2200 Miles and Something Crawled Into My Car

Just got back from a few days in Destin. The place has really grown up. I really didn't recognize it. But the beaches are so gorgeous, crystal clear water. I haven't been to the beach in years. It was very relaxing. Thomas had a great time flying his kite.



My brother Jake and my sister Guin were there. We had a great time on the beach.






Guin and Jake and Papa Joe...



Guin, Jake and Papa Joe back at the beach house...





Thomas at the Donut Hole Bakery and Cafe... (he has milk box hands!)



Guin and Thomas in Pensacola, FL. We visited with our cousins. I got some great pictures of them too.



I went by my grandmother's old house in Pensacola. It's kind of run-down after all these years. Really brought back memories. Two blocks up is the Army/Navy Surplus store...still there all these years later. We used to go up there and get mamaw a cold coke from the vending machine.



We passed through Brewton, Alabama on our way home. It's a pretty little city, but the factory smell is really unbelievable. I don't know how people live there.



Speaking of stench, something has crawled into my car and died after 2200 miles on the road. I can't imagine what it is, some combination of sour milk and dead squirrel. If I don't find it soon, I'll have to trade the car in for a new one.

Boston Vs. Omaha

Here's a little note I was sending around last year, after taking two back-to-back trips to promote Fin and Euba. I thought it would be fun reading:

I’m back from Boston where I was invited to the Boston Internationial Film Festival. Fin and Euba did not win an award. (not that I’m aware of). I do not consider it a waste of time, but it was pretty close.

In Omaha, where I attended the Great Plains Theatre Conference, you get a plane ticket for $220 bucks, your rent a car for $30 and you are told to watch out for tornadoes and twisters. In Boston, you get a plane ticket for $80 bucks, you rent a car for $100 and you drive on roads that look like they were paved by tornadoes and twisters. In Omaha, there is nothing to do, and your ‘Neverlost’ GPS has alzheimers.

In Boston, there is too much to do, and your ‘Neverlost…i.e. ALWAYS lost’ GPS has split-personality schizophrenia, bi-polar, dyslexia. Thomas Cefaly quote directed to the Neverlost device on day 3: “here’s some advice neverlost. Go kill yourself!’ In Omaha, your conference is overkill, with every detail burnished in gold and Edward Albee wandering the halls munching on cafeteria cookies.

In Boston, your 'gala' takes place in an upscale bar and awards are given out on whatever floor you are not on, by people who don't even know you are there.

In Omaha, you are picked up by a shuttle and taken to a 'limited-service' Best Western, booked in a room on the 3rd floor where the ice machine is broken, making the entire floor a choking 95 degrees, only 2 degrees cooler than the temp. outside, with a sensible roommate who loves to shop and get back to the hotel early for a good night's sleep before shopping for Brighton the next day at an upscale suburban mall. In Boston, you wait an hour for a rental car, are pee'd on by the rental agent, spend an hour fighting with the schizophrenic GPS getting to 'overbooked' Best Western (in fact, all of Boston is always overbooked) and sent to the gorgeous Royal Sonesta rent-free for the evening, overlooking the Charles River and Cambridge, with Chenille blankets and pillows only to pack up at 12 noon because they are ALSO overbooked and drive back to the original hotel and check in, bumping some other poor bastard off of the overbooked list for later that night, on a floor also with a broken ice machine, rooming with Thomas, addicted to in-room Nintendo, mom, who is researching her novel and old friend Carolyn Messina, i.e. force of nature, with no sleep, rehearsing Fin and Euba til 3am parked next to Betsy Johnson and Prada in a schizophrenic rental car off of Newbury Street, Boston's answer to Rodeo Drive.

...annnddd that about sums it up.

Christmas In July

Most years I'm pretty late taking my Christmas tree down. Many years I've had it up past Easter. But this year I beat my personal record.

I finally took my Christmas tree down today, July 8, 2007. Chalk it up to being busy with theater, writing, life in general. It's been a stressful year, but it's very pleasant to finally have my living room back.

I had a great time with friends recently on the Jersey Shore. We rode bikes and cooked out and ate and ate and ate. It was so relaxing. I found it quite interesting, this city called Ocean Grove, NJ.