bloody murder, angry adult voices raised, etc etc.

Someone (hopefully the hotel) called the cops, so this morning when I finally dragged myself out of bed after minimal sleep there were many cop cars parked outside, and the elevators were kept busy with cops coming up and down shuttling zip-tied youth out to the waiting patrol cars.


Yowza.

Not going to lie: because of the room issues experienced thus far + this incident, my nerves are kind of shot.

I had breakfast and tried to relax a bit, but housekeeping knocked and as I came to answer the door the woman OPENED it.
She apologized profusely of course...they had the room marked as unoccupied.

But then about an hour later, same thing happened again. This time it was a maintenance or facilities person.
I called down to the front desk to say, "This room is occupied, could you PLEASE update your staff", and was assured that it had been done.

So I went for a walk to kind of lower my blood pressure and find some peace somewhere.

A few blocks away is something called "Thanks-giving Square".
It's a park that came about due to a rare private-public sector partnership; both the City of Dallas and the public raised funds for its construction in the 70s. The garden portion of the square (the gates of which were still locked this early) is 15 feet below ground to isolate it from traffic and create a more serene space. Since it was locked I didn't go in (could have easily slipped the gaps in the fence, but trying to be a "good citizen" here.) I will probably go back again next week.

There are misc sculptures and monuments inside the garden, and scripture quotes scattered about the walls and walkways which convey religious symbolism and ideas without pinpointing one specific religion (supposedly). It's meant to be a nondenominational space of peace and contemplation...and thanksgiving.

Towering 90ft above the sunken garden is a tight spiral structure, unmarked.


This is the Thanks-giving Chapel. It's open for a set time each day, and again, is meant to be a non-denominational place of peaceful thought and thanks. I had known of it while in Dallas with the circus, but had not been able to go inside at the time (possibly due to repairs).

Considering the way things have been going, I figured now was the time to manifest some serenity and thankfulness.

I climbed the spiraling ramp up the side of the tower.


At the entrance was this sign describing the design and purpose of the chapel.


It was completely silent inside except for the low hum of the ventilation system.
See for yourself what it was like to enter the chapel for the first time:


I was awed, and stood gaping for a moment.
A purplish-white, lilac light enveloped the round sanctuary, which was flanked by a circle of plain chairs.
It felt a little creepy at first, like walking into some sort of inquisition space. But it WAS peaceful, and somehow, approachable.

I went up to the big marble cube and touched it.


And of course I stood as close to center as I could get and stared straight up at the gorgeous 73-panel stained glass spiral.


And spun in a circle like an idiot. YOLO, amirite?

Around then someone else came in so I quickly stepped off to the side so as not to mar their experience.
I left without filling out a "gratitude card" at the little station encouraging visitors to leave a note.
I'll come back and write something before we leave.

After such a lovely experience I felt a little better.
I walked back to the hotel but not before stopping at Clean Juice for a "carrot cake" acai bowl.
Blended carrots, banana, almond butter, cacao, almond milk, cinnamon, granola, and dates.
It was supposed to have maple syrup too but I left it out; dates and banana and are sweet enough.


It was very good, and seems easy enough to make at home too.

Unfortunately my improved sense of serenity was immediately broken by ANOTHER person trying to walk into my hotel room :(
I got ready for the show and went downstairs, stopping at the front desk to reiterate, again, that people should not be coming into my room, and would someone please update their records, pleasepleaseplease.

Walked to the theatre, bringing my computer and dinner because the last thing I want to do is go back to that hotel unless I have to.

The first show went well.
I typed up this post and watched some anime in the dressing room during the break.
Jameson flew back to Orlando and arrived safely, and sent me a nice summary of his experience with Darren Hayes.
It's been a whirlwind week for him and it'll take a while for it to sink in that he got to HUG DARREN HAYES and hear his music performed live in an arena! But once it all hits him, I hope he's just as glowing and happy about it as I am!! :D

The second show also went well, and afterward our MD was dishing out "snots" which is a post-show shot of some sort, but I wanted to hustle back to the hotel to wait in line to have my key cards reactivated, and to empty the bucket under the leaking toilet because it fills quickly and needs to be emptied twice a day.


Oh, did I not mention that?
Yeah, in the new room I've been assigned, instead of a clogged sink I get a leaky toilet.
When I tell people this they ask, "Well why don't you just ask them to move you again?"
Because I've just been moved from a room with a clogged sink, to one with a leaking toilet.
Neither of which hotel maintenance noticed at all before I moved in.
So if I switch rooms again...what's going to be broken in the NEXT room? Am I gonna have to do electrical work there? Or take sponge baths in the sink because the tub's clogged?

No thanks. I'm cutting my losses now and emptying a toilet bucket twice daily for the rest of the stay.
That's far preferable to canceling plans with friends, being walked in on by hotel staff or maintenance, or making another disruptive move to a room where it's likely things still won't be right.

Maybe I'll draw a face on my toilet bucket and give it a name.
Gotta laugh or you'll cry, isn't that right?

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

Sunday, a rainy chilly morning.

I did my usual things, breakfast and coffee and anime, and thankfully there was not one incident or interruption.
I walked to the theatre with my computer and a packed dinner and an umbrella.
The show was good, the break spent in my dressing room was relaxing and quiet.
Dinner was chicken soup with tofu chunks, baru nuts, lemon rosemary bread, dark chocolate and coconut turmeric tea for dessert.
The second show was also good, nothing to report except our key 1 Sam was conducting and did a great job :)

I felt very tired, so took a company Uber home with the band guys instead of walking as usual.
It also saved me about 15 minutes of time, which I used to shower and prep things for tomorrow's fun.

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

Monday is our much-anticipated Golden Day!

I am going ALL-OUT. Partly because this week has been stressful, and partly because this tour is coming to an end and it's all part of my mid-life pre-40s crisis :D

The plan is Dallas Arboretum in the morning,
Eataly for lunch and family souvenirs in the afternoon,
H-Mart and 99 Ranch in the late afternoon,
and Billy Can Can for a light dinner and a much-needed glass of wine!