Intro
Howdy, Tortugaholics! Welcome to the dawn of a new decade. I have been mucho busy since I chatted at you a month ago. What with traveling from Tampa Bay, Florida to theSun Valley of Arizona, and working on my acting career, my fantasy novel, self-help company . . . blah, blah, blah—a lot’s been going on.
Imagine my surprise when I check my digital camera to find that I have been remiss in my picture-taking duties. WTF! Surely I have taken a picture or two of something. Alas, no. So, I am now torn betwixt attempting to regale you with words about my journeys, yet not so many pictures . . . and just going on about some of the things in my head, while throwing a bunch of random pictures in to spice things up. (Whew, nice run-on sentence there, Rikker!)
Well, let me just Begin the Beguine (anybody? anybody? Cole Porter, 1935? Don’t fret; it’s not like we’ll remember if from start to finish anyway.) and see how things land.
Florida 2 Arizona
I finished out my stay in sunny St. Petersburg about mid January. I loaded up what I had too soon before unloaded, and I was on my way. This leisurely jaunt covers approximately 2150 miles across the southern United States. My drive time on this trip was right around 33 hours, and that doesn’t cover the stops I made for gas, food, and just to rest a spell.
I made one stop worth mentioning along the way. I stopped off in Hammond, Louisiana to pick up our Tortuga utility trailer, Gammera. While there, I spent the night with Bob & Jamie Haeuser in what they have officially dubbed The Tortuga Room.
I spent a delightful evening of food, wine (for them), and conversation. Staying with the Haeusers were Christo & Stella Gomes, a charming couple from Limpopo Province, Republic of South Africa. Their company, Mabula Pro Safaris, is in the biz of taking people out on African safaris. It’s interesting the variety of people we meet, traveling across this great country of ours—but especially in Louisiana.
Hellooo Arizona!
I hit sunny Arizona on Friday, January 15. I like spending time in Arizona during the winter months. The weather is cold, but not really freezing, and there’s none of that frozen ice on the ground sort of thing to contend with. Usually. I have once again taken up lodging at my usual spot in Apache Junction—and, after more than a decade of staying here, it feels like home to me.
“I’m not an actor, I’m a movie star!”
I immediately hooked up with my favorite on-camera acting coaches, Peter & Marla from thePhoenix Film Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona. Soon after I went to the first annual Arizona Film and Media Expo, where I was able to attend acting-biz & scriptwriting seminars as well as make some important connections. That’s right, I’m at it again, but hitting it harder than ever, trying to make that transformation from being a stage performer to being an on-camera actor.
Every year I’m making strides much quicker than ever before, learning to pull back from throwing my energy to the back of huge audiences. Instead, I practice not acting, just revealing my emotions and letting each moment affect me as it happens. Sounds easy, right? Yeah, you’d think that, wouldn’t you. I know I did. It is very difficult and often frustrating. Just when I think I’ve got it down, I find that I still don’t quite understand the nuances. However, every misstep puts me closer to my goal, much more in sync with what has become creating art for me. *sigh* Slowly, slowly catching monkey.
Tortuga Cart Woes
So, it’s a week before the show opens, right? And, I’ve got my merchandise ordered and my staff set—in fact, they’re meeting me at the festival site on Sunday. You know . . . to clean up and prep the Tortuga Merchandise Cart. All is in a state of readiness; what could go wrong, right? Riiight. . . .
So, I get this message from Ronn & Heather that our two-ton merchandise cart (okay, it doesn’t weigh two tons, but it is frickin’ heavy) is lying on its side. To top that off, apparently one of the main support legs is broken. Oh, and the decorative wagon wheel is not so decorative any more—it’s more like an homage to kindling & splinters.
Do I panic? Neh—what good would it do me? I go out to view the damage after putting in calls to the various fixit people we know. By the time Sunday rolls around, not only is our cart leg healed of its former calamity, but the cart itself has been uprighted. Yee to the Haw!
All was good as gold for our merch set up. And then I twisted my ankle. It rolled under me while I was carrying one of our tubs full o’ important Tortuga-type stuff. Right along that old paintball injury I got back in Nam in the early 90s. At least, I think it was Nam . . . but it might have been Colorado. Either way, I had a day of discomfort, a night of pain, and now I’m on the mend. An ice pack, some ibuprofen & other suggested remedies, and a nifty new ankle brace—black to match all my tough-guy outfits—have helped to speed me along the road to recovery. Woot!
Outro
So, this brings us to the beginning of the 2010 Renaissance Festival Season. There is excitement in the air as everyone looks forward to a far better year than the last one, and a vastly better decade. There are many things in the works for we Tortuga Twins, and mucho more por moi, tambien. I didn’t even get to the crap about my fantasy book: An assassin who must face government conspiracy, evil wizards . . . and his mother to stop a demon from becoming God of the Undead (still being written), or any of the other projects I am currently working on. Maybe I’ll hit those noteworthy points next time . . . if you get word to me that you’re interested.
2010 promises to bring new adventure into my life, and yours as well I’m sure. I promise to let you know where that adventure takes me. See you in thirty or so. . . .
Happy New Year Tortugaholics!