Intermediate Blog!

I know I said I'd try to keep my posts to a regular schedule, but it was brought to my attention that I forgot to mention the only truly exciting thing that has happened since my ski trip: Katie's visit home!

Since she couldn't come home for Christmas and the tickets we had bought for the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center were being used by people other than us, I decided to bring Katie home for the weekend so we could go see 'Wicked.' I intended for it to be a surprise, but when you insist on a particular weekend, the person you intend to surprise will probably see through your ruse. In any case, Katie was coming home Friday night so she could see the show, and I got us a room at the Tampa Hyatt Grand Giant Deluxe Hotel, which I understand is where George "W" Bush stays when he wanders into our state. After a mad dash to the hotel so Katie could change and freshen up, we made our way to TBPAC to enjoy an evening at the theatre. It was here that we learned that you have to pay for handicapped parking, in the form of valet parking which I didn't want to do in the first place.

The show itself was good, although not nearly as good as it was on Broadway, but how could it be? There were a pair of understudies in the two leading roles, and I thought the overall performance was rather amateur. After the play got out, we had to wait in the cold while the valet gophers ran off the the four corners of the map getting cars for people, and we were the absolute last to leave. I would rather have not stood in the cold and saved my $9, and get the added bonus of not having to readjust my seat after Mickey Rooney drove my car back to me.

Since we were in a hurry to leave the airport and get to the play, neither of us had eaten anything for a very long time, and were positively starving. Luckily for us, Tampa is a bustling metropolis on a Friday night, and there are countless accessible bistros that are ready to cater to our late-night cravings. Yeah, right. 11 on Friday night is closing time in Tampa, and we had to eat at Denny's. I chose that carefully when I said we HAD to eat at Denny's. That is not an eatery I prefer to eat at, and usually only do so out of desperation, and this time was as desperate as any in recent memory. After a delicious dinner of blueberry pancakes, we headed back to the hotel where we started reading sides for a Law & Order audition that I will get into in the next paragraph.

Katie received word just before she came home that there was a part on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and they would like for her to send a taped audition. The problem was that Katie did not have a taped audition, and they needed it by Monday morning. After our night at the theatre, we had to be in Clearwater by 10 AM (7 Am Pacific) so she could tach an acting class in exchange for having a demo tape made. After that was over by 3 in the afternoon, it was a crazy drive to Pinellas Park so we could drop the tape off at FedEx. Following that we met up with Katie's mom at the Texas Cattle Company for the first substantial meal of the day, and the best pork chops I think I've ever had.

Sunday started off with pancakes at my house, and later omelets at her aunt's house so she could see her extended family. We tried to get some stuff she had in storage, but that didn't work out, and we made a mad dash to the airport, just in time to learn that her plane was delayed. For a long, long time. By the time she finally boarded, I owed the parking thugs an amount of money I might have better spent buying something gold-plated or made by a now deceased sculptor. It was nice to see Katie for a while, even if it was spent on the go the whole time. Maybe next time will be much slower paced and relaxed. We'll see about that.

Also: The following is a comment from Bill Crosson regarding my last post.
"I had no idea you were going to become an Apron's guy. That trainer seemed like a total weirdo. That's oool, though, if it gets you out of the grocery department. I wouldn't particularly care about throwing stock one way or the other, but if you wanna talk about a wrath of God situation: you are seriously in a constant, biblically proportioned flood of douchebags. You are one of like 3 stock clerks that garner any respect from me, and the fact that that guy walks out proves it. What an idiot. You are doing monkey's work, getting paid more than I am, and more than likely you're stealing shit to boot. Not that I wish he would've stayed on, but jesus."