It's just not the same, is it?
So I didn't blog from Texarkana because...well...nothing happened there. We left Lufkin, I was driving the truck with Rick navigating. Got to Texarkana and it took the poor desk clerk forever to check us in, so we knew we were in for some fun. Rooming with Joe, which was the good part of the trip. Ate dinner at Hooters (I know), and I had the most disappointing fish and chips ever. It was one shade above Morton's Fish Sticks. Sigh.
Load in on Sunday was rather uneventful. The Perot Theatre is lovely. Lots of blue and lots of scrollwork and chandeliers. Phantoms thin, however. Joe and Cody went back to Hooters to try and catch the Cowboys game, while Phil, Billie and I sauntered over to a neighboring hotel to try their steak-and-seafood restaurant, Pier 51, which ended up being lovely. Mostly because we were the only people there and they were all over us. But the food was very good, and not terribly priced. We ended up hooking up with the boys at this skanky bar called Fat Jack's or something repulsive. OK if you like beer and smoke. haha. But the company was good.
Up at 5 am this morning (it's a little more difficult to sleep on the road), "breakfast" at the hotel, and then early call to head to the theatre for our 2 show day. Both shows went well, the second show was a little strange. These audiences comprised of kids are a whole other ballgame compared to adult audiences. They react strangely and in odd places. The second show today was probably the oddest crowd we've had so far. They were clap-happy more than any other crowd has been, and I'd like to think it was because they were paying attention and into the show, but part of me is suspicious that they just like not being in school and making noise. I may have mentioned this before, but we have a pre-show video featuring many African-American leaders including of course President Obama, Condoleezza Rice (much as I disagreed with her, she did achieve a high government position in a mostly male-dominated Republican administration), Malcolm X, Dr. King, Rosa Parks, and of course ending with Jackie Robinson. It always gets me to hear the audience's applause levels as each one comes. Dr. King always gets the biggest applause.
Load out almost killed me, literally. One of the deckhands pulled a stage weight off of one of the frames holding the chain link panels on our set, and a few seconds later, timber! Like an idiot, I did what you're not supposed to do and tried to catch it and it just bashed into my hand. Thankfully it wasn't me head. Other than that, things went OK. Well, that and the fact that it was raining all during load out.
Had lunch at Dixie Cafe before getting on the road. It was pretty good, although it's becoming pretty regular that I have the bad luck as far as food. Found a huge hair in my beef stew and had to send it back. I was rather annoyed that they did nothing to try and fix that except bring me a new stew. That was fine, but I still didn't feel like paying full price. At least I saw the hair before I took that bite. I would not have been as polite had I had to pull it from my throat.
How vivid.
I'm also having the cruel realization that my friend's lives don't grind to a halt and enter suspended animation the minute I leave town. Which is only made more painfully obvious thanks to the immediacy of the phenomenon known as the Facebook Update. One of the downsides of Facebook has always been you get to witness all the fun your friends are having at events you weren't invited to. Now I just get to see that my friends lives go on without ME, which is far more depressing. Because I'm sort of in this coccoon of the show while I'm on the road, and what happens when I come home and people have just gone on without me? Or what happens if it's "out of sight, out of mind" and I walk back into town and people go "Ryan who?"
Yeah, I'm being silly, it's one of those nights. But...what if?
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