goofball on a train

A travel day to Indy. The usual, a morning bus and some flights.

I have run out of masks a bit early due to giving some to others over the course of tour.
But I am not upset, because now they've got FESTIVE masks at the airport! Look how cute!


Do masks actually help one avoid getting sick? I am not sure. But wearing one among massive crowds of people coming from all over the world, at a time of year when viruses love to rear their heads, seems like a sane idea. Of course, I can just as easily get sick from going out with my aunt and uncle for dinner a few days ago, unmasked. Shrug.

I was stressed/anxious again on the second flight because the pilot was very worried about turbulence. It was great that he was communicative--I would rather know what he knows than get scared witless halfway through a flight--but because I'm a worrywart, I spent the first half of the very calm and just fine flight bracing as though we might flip upside down at any moment. Ridiculous. Even in the moment I know it's ridiculous, but once that fight-or-flight switch is flipped it's really hard to shut it back off.

Anyway, I was fine but extra-exhausted from being in High Stress Mode for the entire flight like an idiot.

We are staying at a TownePlace, which is a GREAT hotel because it's set up for extended stays.
That means larger rooms and full kitchens!!!


Wow, a real fridge! I still will only have a small amount of food in there, but now I can get FRESH VEGETABLES without them being ruined by a cheap box fridge (there is something about the way mini fridges work, that causes fresh veggies to freeze and be ruined more often than not.) AND there was a Whole Paycheck in walking distance, so off I went and got many nice things for the week including lemon rosemary chicken, my favorite Koia protein shakes, a local canned coffee, and many nice veggies like salad mix and a cranberry butternut squash salad.

Back at the hotel I unpacked and was able to drag myself through another chunk of transcription before going to sleep.

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Tuesday, up a bit later than planned but that's not surprising after a travel day.

Breakfast and transcription. The hotel breakfast leaves something to be desired (the bagels are VERY stale) so in the afternoon I walked to Shapiro's, a Polish deli just a block from the hotel. Not only do they have fresh bagels, but also a cafeteria-style setup serving classics like heaping corned beef sandwiches, matzo ball soup, pastrami, and more. They make their own black-and-white cookies as well. So, I'll be back, probably on the weekend. Bagels obtained: blueberry, rye, and cranberry pecan.

Back home I finished transcription and started on transcription review, but we have a long commute to the theatre this week and soon it was time to go. We're playing a theatre on the Butler University campus, and it's "ok" but rather dated (60s I think?). The pit is in front of the stage, which is wonderful because finally I'll get to see most of the show!!!


It was hard to play through the show without getting distracted, trying to watch what's going on on stage while not losing my place in the music. But actually, we all did really well, it was one of the band's better shows. I sort of wonder if it's because we can feel connected to the actors AND the audience this week, as we can see and be seen here.

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Wednesday I had breakfast and finished my transcription review.

I'd meant to go thrifting, but was feeling rather mopey.
Took a nap and had a weird dream, woke up and still had too much time in the day and nowhere to go.
All I can think about is how I'm gonna be rushing around on the 23rd to make some semblance of Christmas with Jameson, and all the cleaning that needs to be done at the house, and his surgery right on New Year's Eve...everything will be fine but on a day with nothing to do, I wished that I could've been doing something productive, to prepare for the next few weeks.

Anyway, went with my carpool to the theatre, had the evening show.
It was really well attended, and we also found out we've gotten some nice overages from Milwaukee.
Surprise money is always exciting!

The show went well, not as good as last night's but still certainly decent.

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Thursday: Thrifting, trip to my bank for bass trombone moneys, practicing Disney music

Friday, Saturday, & Sunday: all two-show days. Might get to eat at Shapiro's or another local restaurant, and hoping to walk around Butler University a bit.

Starting this one off with a bit of TMI (it's not that bad but if reading about birth control pills makes you uncomfortable, scroll past the dotted lines:

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I woke with a start this morning, realizing that I haven't taken ANY birth control pills since coming to Greensboro!!!
This is unheard of for me, in fact it's never happened in the 10+ years that I've been on the pill. I've forgotten single days before, a few times, but never multiple days in a row. Am I really THAT distracted lately? Surprised at myself, I took two this morning and will take two tomorrow and that will have me caught up. But it was a disconcerting thing to realize, and it's going to cause some distracting symptoms (usually spotting, bloating, weird emotions for a while)

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Thursday was breakfast, giving my trombone a bath, and enjoying one gloriously transcription-free day. I like transcription, but having jobs sent back-to-back means not a single day without it, and right now I could use a small break. Watched a little Business Insider (they have really cool educational videos on YouTube) and halfheartedly poked at some job applications.

I shared this in a Friends Only post recently: Jameson and I both experienced pretty crushing job application rejections this week. His was for a job where he had internal references and was well qualified...and he got a rejection letter within days of applying. Not even an offer of an interview.
Mine was an audition, and the rejection came very publicly in the form of a new audition notice...for the same gig...posted after I sent my materials...specifically asking for female trombonists to apply. Meaning I'm now being tagged by fellow trombonists in the comments of the listing, because I'm essentially The Only Professional Female Trombonist In Orlando, so to a lot of people I'm the obvious choice.

This has left me with the humiliating task of having to publicly respond to the tags with, "Sorry...I've already applied, so I think they must be looking for someone else..."

Anyway, I had a calm and quiet morning regardless, and was grateful for it.
For lunch I joined Todd (trumpet) and Kenny (Reed 1) for the Chinese Buffet next to our hotel. Americanized Chinese is one of my favorites! We had a nice convo and decent meal. Afterward I walked to the thrift store a little over a mile away, didn't really find anything, but there was an Asian grocery just a block over!
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When I'd had my fun I got back to the hotel and started to rest, but then received a transcription review from my supervisors/a proofreader. It was quite long, with lots of corrections, which made me feel inadequate (i.e. BUTTHURT.) But I am glad that I've held that last transcription job back, because now I can apply these corrections to that job before submitting it. I read as many corrections as I could before it was showtime, but will have to spend part of Friday really diving in and giving it my full attention.

The show went "okay," I could have done better.

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Friday, after breakfast I really buckled down on the transcription review. No matter how butthurt I feel that my work wasn't "perfect," the only way it's going to get better is if I set that aside and apply the corrections.

To my surprise, shortly after sending an email thanking my boss and the proofer for their corrections, I got another email from them praising me for having great verbatim/formatting skills and offering me the chance to complete "urgent jobs," which pay twice as much as normal jobs but must be turned around very quickly. I said yes to the urgent jobs, but also that I could only accept them starting in the new year after I'm done touring.

Yay! This definitely helped my mood.

After that I practiced my Disney stuff (brought trombone back to the hotel again) and ate lunch, then went for a walk through the residential behind the hotel. About that time Jameson messaged to say his surgery will be on New Year's Eve. Good lord. That means I'm going to come back from tour and immediately the next day he's got surgery. Ugh, well...I understand that he wants to get it over with, and I of course want to be there when it happens. But I would've liked to unpack first!!!

The evening show was fine except the MIDI crashed (all of our sound effects.) The drummer got to cover a few doorbell/elevator sounds, and there were some voiceovers, but it was fixed 30 minutes into the show.

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Friday, I did laundry again and started transcription. We had two shows at 2pm and 8pm.

When I got to the theater I was surprised to see the kids (actor kids) waiting for me. They handed me this nerf gun with instructions to “Shoot C (drummer) on sight!” Well okay!


And who came up the stairs just then but C! Who also had a “gun!” We had a raging nerf battle and before I knew it actors with nerf guns had joined in, foam bullets flying everywhere and theater employees running akimbo through the crossfire. It was great fun :)

My aunt came to this show so I had to call a truce in the firefight so I could go hug her. She looks good! After the show we went for chicken and waffles at a local place. It had really good reviews and the flavors were good, but unfortunately our food came out cold. Still, we caught up a little bit on each others’ lives. I would’ve liked several days with her, but we take what we can get.


Afterward they dropped me off at the theater with a box of cookies from my sister Raven, and a card hand-painted by my aunt!


I am so grateful for my small but mighty family. My aunt is my favorite person in the world, and I was so happy to see her today :)

The 8pm show was all right...we have a trumpet player who is struggling right now so musically it wasn't great. But maybe tomorrow will be better.

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Sunday I was up at 6:30am, for an hour of "me time" and breakfast before starting transcription. The deadline isn't until next Saturday but if I get it done quickly I can enjoy a bit of Indianapolis.

I took a Lyft to Deep Roots Market, which is just down the block from the theater, and picked up some prepackaged tuna and a salad for lunch and dinner (only $9 for both meals + bringing snacks from the hotel.) Our 2pm show went just fine.

Between shows I stayed at the theater since I have my own dressing room, and plugged away at transcription some more with a hot cup of ginger tea. By dinnertime I was pleased to have completed two of my three audio hours, which is very good progress. The evening show was fine...unfortunately not better than previous shows, so I guess we musicians are going to be crawling across the figurative finish line for these last two weeks of tour. Whatever, I can only do MY best on MY music; I can't control what others do or do not invest in putting on a good show.

After the show and while waiting for my carpool, I signed our wall tag (yes, we FINALLY got one!)
It is a very beautiful wall tag, too!

Photo:


Video showing more details:


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Monday: Travel day to Indianapolis, groceries, transcription.

Tuesday & Wednesday: More transcription and probably laundry.

Thursday & Friday: Maybe I'll have time to explore!

1. What did you want to be when you grew up?
As a toddler: bus driver! I blame the song, "Wheels on the Bus" haha!
After Jurassic Park came out, I went through QUITE a long phase of wanting to be a paleontologist.
Did not want to be a musician until about 5th grade.

2. Did you follow through? If not, what happened?
Considering that I first started considering being a musician in the 5th grade, I'd count that as a follow-through!
I know that a lot of people struggle to know what their "dream job" is, or feel guilty for not "following through" with childhood aspirations. But first of all, a lot of childhood "wanna be's" are founded on nothing at all...not knowing what you're good at, not knowing what's needed to become, say, a ballerina or a fireman. Becoming a musician WAS not easy, and being one IS not easy; it's just rewarding because I enjoy it, have invested a lot of work and effort into achieving it, and still have adventures to look forward to with it. But I easily could have worked just as hard or harder and not been successful. I think that success in a career is like 40% follow-through and 60% the chaos of life dictating what direction your path takes.

3. Is your life turning out the way you thought it would when you were a kid? If not, is it better or worse?
No, not at all! I didn't have clear thoughts on what my life would be like in the future anyway. I have always been both a realist and a pessimist even from a young age. So when it came to music, I hoped to end up in a major symphony orchestra, but also felt that there was a big chance I'd be living in a shitty NYC apartment with 10 other people and busking to afford rice and beans. Both were VERY real possibilities to me, and at some point I asked myself if I was willing to accept either outcome, and when the answer was "yes" I began to pursue music.

I also thought my mom would still be alive. And did not expect to meet someone that I wanted to spend my life with, either.

So with all that in mind, my life as a musician has been far better and more interesting than I could have ever imagined. I never dreamed that I could be a part of a circus for five whole years. Or work on a cruise ship, or take tours across the country, or play in a Disney band.
But as far as personal life, and loved ones, it is far worse than expected because my mom is not here...and, better than expected, because Jameson is a part of my life.

4. Paradoxes aside, if you could time-travel back to when you were 10 years old, what would you tell your 10-year-old self?
Your father is WRONG about everything about you. Do not listen.
Don't tell your sister about her questionable parentage.
GO TO YOUR MOTHER when she's dying. Don't be intimidated by potential anger from your dad or stepmom.
Starting now, work on getting citizenship in another country.
Invest in Apple.

5. Do you think the child you were, would like the adult you've become?
Mostly, yes. I think child me would be annoyed at how low-energy I am now, and surprised that I'd given up the orchestra route, but considering all the other stuff I've gotten to do I think even 10-year-old me would understand. Child me would probably think I ended up looking "gross" too HAHA. But child me was never into kids or socializing, so I think they would not be surprised at how I currently avoid my sister's kids or making new friends. Yes, child me would generally approve haha.

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 This is a tiny juvenile German cockroach, one of several found in my room in varying stages of growth. 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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

Thursday, transcription transcription and two shows.
It was rainy and dreary all day so at least I didn't feel like I was missing a nice time outside.

Jameson got some good news today: a job he's primed for has finally been listed, and he was one of the first to apply. It's for Universal so I'm sure he'll be interviewed, but I hope they'll show him the respect of actually either making an offer or not, as opposed to Disney which put him through four interviews for nothing and then didn't even send a rejection letter. We shall see.

Both shows were fine, I can't think of anything stand-out about either of them except that the audiences were rather lukewarm. I felt unfocused. I'm feeling that a lot lately, and I think it's because this tour ends after Christmas and I'm back to wondering how I'm going to make ends meet via a part-time hat shop job and filler transcription work.

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Friday, that's right, 7am again for transcription. Fortunately there was only a little bit left, so I was able to finish around 10am. This left me with most of the rest of Friday free!

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As lame as it is, I went back to my room, ate lunch, and took a nap. I've been getting up early every day to finish my transcription jobs before the five-show weekend, and felt that it would be good to try and catch some of that sleep back. And glad I did because not 30 minutes after turning in my job, they sent me three more! The transcription company must be trying to push as many through as they can before the holidays.

The evening show was fine.
The Elf the Broadway Musical Instagram posted a "meet the band" video, here we all are! I'm at around the 00:28 mark.


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Saturday. Three shows! That's one more show than usual.

I motivated myself by looking at a picture of the Ringling show schedule from Brooklyn circa 2015.
Back then, I played all of these 2 1/2-hour shows, most of them with a flu, in the dead of winter, with no running water on the train (metal pipes), and walking 1.5 miles to and from the arena every night.


Three shows is NOTHING. Suck it up, buttercup! I say to myself this morning :p

When I got to the pit, I felt eyes...tiny eyes...watching me...and heard the distant sound of a stand mixer...


One of the castmembers put this mini Elf On the Shelf in the pit! He is making cupcakes, apparently. Very cute.

The first show went well, and in between I went back to the hotel to do transcription and eat lunch.
Before the second show we had lots of kids ringing the pit and pelting us with questions. I got called a "big trumpet" twice...boooooo! Learn your instruments, kids! :p

After the second show we were given a nice dinner of salad, rice pilaf, cauliflower, tilapia, chicken, and cookies. I made myself a plate and took it back to the hotel (the fish was awesome!) and worked on updating my resumes, and before I knew it we were on the last show of the day. Hooray! It went well, although you could hear that some of us were tired. It was a long day but we made it!

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Sunday, I slept poorly because of stress dreams and drunks in the hallway.

Got up slightly later than usual, breakfast and yes of course transcription. Then lunch and the first show of the day.
It was going normally until an elves dance number on stage. Suddenly something red whizzed past my head and landed squarely on my water bottle, knocking it over. It was a prop Etch-a-Sketch! Someone must have dropped theirs on stage and it bounced into the pit.


It's just a piece of foam with red and silver duct tape/paint(?), and white bottle caps cleverly glued to look like the dials.
I love props! We rarely get to see or hold them. Got to enjoy my new toy for the first half, but someone came and pilfered it back to it's proper place backstage during intermission. Waah. The rest of the show went normally. Back to hotel for dinner and more packing and a little transcription. Final show was good, but we all made more mistakes than usual from sheer tiredness. Two extra shows really does make a difference.

And that's it for NOLA. Next up is Greensboro.
I love the Carolinas, and went to school near Greensboro so am very familiar with that city.
Plus my aunt lives there, so I'll get to see her and my uncle!

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Monday: Travel to Greensboro.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: Transcription and trombone practice and evening shows. Maybe I'll have time to explore?

It was a normal travel and flying day.

We left the hotel via charter bus at 7:30am, and our flight was at 11am, direct.
It was a lovely thing to step outside and see the sun and feel that temperatures were NOT in the single digits!
No offense, Wisconsin :p

We were at the hotel quickly. I've been to NOLA many times, with the circus and with various tours, and it is not one of my favorite cities. There's a lot to see and do, but it is also so incredibly run down, the infrastructure is crumbling, and it's clear that a lot of the people who live here could use a hand. In other words, the place has never been the same since Hurricane Katrina.

Usually the touring group I'm with is put in a hotel directly on the touristy strip (Bourbon St.), and from there we'd walk to the Saenger to perform. I hated this walk. Feces and urine on the sidewalks, huge holes in the sidewalk or just dirt where sidewalk used to be, drunks fighting or scammers trying to shine your shoes, tourists overindulging and throwing up right in the street. And all of the stores selling alcohol or weed or cheap tchotchkes. It was only between 3-5 blocks depending on where we were staying, but it was totally disgusting and I hate, hate, hated it.

This time we are in a hotel on the OTHER side of the Saenger, closer to the highway. And while the strip is still right there, we don't have to actually walk through it to get to work. It is significantly quieter on this side, the theatre is only two blocks away, and I can tell already that for the first time ever in New Orleans, I'm not gonna have to dodge piles of shit and vomit to get to work!! What a joy!!

Ok enough badmouthing NOLA. I've been here MANY times, there's lots of culture and beauty in this city AWAY from the strip (Examples from 2012, 2014, 2016, 2021, and this January!)

I did the usual thing of dropping luggage and walking to the grocery. I've been here so many times that I knew exactly where it was without directions. You have to walk through a residential to get to it, and I always enjoy the unique houses here and the big ancient swampy trees.


Stocked up as much as I could, knowing that we have extra shows plus I'll be doing transcription. Lugged the groceries back, unpacked, showered, ate dinner, typed this up, then two hours of transcription before crashing in bed.

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Tuesday I was up early for transcription. Checked out the hotel breakfast and they do grits instead of oats, which are delicious but are very low on nutrients, so I'm probably just gonna make my own breakfast here (I'll still steal the bagels and peanut butter though :p)

Most of my day was spent on transcription with a break for lunch and to hit Walgreens for a jug of distilled water for tea.

In the evening, a lovely short and uneventful walk to the Saenger.
It was shocking to realize that I've now performed in this theatre with THREE different tours: Tootsie, My Fair Lady, and Elf.
My phone automatically connected itself to the wifi, that's how often I've worked here!


The theatre looks a lot like a Fox, with plaster statues and columns framing a sparkling starry sky. It's a beautiful place to work.


The pit is a bit in front of the stage, so I can see a slice of what's going on, for once. Yay!
Also, one of the props is going to be coming up from the pit this week: a gingerbread fish used in the opening scene (I've posted a picture of it here before if you want a closer look; now it's got some sparkles added to the frosting bits too!) It's my absolute favorite prop because of A) how ridiculous it looks and B) how often I see it hanging out in random places backstage.

Here are some crew "testing" the gingerbread fish being "caught" from the pit!


The show went smoothly, personally I had a few weird moments because I was incredibly distracted, one because I could see the stage and kept wanting to watch, and two because there's a pre-audition happening in Orlando right now for the new Epic Universe theme park. They want a clarinet, trumpet, and trombone, and the audition packet is due on the 6th...which is VERY soon. I hadn't planned to take it but the pay is very good, and during the show I was getting badgered by other theme park musicians to at least submit, so I guess that's another thing to add to my to-do list this week. Anyway the show was fine and it was nice to be back at the hotel in minutes.

Oh, and I finally got to see the snow effect near the end! It's so cool!!


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Wednesday up early again for transcription and also to try and address this sudden-onset audition.

Plugged away hard at transcription until job 1 of 2 was done, sent it, ate lunch, and recorded the non-performing parts of my audition packet (an "about me" and a sample of my ability to produce a fakey French accent, of all things. Don't ask.)

When that was done I hunted down some old Busch Gardens footage of myself playing "Mix It Up!" on the Italy stage, figured out how to download it from youtube, and chopped it up into highlights of me dancing around and tromboning in my bright orange chef's outfit. This is because the audition notice said they needed to see us move around while we play, "a la Blast." "Mix It Up" was a Blast-themed show, so although my footage is incredibly old it's still evidence that I have done such a thing and could certainly do it again.

This took a really long time because I'm not good at video editing.
And then I ultimately decided to submit my whole application packet today.
Originally I was going to record more stuff on Friday, but Friday IS the due date and I don't want to risk it.
With the remaining daylight I got the trombone out and played through only half of my memorized Disney stuff.

After that I made the difficult decision to use a laundry service this week. It's very expensive and I hate doing it, but my time is just SO tight this week. Fortunately I got the best laundry person in the world; she picked up my laundry tonight AND returned it tonight!! I gave her the biggest tip that I could because that is incredible (typical turnaround for this service is between 24-36 hours)

Tonight's show went well. There are bubble machines attached to the outside of the Saenger theatre that simulate "snow," and after the show they were going crazy, I stepped outside and really thought it was snowing for a minute! Didn't get footage but maybe another night.

As expected, I haven't had time to do diddly-poo so far here in New Orleans. Womp womp.

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Thursday: Two shows and transcription before and between them.

Friday: One show so lots of transcription, a walk for god's sake, and possibly more Disney practice.

Saturday: Three shows, I will not have time for anything! They are giving us meals between shows though which is awesome.

Sunday: Two shows and packing up for the trip to Greensboro.

After Wednesday's show I was kidnapped by the Boyces!

Here is Jameson waiting for me by the pit, and being a goober :p


Yes, he flew up to join us for the holiday. His family enjoyed the show and had nothing but good things to say about it. We all drove back to their house which is an hour outside the city, so we didn't get there until midnight and then just went right to bed.

The next morning we were treated to a pumpkin "kringle" for breakfast, which is like a giant Danish pastry filled with pumpkin pie filling and is apparently a Wisconsin specialty. It was very good! The rest of the day was very chill, Mr. Boyce took Addison (their Bernese mountain dog) for a walk, I helped Ms. Boyce with small tasks like peeling potatoes and gathering ingredients, and we watched the Thanksgiving Day parade and munched on charcuterie until it was time for dinner.


Addison being a goof. She is 11 years old which is quite old for a Berner, and is slowing down. But she's still very sweet and playful.


Dinner was a lovely turkey with sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas, slaw, cheesy sweet potatoes, from-scratch dinner rolls, and Ms. Boyce's cranberry sauce which is my favorite thing ever, she serves it every year. Everything was delicious, and I was grateful to enjoy a real home-cooked meal and a family setting while on tour. It's amazing that things lined up where we could all be there together :)

Unfortunately as the day went on I started feeling under the weather, and by evening it was clear that I'd caught something. It seems to be just a cold, and it is not at all surprising considering how challenging the last 48 hours have been for me, and that half the tour is ALSO sick with colds, flu, or covid. I'd MUCH rather have a cold than the other two!!

Mr. Boyce had gotten us tickets to go see Wicked, so we piled into the car and got there for the 7:30 showing. It's been a long time since I've been to the movies, so long that it felt nostalgic.


I know that Wicked has been over-hyped...but it really IS a good movie. A lot of time and attention was put into sticking to the original story line, and the costuming and dance numbers were absolutely incredible. The visual effects were of course stunning as well. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a 2.5 hour movie so I was sure I'd have to get up to pee at some point, but was so enthralled with the story that I didn't want to miss a single thing!

Back home we each had a slice of Ms. Boyce's from-scratch pumpkin pie, then went to bed :)

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Friday I woke up at 8 to pack up to go back to the hotel.
Ms. Boyce had made scrambled eggs and locally-produced sausage, both very good with a nice strong cup of coffee.

I was feeling slightly better, but playing six shows with a cold this weekend is not going to be fun. Hoping to get it out of my body before we fly to NOLA.

Mr. Boyce drove me back and we chatted along the way. He's a musician and amateur actor as well, so we had a lot of entertainment stuffs to share opinions about. The hour drive seemed to go by very quickly, and before I knew it I was back at the hotel and unpacking.

Typed this blog up and then got showered and dressed for our two shows. Both went just fine, nothing to report. It is bitter cold here right now, low 20s with a windchill so awful that the "real feel" is 6°F (-14.44°C) so I hustled back to the hotel as quickly as possible. It's so cold that it HURTS. Tomorrow I may pack a dinner and just stay at the theatre tbh.

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Saturday I was up early because I badly need to do laundry. Addison's fur is long and thick and black and gets on everything I own and smells like dog. I love Addison very much but absolutely can't STAND smelling bad at work or having pet dander on my clothing.

So, breakfast and an Uber to a laundromat as it was only 15 degrees out and I was not up for lugging my laundry a mile, uphill, with a cold, in those temps. There was a grocery next to the laundromat so I popped in there for end-of-week groceries too. Back at the hotel I rested and ate lunch, then it was showtime. Both shows went well, although we had to stop the second show only ten minutes in because of a "technical problem." This usually means the automated curtain got stuck.

Between shows I came back to the hotel to eat dinner and goof off. Monday starts another round of transcription plus we have TEN shows in New Orleans (normally eight) so I gotta enjoy my down time while it's here.

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Sunday, breakfast and packing for our travel day tomorrow, and also making myself some overnight oats and cold coffee to eat on the bus on the way to the airport (we are flying out of Chicago and it's a 1.5 hour bus ride to get there.)

Managed to apply for a few jobs, set up my two new transcription jobs, and enjoy relaxing a bit before the shows of the day, both of which were uneventful.

On the way back to the theatre for the last show, I took a detour into the lovely little riverfront park all decorated for the holidays. It was only 15°F with a "realfeel" of 5° (-15°C) but there were children running around and playing, couples strolling through, and people walking their dogs. All of this, plus the lights reflecting off of the shining frozen river, made for a beautiful holiday ambiance.


Tomorrow is a long travel day starting with a 1.5 hour bus ride to Chicago, a 2.5 hour flight, and another ride to our hotel in New Orleans. Between transcription and the extra shows in NOLA I don't expect to get a lot of time for fun, but will try to squeeze in whatever I can.

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Monday: Travel, groceries, transcription

Tuesday: Transcription and opening night in NOLA

Wednesday: Transcription, hoping to at least go for a walk.

Thursday: Two shows.

Monday: Travel to Orlando for Candlelight

I only got 2-3 hours of sleep at the airport hotel before my alarm went off at 3am. Urrrrgh.

Funnily enough, Jameson's Candlelight rehearsal was that night, so he was just driving home at 3am while I was getting up. We are both getting our asses handed to us this weekend sleep-wise.

He had Jollywood, Candlelight, Jollywood, and flying to Milwaukee for Thankgiving with his parents (keeping in mind that Jollywood performances end after midnight, and his Candlelight rehearsal went until 3am!) and I have Elf, Candlelight until 2:30am, flying to Milwaukee at 5am, another Elf performance there, and Thanksgiving with Jameson's family.

But you know, considering that we are childless and therefore get to sleep a lot more than anyone who's a parent, we shouldn't complain :p

I took a shuttle to the airport, but to my annoyance it would only drop off at the parking terminal instead of the airport.
Newark International has been massively renovated since I last flew there. Knowing this, I had gotten up earlier than initially planned, and that was right to do because after the shuttle drop off I had to take two different trains to Terminal A.


And even then the final train didn't go straight to the terminal, we had to take a bus! If this is how you get around this airport now, gotta say I'm not impressed :/ But I made it and got my luggage dropped and through security by about 4:20am (so it took between 30-40 minutes to get to the terminal even at that early hour! Jeez.)


The new terminal, though, is lovely. Everything's modern and new, bottle fillers and a new open floor plan and cashierless checkouts all over. I found this free phone sanitizer and used it, why not!


The flight was nice and calm and on time. There were two people coughing CONSTANTLY for the entire 2.5 hour flight, so I was glad for my mask even if it doesn't save me in the end...at least I tried. Picked up my luggage in Orlando, got a rental car, and by 10am I was sneaking quietly into the house so as not to wake Jameson. Late breakfast and then got to work doing as much as I could at home, including

- laundry
- repacking clothing
- setting out clothes for Candlelight (they want us to wear concert blacks and the stage is outdoors so it will be chilly)
- swapping stuff in/out of my luggage
- quick trip to Publix for dinner for later
- watering the plants
- light cleaning, mostly counter-wiping
- trying out a bass trombone that a friend sent to me (it's not a good fit unfortunately)
- lunch
- attempting to take a nap (I dozed a bit at least)
- wrapping some of Jameson's presents that have showed up
- sorting my mail

...I think that's about it.

Jameson had work all afternoon (this after having gotten home at 3am this morning!) and Jollywood at night. I was eating dinner while he was packing up and out the door at 6:30, then I was out the door a few hours later at 9, bringing everything with me because I won't be coming back until Christmas.

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Disney's EPCOT Candlelight Processional Rehearsal

As usual, I cannot take pictures of backstage super-secret Disney stuffs. Sorry.
However here's a short clip of me driving into the park, toward Health Services.
Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work we go.


Believe it or not, nearly half of this "rehearsal" is paperwork.
First there's a hearing test at Health Services. Thankfully my hearing has stayed the same since the last test a year ago.

Then there are mostly safety reviews and data protection/intellectual property training videos.
i.e., "Don't share Disney secrets or The Mouse will come break your kneecaps. Wear earplugs in loud places. Remember to lift with your knees. Ok run along to rehearsal now, and have fun!"
These video modules take about 2 hours to complete.

Then I drive to “backstage” EPCOT, because a trombone is considered a large instrument and so I am given "drive-on clearance." I go to a gatehouse and show my blue Castmember ID, tell them why I'm there, and they check to see I'm authorized and let me through. Meanwhile people with smaller instruments and members of the choir have to take a shuttle bus to and from the parking lot.

Probably the coolest think about driving around “backstage Disney” is getting to see little bits and pieces of how the magic happens ;)
Which of course I can't share ;) ;)

Then…waiting. I said hi to musicians I knew, had a snack in the Trap Room (a green room basically,) and checked the call board. Group A was still rehearsing at midnight; I was in Group B this time so wouldn’t go on stage until 1am. But we are getting paid, and we had a nice room to wait in with hot drinks and comfy chairs. I felt surprisingly GOOD this time despite the lack of sleep, and realized that it’s because A) the last time I did this I had to cross two time zones, B) last time my flights were later with less time to rest before the rehearsal, and C) last time I had to do groups A, B, and C rehearsals, which is about 4 hours of playing. This time I had no time zone change, earlier flights, and only had to do one rehearsal set. Thank god!!

And while we were waiting, our stage manager came around to give each of us a commemorative Candlelight enamel pin! How cool!! A lot of Disney fanatics and collectors would KILL for an event-exclusive, Castmember-only item like this. 


Finally at 1am we were lined up outside the stage, and scheduled to go on at 1:20.
But 1:20 came and went. For some reason they held us backstage for 20 minutes.
This made me INCREDIBLY nervous...remember, I had a flight to catch a 20-minute drive away, that boarded at 4:20am, and here it was almost 2am and we weren't rehearsing yet :(

We finally went on around 1:50, and I was so nervous about catching my flight that I could hardly focus on the music. The rehearsal was beautiful and everything went smoothly, I was very grateful to be there. Even in that worried mindset I was able to appreciate that my participation in Candlelight was the SOLE reason why I've gotten to play with the Main Street Philharmonic, The Florida Orchestra, and the Orlando Philharmonic this year. Going out of my way to continue to be a part of this special, once-a-year Disney tradition doesn't seem unreasonable at all. Even if it stresses me out :p

(stock image from a previous year)

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Flight to MKE

We played our final notes at 2:40am, and I RAN off the stage, ran to the trap room and threw my horn in the case, ran to the car, drove as fast as I could to the airport. I didn't have time to stop for gas so will probably get charged for that later, oh well. Dropping my baggage turned out to be an ORDEAL because there were no Delta attendants when I got there, and a massive queue had built up, so it took 15-20 minutes to get through that. Security also was delayed because they ran out of trays for personal items and we had to wait while someone went to get them. Aren't we about to start the BUSIEST flying week of the year, and THIS is how things are going at MCO? It was like the airport was creating problems for itself.

But anyway, TL;DR I made it to my gate about 15 minutes before boarding time. By this point I was starting to feel the exhaustion of being awake for nearly a day and a half straight. Here I am brushing my teeth in the restroom at 4am before boarding the flight.


I dozed on the flight and ate breakfast on the Atlanta layover, then dozed again on the flight to Milwaukee.


I can never fully sleep on planes, and also we ended up having a medical emergency on our flight :( I couldn't see well but it seemed to be a woman, and she was conscious but must have been having heart trouble because that defib box was brought out. Not to be corny but it went just like in the movies: a flight attendant got on the PA system and asked if there was a doctor or nurse on the plane. A woman got up to go and help. The plane was dead silent and tense, but we were close to landing and we definitely landed more quickly than scheduled (this happened about 40 minutes from landing and we were on the ground in 20.) There were ambulances on the tarmac to meet us, and we were all told to sit and wait until the woman could be taken to them (medical personnel with a foldy-stretcher came and got her.) As we were deplaning I saw the wrappings from the defib sticky pads on the ground so knew they'd been used in some capacity :/

Anyway that was that. There was nothing to do but empathize and hope that she would be all right.

On the way to collect luggage, even though I was very tired, I did remember to ask any Delta pilots I saw for trading cards. I got four, but all were duplicates so I will offer them to my tour companions.

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Opening Elf in Milwaukee

Got my luggage, got an Uber, got to the hotel. It's a fancy Hyatt downtown. I'm on the 14th floor.


View from my room is nice.


I ordered Instacart groceries which turned out to be a mistake because the person shopping for me was inattentive/very careless. I ended up with the wrong type of yogurt (even though I'd sent her a substitution option), wrinkly old apples, and too many protein shakes (which would normally not be a problem but when you travel for a living, it is.) I had to throw most of the apples out after cutting two open and finding them browning inside, and ultimately had to write her a crappy review.

Still, it did save me having to go shopping myself after nearly 48 hours awake. I barely managed to unpack...you know how when you're tired, you kind of can't focus? I was just sort of setting items down and moving them around, not putting them where they were supposed to go haha. Finally I made myself lie down and slept like a dead person for two hours, waking up only when my alarm went off, drool all over my pillow!

Then I had to eat dinner, get dressed, and go do a sound check and a show. Because this 48-hour day isn't over yet!

We are playing the Marcus Center. I was just here with Tootsie in June 2023.
The ceiling:


This pit is nice and spacious, a relief after the dirty hole that we had to work in in New Jersey.
Sound check was "ok" but this is our first time playing in a modern hall, so the acoustics were very different and half our band members (who have never toured before) didn't know what to do with all the reverb. We had some tempo issues, but people are smart and figured out that they'd just need to listen differently and interact with this space differently. (TBH I will probably write a little friends-only rant about this later haha)

I have my own dressing room again! It's just a little practice room, but it's soundproofed and that is WONDERFUL because sometimes I need quiet after being next to trumpets all the time.


The show went just fine, we may have had some small tempo issues but they will certainly work themselves out.

Afterward I walked back to the hotel and saw this beautiful park decorated for Christmas across the river (it's just blocks from the hotel.) I hope to visit it or walk through one night :)


And then....finally.....blessed, blessed sleep.

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Despite the time change and despite being exhausted I still woke up at 8am (9am EST).
But feeling MUCH better after getting what my body needed :)

I am so grateful to have Wednesday to mostly recover.
I had a slow morning, just breakfast and typing this up and packing an overnight bag for Jameson's parents' house.

Before lunch I walked to a grocery to replace the bad fruit I'd had to throw out, and just to get cardio after all that time sitting on planes or in rehearsals or shows. It's very cold here, definitely winter temps ranging from 20-35F, and I'm glad to have packed my down jacket and earmuffs for this second leg of tour. I was glad for the walk but felt crappy when I got back (not unusual after a lot of air travel) and so had a snack then a nap.

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I’m typing the rest of this from the pit because I forgot to post this before leaving the hotel! Jameson and his parents are attending the show tonight, and afterwards I’m spending Thanksgiving with them!

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Thursday: Thanksgiving with Jameson and his family :)

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: Two shows each day. I won't have time for much, but will appreciate a weekend in Milwaukee anyway.

Up early for breakfast and transcription, then we had a mandatory HR meeting which no one wanted to attend.

But it was what it was, and we had to have our cameras on, so I made no concessions and showed up with bedhead and pajamas and a snack. It was a good, standard "Harassment in the Workplace" presentation, but again, as we have all been out here for half the tour and only have the other half left, I'm not sure how effective this was. But I guess that's not the point...it was probably just mandatory for someone, somewhere, to do.

Anyway, It cut significantly into my transcription time so I wasn't able to finish my second job though I did make good progress. It was cold and rainy all day so I did not go outside.

We had a show at 7pm, and it was stopped about 15 minutes in for a "technical difficulty" which I believe was the curtain stuck shut. So the show finished 15-20 minutes late, and we hustled to our rental cars several blocks away in the icy rain. A miserable night, but New Jersey needs any rain it can get.

Back at the hotel I did laundry at night just so I won't have to mess with it in the morning.

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Friday, Up at 7 for breakfast and blog time, then sitting at this damned desk for five hours straight to finish transcribing. Lunch and then the final review and submission of that court hearing. Phew! Since my round-trip Disney rehearsal is coming up followed by shows in Milwaukee and Thanksgiving with Jameson and his family, I've opted not to accept any more jobs until December. There's no way I'd be able to squeeze transcription in between all of that.

After being sedentary all week I needed a walk, so went to a Target which was 2 miles round trip. Only got a token beverage since I didn't actually need anything except to get some fresh air.

The evening show was fine, the audience was rather rowdy and packed with kids.
Here's a gaggle at the edge of the pit, pelting us with questions!


I was a bit hidden in the shadows so was spared a lot of the interrogation :p
Another funny moment happened when Santa's sleigh makes it's first attempt at flight (it doesn't fly because "not enough Christmas spirit.") Seeing the sleigh almost-fly drove the kids in the audience into a desperate frenzy, and they all started screaming, "I BELIEVE!!! I BELIEEEEEEVE!!! SANTA YOU CAN DO IT!!!" etc etc. It was adorable! The actors did a great job of redirecting so the show could move on. I bet we'll have more moments like this the closer we get to the actual holiday!

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Saturday, it was nice to wake up slightly later without a transcription deadline hanging over my head.
I still felt rushed and restless, though. Tried to force myself to chill for a while by watching old movies on YouTube. Did you know that lots of movies are FREE on YouTube? Very cool.

The shows were fine. We didn't have an explosion of kids screaming "I BELIEVE" today for either show haha.

Between shows I didn't want to spend 40 minutes round trip in the car to get to/from the hotel, so stayed at the theatre. This theatre is attached to a music school(?) or lesson studio area, and I was able to sneak over to that side via a connecting door. The school is MUCH nicer than the theatre, very new and spacious, so I figured it wouldn't hurt if I quietly rested in a practice room. Others had the same idea; I accidentally walked in on a member of crew napping in one room, and heard our assistant MD playing the piano in another room later on.

For dinner I walked to Elsie's Sub Shop, which has been open since 1959 here in Red Bank so you KNOW they must be good. I was not disappointed; they had a "Thanksgiving sub" with turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mayo, and lettuce and tomato. Yum!


After the final show I carpooled back to the hotel and did a partial packing, because I realized a few days ago that my flight leaves at 6am, meaning either I have to get up at 3am for a 45-minute Uber to the airport on Monday, or I could swallow the cost of an airport hotel on Sunday night so I can get up a little later and ensure I'll be on time (it's about to be Thanksgiving travel week, remember.) I opted to value time over money and got the airport hotel, which means bringing all of my luggage to the theatre tomorrow and going to the airport hotel after the shows.

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Sunday, we had an 11am show so I was up very early to finish packing, eat breakfast, and check in for my 6am flight tomorrow. Urgh. Dragged my luggage out to the rental car, when we got to the theatre I picked up another sub from that nice little shop to have for dinner.

At the stage door, one of our truck drivers was getting festive with his truck!


And here it the theatre ceiling, since they're always so pretty. Count Basie Center.
I had to take this before crawling into my little dark hole under the stage.


Between shows we were provided catering from an Italian restaurant next door, I ate a little to tide me over but mostly leftovers I'd brought with me. Sneaking over to the school-side of the building again, I was dismayed that some sort of rehearsal or classes were going on and the rooms were full of kids. But I found a quiet corner with a lot of cushions where I could just sort of chill, with a nice view too.


Evening show went fine, all of us were rather low-energy despite the shows being earlier. I suspect it's because the shows were at 11 and 4:30, which is sort of right during meal times. But anyway we made it through and everything went smoothly.

Right after the show I packed quickly, throwing my mutes in the band box, grabbing my luggage, and bringing my trombone with me. Out to the street to catch a Lyft, and I was thrilled to see the decorated tour truck all lit up!! I wonder if he'll be able to drive with it lit like that? Looks COOL AF.


The Lyft was 45 minutes to an airport hotel (which is shockingly nice for a Holiday Inn Express) and will be able to get about five hours of sleep before getting up ungodly early for this flight to Orlando.

Thus ends our week in New Jersey. Thus begins my all-nighter for Disney :p

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Monday: Travel to Orlando, a few hours with Jameson, then he's got Jollywood and I've got Candlelight rehearsal until 2:30am!!!

Tuesday: WAY-TOO-EARLY flight to Milwaukee, hopefully unpacking and a nap, then sound check and an Elf show.

Wednesday: Resting. Packing an overnight bag for Jameson's parents' house over Thanksgiving. Show in the evening.

Thursday: Thanksgiving at Jameson's parents' house, and seeing Wicked!!

Although the bus load wasn't until 11, I was up around 7 because I'd gotten a new transcription project.
Remembering how stressed I'd gotten over the previous one, I wanted to get this one started ASAP.

Breakfast and worked on it from 8am-11am. The problem this week is going to be audio distortion, apparently. Sigh. At least there's nothing I can do about that except notate it.

We loaded onto the bus and drove to a shopping mall in New Jersey, and because I'm not a herd animal I did not go inside but instead took "the road less traveled" to a Wegmans just a few blocks over.


I didn't want to get much here, not knowing the hotel fridge situation, but did find some of my favorite nonperishables and enjoyed the time there much more than I would have at a mall. Back on the bus and we were at the hotel very quickly. I'm on the first floor which is rare.

Took an Uber to a Green's Natural Market, which I think is a NJ/NY-only store. They did indeed have lots of interesting things for sale, plus they were next to a World Market so I got to pop in there too (could have done SO much Christmas shopping but will just have to wait.) I wanted many things, but in the end walked out with these:


Blackbird seitan: I've had this many times and it's delicious, I always keep an eye out for it.

Drybox Turkish figs: from World Market, they have a lot of travel-sized snack foods and this was one. Haven't tried it yet.

Surfsnax salmon jerky: The only salmon jerky I've had is the Epic brand strips, and some refrigerated "salmon candy" that I got in Wisconsin once. By comparison, this one was unfortunately very stinky and also too oily to handle with one's hands, unless one wanted to smell like stinky fish all day. So I used a fork to eat it, and it was tasty, but because of the smell and messiness, would not buy again.

Righteous Felon Basil-Infused turkey jerky: small package + interesting. Haven't tried it yet.

Gopel's cheesy sprouted pumpkin seeds: Vegan, using the flavor of nutritional yeast to simulate cheese. They're quite good though a bit stinky :p

Sail Away nitro Maple Vanilla coffee: A coffee shop out of NY, and this is their seasonal flavor. Haven't tried it yet.

Salysol "Gomitas": gummy candy in a can! From World Market, bought this solely because it's in a can lol. They also had peanuts, pickles, and other "airplane snacks" in cans like this.

Culina dairy-free Bourbon Vanilla yogurt: I've actually never had dairy-free yogurt. This flavor called to me. Haven't tried it yet.

Dijas Pumpkin Spice biscotti: Not real biscotti, this has a texture like Melba toast and is quite delicious for being a low-calorie food. They had a banana bread flavor as well that I'd love to try. Not very nutritious but good for killing a snack craving without ruining your dinner.

I don't expect to enjoy much exploration time here in New Jersey due to transcription, practicing for Disney rehearsal, and the 20-minute commute to and from the theatre (sigh.) So I figured to get myself nice groceries, at least.

My evening ended with unpacking, eating a tempeh BLT wrap for dinner, and doing a few hours of transcription with a cup of tea.

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I accidentally slept an hour later than planned (8 instead of 7) because I'd put earplugs in and hadn't heard my alarm.

Ah well, I had breakfast and got to work on transcription, pretty much doing that all day with only a few breaks for lunch, packing dinner, getting ready for work, and establishing a carpool time with the guys.

It took 30 minutes to fight rush hour traffic to the theatre, find the garage and park, and then find the stage door (there isn't one and I still don't know how we're supposed to enter the building.) This is the Count Basie Center for the Arts, and it's TINY and cramped so much that we cannot use half the set pieces and the actors are having to make lots of changes to how they enter and exit so they don't collide backstage.

The pit is no better unfortunately. Incredibly cramped and basically a hole in the ground complete with plaster dust, chipping paint, and dangling wires. The glamorous lifestyle of a tour musician, folks! Here is my spot. I'm like the Trombone Troll under the bridge...er, stage.


Notice the halogen bulb in a cage over my head. Crawling into that corner packed with equipment and mutes is easier said than done, and after the second time that I whacked the bulb cage it broke off and came down onto my head. Luckily some stagehands were able to remove both cage and bulb, so now it's a DARK corner but at least I won't accidentally cause a ruckus during a show.

My slide also extends a good 1/3rd of the way across the pit stairwell. I joked with the guys that my slide is the pit toll gate, and you gotta pay to get in or out :p


The show was supposed to start at 7, but "for reasons" including the cramped space and a slow/incomplete load in, we were rescheduled to 7:30, and then to 7:45. This was annoying, but imagine how the audience feels. The show did go pretty well with only some minor hitches due to the huge list of changes that the actors and crew have to remember. It seemed like the audience had fun, and that was the goal.

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Wednesday I was up early to review one transcription job and start another.

During a break I cracked open the can of gummy candies.
They are very cute! I love the itty bitty egg. The little teeth are a weird addition, though...


They mostly taste the same regardless of shape/color, but the banana one did taste like banana!

After lunch I practiced trombone, went for a short no-reason walk to a dollar store just to get out of the hotel room, then buckled down to more transcription. Later on the evening show went well, our Director was there and had nice things to say so that was rewarding.

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Thursday: It's supposed to rain all day (NJ has been in a drought so I'm happy for them!) We have a mandatory HR meeting via Zoom, and I'll be doing transcription, and the evening show.

Friday: Hopefully finishing transcription, doing laundry, and taking a walk somewhere.

Saturday and Sunday: Double shows both days. And on Sunday night I'll have to head over to the airport for my crazy Disney Candlelight rehearsal escapade!