6000 feet

Back from break here in Colorado Springs. I think I'm one of the first to arrive. I came in a day early beacuse I get paranoid about flying through snowy climates. Break was relaxing yet kind of boring. Except for the 1 day I went skiing and the day I went to see one of the Sesame Street tours,I did very little except hang around the house and play Guitar Hero. But the Sesame Street show was quite fun. I went with Elissa from last year,who's going to school in Boston. Josh,Carlos and Abby from last year were in it,as well as my friend Rachel who I worked with in Richmond and Omaha back in the day. Fun times.

Season 4 of LOST premieres tonight. FINALLY!

Viva Las Vegas

We're in Vegas. Never been here as an adult. I was here at age 7 and then again at age 15. Haven't been since the resort casino building boom of 1993. Quite a place,if you've never been here. I'm not a gambler,but there is plenty to do otherwise. Just walking the Strip and seeing the excess of it all is an experience in itself. From my 14th story room at the Tropicana I have an amazing view of the entire lower half of the Strip. The amount of shows here rival NYC. The majority of my cast and crew seem to think there's some sort of competition to see who can go to the most and best shows in town. Apparently the Cirque shows are the big prize. I just don't "get" Cirque. I appreciate what they're doing and the talent-I just don't understand the presentation of it all. The whole thing just seems so snooty and pretentious to me. Yet some people in my cast have dropped over $130 to see any one of the 5 Cirque shows in town. It almost seems to me that the reason everyone wants to go to Cirque is so they can say "I went to a Cirque show!" It's almost more like a status symbol than anything else,like you have a perfectly good handbag that looks great,and your friend has the exact same handbag,except that hers is Gucci,so somehow she's cooler than you. You can see a great show,but because it's not a Cirque show,you're somehow less trendy. Everyone's trying to one-up each other on what shows they saw.
There are several Broadway shows here too,except they're a complete ripoff. The ticket prices are just as expensive as NY,except the shows are all 90 minute cuts of the Broadway versions. Bunch of pretty cool headliners too - Bette Midler,Tom Jones,Barry Manilow,and Penn & Teller are all here. As well as several comedians whose prime was 15 years ago,but who all seem to have found new life here in Vegas - Rita Rudner,Louie Anderson and Carrot Top are all selling out shows here. Let's hope My Little Pony does as well. Then there are a million dance shows, variety shows, tribute bands, showgirl revues, magicians, comedians, and celebrity impersonators. The only thing I don't like about this town is everything's so expensive. And also the fact that we're here in January and they're having a cold snap.

Next week we FINALLY have our "Christmas" break,so I'll be back in Massachusetts for 9 days.

"I hope I get my raisins from Fresno..."

Well,as I predicted,someone didn't make it back in time after Christmas. My roommate Tim,who was the most vocal complainer about not getting a Christmas break,booked the last possible flight out of home in order to get back in time,leaving no margin for error. Trying to maximize the amount of time home I guess. Anyway,bad weather hit,his flight was cancelled and he missed a show. I had to go on for him. Just not worth it if you ask me.

Had a somewhat boring Christmas in Kennewick WA. At least we had a nice hotel. New Year's was slightly more interesting. Spent it with about half the company in a gay bar in Fresno CA. There were 14 of us,so we needed 3 cabs to get there. However,only 2 cabs came back to get us. I was unfortunate enough to be in the final group. We waited and waited and waited some more. No cabs came. We called every cab company in town. They would either hang up on us or tell us it was a 3 hour wait. At 1:45AM the club shut it's doors and made us wait outside. You'd think California would be warm. Nope. It was about 40 degrees. And we're dressed for a club. I at least had a long sleeve shirt on. Arlee was in a miniskirt and fishnets. Beth was in a tube top. The 4 of us stood outside shivering for quite awhile before it was decided to start walking to a Denny's we had seen on the way in,maybe a mile away. So here we are,wandering the streets of Fresno at 2:30AM in 40 degree fog looking for this Denny's just so we could warm up. Rachel,who had been in one of the earlier cabs,called to see why we hadn't gotten back yet. She gets on Google maps and starts navigating us to the Denny's over the phone. Good thing too,because we had been heading the wrong way. We finally made it there and sat there shivering and drinking hot chocolate till about 3:45,when we FINALLY got through to a cab company. Got back to the hotel at 4AM.

Needless to say,my cold came back.

We're now in Redding CA for the 2nd half of the split week. Another split week next week - Tacoma WA and Portland OR.