April 2007
SO let us start this month's journal off with so hold over business from last month...
 Cindy Gray, Mary Egan, and those pesky Twins |
I want to compliment Cindy Gray, our AZ chapter-head, (and AZ cart-goddess too!) for organizing a kick-ass meet and greet in AZ. This year, not only did she handle all of the arrangements, and make sure the event was very-well attended, but she also managed to make subtle fun of us while doing so. Cindy decided to show up to our Meet & Greet, wearing a Johnny Phoenix T-shirt... Brat!
SO what has been the recurring theme in all of my journals for the past year or more? How busy I am. It is a Sunday morning while I type this... May 6th, which means I am eleven days late, I think. Between Twins stuff, old and new, Ronn stuff, helping Heather with her job - and trying to squeeze in a life with my amazing Fiancée, I am stressed to the gills, and rarely get to relax anymore. So what makes the most sense in this situation? Heather and I have added more responsibility and work to our load. We've bought another business.
An old friend of mine makes some of the finest drums in the world, John Popper of Blues Traveler loves them, for example... and Steve, the friend I mentioned has decided to get out of the retail, renaissance festival arm of that business, and concentrate on performing and manufacture... I had some really nice success a few years ago when I created my first, solo Festival business (my maze) and was also rewarded when I built the Test of Strength in Louisiana... I couldn't just let Steve's business go to waste, so Heather and I are now the proud owners of drum business. We are buying a booth in GA, we'll be leasing a space at the AZ show (from Heather's boss, jack) and away we go.
It has been more expensive and less profitable than we had hoped... but like everything else, I tend to take the long view. I didn't make back my initial investment on the maze until the beginning of its third year of operation, and now I'm just watching the cash roll in every year... so if it takes a while for this business to start paying off, we're prepared... and probably as early as next year, we'll be in the black.
I hope.
The irony is: I hate drums, drumming, and the hippies who play them. For the most part. I fear that my hair is spontaneously sprouting dreadlocks just by running this business.
Our trip from AZ. to Georgia was painless and uneventful... we had a free weekend between the shows, so we stayed to help Jack break down the AZ operation, and pack up the stuff for Georgia.
 Totally hippy dude |
 Not Jack's best photo |
I am such a puppy; I didn't want to leave Heather even for two nights. Jef picked me up at the airport -Â pizza, vodka, and a little TV and it was time for beddy-bye.
I tried to cram a lot into this trip... besides the very lucrative gig, Riki, Jef and I made a lunch date at the 4th Street Shrimp Store in St Pete... where we interviewed what very-much looks like is going to be our first member of the B-team...
 Saying Goodbye |
 Saying Hello |
 Riki joins us at the 4th Street Shrimp Company |
 A baldini Tortuga, maybe |
 ...and maybe a Twin that could actually be a twin...? |
Daniel Harris is a very accomplished and funny actor recommended to us by our good friend Allison Williams of the Aerial Angels. He's funny, clever, short, bald, and driven... [Funny, clever, short, bald and driven? That soundslike me... except for the driven part. Can I audition? Maybe the Tortuga B-team could be all short bald guys... - AB]  We'll keep you up-to-date as to how this project is going but you may well see him on a stage near you come this winter.
That evening we headed-off to our gig at the Vinoy... it is a huge relic hotel from Florida's hey-day, restored to its splendor of yore. This huge, pink sandcastle is on the water near the pier where all of the Tortugas have spent so many wonderful, and less-than-wonderful hours over the years. The event was for a coupon company... and was easy, lucrative, and just a bit silly.
A montage from the corporate gig
5:00 am came very early, a taxi ride, an airtran flight of just over an hour, a mix-up with directions that left me standing in the airport pick-up lane for almost an hour... and it was back into my baby's arms.
Opening weekend was dismal... the fans were great, it was very nice to touch base with our GA contingent... and we had some very heavy tippers in the audiences. But the rain, well, "rained on our parade."
And there was a point, that opening day when I really wondered what Heather and I had gotten ourselves "in to" with the drum booth... sales were that dismal.
To add to our confusion and stress, after we worked for Jack on Monday, we packed up our stuff, and our drum-booth manager, Bill, and took the long drive down to St Pete.
Again we wanted to cram in as much work as we could into the short time; we had several items on the agenda... a conference with our accountant, some socializing, and most importantly of all a sales and training mission with the guy we bought the drum biz from.
Heather and I did get one brief respite from the constant "run, run, run"... and went to a very nice lunch at an English style pub (that served Mojitos?) within view of the same hotel we'd entertained at the week before.
Accountant met, stressed notched-up some more, and it was time to meet with Steve and his lovely wife Laurel.
Small world... the girl I was dating when Heather and I met was the second biggest love of my life... in fact it wasn't until Heather and I started dating again that I ever thought I could love like that, let alone exceed it as I have.
But when I was with this amazing girl, named Liz, I met this vexing, beautiful, amazing little Asian girl named Heather, oh so many years ago. In fact it was because Heather found out I was dating Liz, and that Liz was so wonderful that she hated me for those many early years...
After I dated Liz, she started dating a pretty, smart, funny guy... who, twenty or so years later, I bought a drum business from.
 Chillin' in Florida: susnshine, mojito, and a hot babe |
 Steve, Ronn, and Laurel |
After a never-ending drive back to Atlanta, (complete with deep intellectual conversation with the oh-so-chatty Bill), we finally arrived tired, in time to go back to work in Atlanta.
Have I mentioned tired? And busy?
The shows have been wonderful, though sharing the stage with my 'sister' Allison's troupe means we have temporarily lost the stage shade-cover... thus making the whole show harder, sweatier, and less pleasant.
The crowds however have been getting rowdier, and rowdier. That always feels good especially when we are asked to autograph a lady's bosom!
So I suppose there are only two more things I need to tell you about before I wrap up this journal...
Or maybe three -
One: Heather was involved in a kind of serious auto accident. She called me when I was doing our laundry, and breathlessly, frightened, let me know she had just been rather seriously rear-ended in her car. Just 3 miles from our door! I rushed right over in time to see her carried out on a back-board and neck brace... what fun.
She eventually was diagnosed with no more than a neck strain, (whew!) there doesn't seem to be anything "whiplashy" going on...but I sure don't like seeing my baby like that.
It was interesting. When I first got to the crash site, I went instantly into practical mode: took care of Heather's keys and paperwork and towing and the groceries in the car... it wasn't until I was driving to the hospital that I started getting emotional.
In the end, the car will be repaired, the girl is alright, and everything is covered under the other-guy's insurance.
Second: I have been asked what I want for my birthday. I want to make the celebration less elaborate than last year... no surprise party, no big fuss. Dinner with some friends, drinks, and then we're all headed to Disney the next day... we'll take loads of photos. As for presents: I think I'd like to get an X-box 360... so if you want to get me anything, (and no one needs to, really) how's about a Best Buy gift card so I eventually can?
 Back to work |
 Berlin rests her head |
AS A SPECIAL BONUS:
Cindy Gray also has a really nice son, I'm including a report he wrote about me at school... I honestly found it touching:
Who else could my role model be than Ronn Bauman. I've known him for two years. We met right after my grandma died. Ronn and I met at the Renaissance Festival. Ronn is my role model because there are many things that I look up to in him. There are also many traits about him that will affect my future. And there are many unique things about him in every way.
I look up to Ronn because he is a successful person who has dealed with many difficult situations. He works at the Renaissance Festival, performing a show with two other men in the middle of the desert. They are called "The Tortuga Twins." Ronn has a fiance named Heather who also works at the Renaissance Festival. There are many ways that Ronn will affect my future in a positive way.
I know my future will be great from the inspiration Ronn has given me. One way he will affect my future is he gives me lessons on how to be an appropriate gentleman. For example he once told me how to give an appropriate handshake. He said people will judge you by how firm your handshake is - that they shouldn't, but they do. He also inspires me to be a "Renaissance Man." He has shown me that it is possible to do something in life that you enjoy and make a career out of it. Ronn is a kind hearted person that you can trust with anything. That inspires me to always treat others with kindness and respect.
Ronn is very unique in every single way. Ronn Bauman is the most unique person I know. (You know this paragraph is going to be long.) He was even voted 'most unique' in his class of 83. He was in the Navy and was Super Smart. He is so smart that he had a security clearance that was above TOP SECRET! Ronn got into comedy when he was just a little kid cracking jokes and making everyone laugh. And when he was in the Navy he realized that he didn't want to blow-up the world he just wanted to travel and make people laugh. So while finishing up his mission, he taught himself to juggle. His buddy Joe Greenwell introduced him to the Renaissance Festival where he met two other men, Riki Robinson and Jef Hall. They all played a game that was a cult back then, Dungeons and Dragons. That is another thing they all had in common. Riki and Jef formed a show at the "Ren Fest" called The Tortuga Twins. Ronn had also started performing at the Ren Fest. Then one April Fools day on 1990, as a joke Ronn dressed as a third Tortuga. Riki and Jef had no idea! They played along, and changed their name to The Tortuga Triplets. Who would have guessed that it caught on, everyone wanted him to stay a Tortuga. The guys talked it over and said "What the Heck." They did change their name back to The Tortuga Twins, because Twins sound better than Triplets. When people ask they say "our mother couldn't count." Their characters names are Raphael (Riki), D'Angelo (Jef), and Scaramouche (Ronn). What's more stranger than three grown men wearing tights in the middle of the desert.
Ronn has been a really big inspiration to me. I have learned many things. 1: Be good to karma and karma will be good to you. 2: Always be a loyal friend and it could be rewarding in a lot of ways. 3: Respect others that you would want to be treated. I am really glad I picked Ronn Bauman as my role model. I sure picked a great one!
You got to admit that's kind of sweet!
See ya in the movies!
