May 2012 “The World’s Favorite Season is the Spring All Things Seem Possible in May” Edwin Way Teale

From Georgia, Florida, Tennessee (twice) Florida two more times, Minnesota and finally Kansas City… it’s busy up in here!

When I ended last month’s journal we were still treading the beautiful Halfwit Harbor stage in Georgia.  As I sit here now, once again at our favorite Mormon-owned RV park outside of Kansas City; I am awed by how many different places I have travelled in the past five or six weeks. I’m in shorts, Go Diego, Go is playing on the big screen and Scarlett – who will figure very prominently in this journal – is playing with scissors and papers beside me

First let me congratulate my wife and her rocking talents.

Also last month Heather had just gotten word that she could have her clothing line Nomadic Dreams Boutique step into an abandoned booth at the Georgia Renaissance Festival  and work her amazing design and retail magic on it as an opportunity to showcase her wares. She of course, in just over a week created an amazing flower of a shop and was able to make a little moolah in the process. The shop, the shop mistress, and the presentation were a resounding success… But I totally expected that. It’s funny: there are a lot of folks who imagine that I married Heather because she’s so breathtakingly beautiful. That helps, but I am with her for so many more reasons than that. She’s such a good partner, parent and friend… but yeah, she’s also pretty easy on the eyes.

We imagined we would be more relaxed and less busy in Georgia…

We imagined wrong. We had a shooting trip with our friends Muggsy (Ded Bob), and friend and role model Rhonni the entrepreneur. I expected Heather to impress our friends, what I didn’t expect was for her to draw such approving looks and gestures from the guys who ran the place. My little bad-ass! We managed to make it to a few movies including the superb Avengers! Much to our surprise, as we were leaving the theater we ran into none other than Iron Man himself. The kid was awesome and –with his mother’s permission – this young fan even took a photo with us.  We managed several movie nights, still one of my favorite features of our time in the ATL. This year we watched “Empire Strikes Back” to mark May the Fourth. “The Fall” and “Brotherhood of the Wolf” to represent obscure and arty… some really cool films, good food and great fun. We wrote not only the Christmas show but a Kickstarter campaign to finance it. We wrote journals and articles and … wheeee. Meanwhile all the Blue Team did was finish Scarborough and move on to Muskogee.

We also took our child to her very first trip to Disney World!

As I am writing this we just got our mail forwarded from our permanent address in Florida. Beside a jury summons (my first ever!) we also got a thank you card from Disney, signed by all of the principals. They don’t miss a trick. We took our darling little girl Scarlett for her first time early in May. It took her a while to catch on to what was happening – but she was really excited just to be able to pack her Dora suitcase and get ready for the trip.  A not-unpleasant car ride down to Orland saw us arriving late Monday night. As you can see from the photo below we all did our part getting the bags to the room. That initial Monday night saw a little shopping,  a late dinner, and an early bedding-down in our highly discounted swanky hotel room. We were fortunate in that our dear friends Joe and Anesa got us the employee rate at the resort – and not only walked us into the park for free, but spent a goodly portion of their day being great company to us (again)! Joe and Anesa, if you’re reading this, again – We cannot thank you enough. By daylight the decades-themed resort was epic. We stayed in the seventies  though I was pulling for the Eighties of course. The resort was "lavish-on-a-family-budget": There was an onsite cafeteria, a very impressive pool complex and plenty to do and see. Scarlett was intermittently struck and unimpressed with Disney World… though today more than a month later, it is obvious that it had an impact on her. We took tons of photos  - including a frustrating session with Mickey and Minnie that didn’t go very well. Scarlett just wasn’t having any giant mice that day. What did finally impress her – and me – was the “meet the princesses” session. The lineup was Cinderella, Belle and Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. Scarlett hadn’t seen  the Cinderella movie and had no desire to meet her but she nervously, shyly approached Belle. The actress who played this character was astonishing. Within seconds she had Scarlett relaxed and at ease and chatting away.  I have to admit I was charmed-into-bashfulness by Belle as well. With as shyly as my daughter entered the room, I didn’t expect her to want to meet the other princesses… but she insisted on meeting Sleeping Beauty and marched right up to her. Great jobs princesses! We had a blast at Pirates of the Caribbean… I saw two signs that made me miss you the fans. I of course posed in some of the photos below just for you; Scarlett wanted to help daddy with the Tortuga fan craziness too. It was a long hot day – and Scarlett did not make it through the whole thing. She slept in the stroller, she slept on the train, mostly she slept on my shoulder. Daddies are supposed to be nap-platforms I suppose; especially when we chose to transit to another park that day. The boo woke-up again for Epcot. She chased squirrels, rode more rides – she LOVES rides; that’s comforting. We think she comes by that genetically as her mother and I love them. She really enjoyed herself. The biggest hit of the day might have been the aquarium “The Living Seas”. My favorite part of that phase was watching her try to introduce herself to the dolphin in the tank by shouting out her name. We posed with sharks; sort of. We ran around, we giggled. It was great. Eventually we headed BACK over to Magic Kingdom, because we had an appointment to meet the Tinkerbelle Fairies. Scarlett is an avid fan of the new Tinkerbelle DVDs… she has them all and loves that Fairy to death. She first met Tink’s boyfriend Terrence – who was almost too charming… Grrrrr. When it was time for Scarlett to meet Miss Bell – she literally RAN and LEAPED into her arms! Tink was also as mesmerizing to my spawn as Belle had been, maybe more so. Charismatic and poised; Scarlett loved her. Our original intent was to have Scarlett’s first Disney trip wait until she was at least five – but after having to do some research for an article in the advice column; I realized just how many of the Disney attractions are geared for the really little kids like mine. Scarlett, Heather and I had so much fun that we will make this trip an annual event.

Just across the Sunshine State is my home town Sunny Saint Petersburg.

St Pete is where I am from no matter how much I may profess my rootlessness. It is a town full of memories and friends. We stayed with an ex-girlfriend of mine; dear friend, Tortuga fan, hair-dresser and babe: Ann. We had dinner with my old, best friend John. John used to tour the festival circuit himself as hammered dulcimer player. Heather and I took both a concealed-carry weapons course, and a supplemental combat shooting course. Heather out-shot me, which is even more impressive when you realize that I earned an “Expert Pistol Marksman” ribbon while I was in the Navy. Seriously, when the Zombies come, my plan is to get a pistol into her hands! We ate grouper, heavenly, heavenly grouper – yummm!. And not only did we get to reconnect with the wonderful Ann, but Scarlett fell in love with Ann’s daughter Katie. It was a swell time!.

An uneventful trip back to Georgia after a bitter disappointment in Florida

I only managed to accomplish two of the three tasks I set for myself during this trip to Florida. Our Disney vacation was a success. We got our concealed carry certificates. But though I got up early in the morning and was one of the first in line at the DMV to get my license renewed I was denied. I had a hold on my license placed by the evil and incompetent state of Georgia. You’ll hear more on THAT before we are through.

Back in Georgia it was a series of parties, some for work and some for play.

On my actual birthday we loaded up the family into our two vehicles and drove seven hours to visit my brother in Tennessee. Ostensibly, we were going there to drop off my truck to get some work done – but really; it was as much to visit my brother and his family on my b-day. We had a great time and returned to a dinner with my wife, a great movie night and yet another of my birthday celebrations. This one featured a cheesecake cupcake tower crafted by Meghan the manager of our drum booth. Thursday night we had a private party gig. This one was for two shows at a Renaissance-themed graduation party. Upscale neighborhood; gorgeous house, great kid. Bobby, the graduating honoree is an Eagle Scout, musician, wrestler, and exemplary student. Pretty amazing. The shows went well – though we were forced to move the second one inside and substitute toy swords for our regular ones due to an unexpected downpour. It was a great time. Like always we include beverages as part of our contract. Look at that photo below; we didn’t expect to get such a lavish set up – we felt like Rockstars!  Friday night was yet another party. This one was much more down-to-earth. The hosts were longtime fans and fan club members. Over the years we have unknowingly had had several of the clan on stage in our various shows. We were booked as part of a birthday celebration. There were hot dogs, and booze, beer pong, and booze. A hot red –headed b-day girl and booze! We worked in the back yard in fading light; making the swordplay that much more exciting.  Like I said, the clients were also fans; they were paying attention to our facebook page and these journals. Imagine my surprise when they rolled out one of the birthday cakes and I found my name on it as well!  I ended the evening with my very own glowing wand, bracelet and a slab of cake at the beer pong table.

Speaking of my birthday; I really want to thank so very many of you.

I think my birthday spanned over two weeks which is excessive, but still less than the month-long celebration Jose (Don Juan) gets. People flooded me with gifts. It was kind of overwhelming. I got not one but two sets of custom grips for my pistol. I got over 50 different gifts sent to me or wired to my kindle. They ranged in price from one dollar to over a hundred. Overwhelming is really the only way I can describe it. I am humbled and touched and so very grateful to have inspired such generosity from you guys. One million "thank yous" to all of you whether you sent a gift or just best wishes. Thanks.

Really Georgia, Really?

The Monday after all of the private parties we had planned to go back to Tennessee and retrieve my upgraded truck. Instead I found myself at a DUI school in Fayetteville Georgia. Upon returning from Florida - where I’d been stymied in getting my driver’s license renewed - I searched my files. I found the paperwork that showed that I had in fact, completed the DUI School and discharged my obligation so I could get my driving privileges restored. I couldn’t believe it when I presented the form to the woman behind the counter and she pushed it back to me saying that it wasn’t valid. In 2004 when I got the DUI in Georgia I flew back from Florida to do my mandatory jail-time, did my community service in Minnesota, and completed my DUI School in Charlotte NC. I told the woman behind the counter that I had called the court to verify that the course I was about to take in Carolina would satisfy the requirements in Georgia. She, the harridan from the DMV, actually said to me “The court is not the state!” Really? I tried everything – but in the end I was left with no choice but to scramble to attend the DUI School. The school was easy, informative and if you’ll pardon the pun - sobering. I’m glad I went; it will only strengthen my resolve on a lot of issues. Turns out I got lucky: While I was attending the classes I heard horror stories involving some of the other schools in town. Finally after paying almost $300 dollars for the class and $210 to get my privileges restored in Georgia; things were back on track to return to Florida to get my license. Because of all this unexpected last minute schedule-shuffling I had to put-off retrieving my truck until Friday. I was forced to miss the Fan Club Meet and Greet for the first time ever. I apologize to any and all fans I disappointed; it truly was unavoidable. One bright point in all of this: I got to celebrate my nephew’s birthday with him, taking the whole Tennessee clan out to dinner.

Really Florida? You too?

After the long and tiring three-day weekend I had to get up before the sun and drive almost five hours to the nearest DMV just across the Florida border. All of the trouble started because Homeland Security has made much stricter requirements for renewing your license. Though in the past I have just done it on line, I was required to bring a lot more documentation including a passport or birth certificate. I chose my swanky passport. This is the self-same passport I travelled to Germany on, not-so-long ago. I handed the woman at the DMV all of my documentation, including my hard-won certificate from the state of Georgia but… are you ready for this? There was a typo on my passport ten years ago. I was marked down as female. The DMV wench noticed it. She made some calls, spoke to some higher-ups and was informed that since my passport said female, my license was required to say so as well. Yes, I offered to prove that I wasn’t a girl. No I couldn’t charm or bargain my way out of it. I was pretty certain that the next time I’d be anywhere near this state was November, maybe AND I needed a valid license to fly the next day. So; I was now officially a woman in the eyes of the state of Florida. See the license for yourself.  Heather got such GLEE out of the whole thing teasing me mercilessly. She even slipped a small bag of tampons and pads into my luggage for my trip to Minnesota.

A speedy jaunt to perform at a wedding in Minnesota

Before dawn Riki picked me up at my trailer. We travelled lightly but I made sure I carried enough documentation to (hopefully) clear up any gender confusion presented by the TSA. We underestimated travel and parking time but everything else worked-out and we boarded the plane without a hitch. It was an easy flight that we both slept through the majority of. We picked up a sporty little rental car, Riki and I; Jef had left for Minneapolis earlier in the week. After breakfasting at a nearby Ihop  Riki and I invaded the Mall of America!  Riki and I shopped, took in the sights, and even saw a not-very-good movie: Battleship. Jef met us later in the afternoon for lunch, and judging by this photo a trip to the bathroom  and then we all went to a second, less-crappy movie, Men in Black 3. In the interim we lurked the Best Buy, We played with some of the Nickelodeon characters at the indoor amusement park. I even did a little impromptu modeling as both a Chinese cartoon  and with Riki and Jef as Ninja Turtles. We eventually got to our cozy little hotel and once we got settled in we recorded the supplemental audio track for our newest DVD. The wedding was scheduled after one pm so here was no hurry. We had a leisurely breakfast and an equally unhurried drive to the festival site where the wedding was taking place. There has been even more destruction and removal of the parking lot at the festival. I swear, before long it is going to be surrounded by the mine pit like a moat. We made our way into the festival, smelling those familiar smells and seeing those magical sights. We checked in with the bride and admired the set up for the day’s ceremony. You couldn’t have asked for a nicer day – the weather was perfect. The crowd was a joy to see and both the wedding party and the festival put on a heck of an event. Our show was a hit and we were told later that we were perfect for their day. When our show was done and after the guests had filled their plates we hit the food line. It turns out the bride is also a pastry chef and had a lot to do with the menu… she did a GREAT job; pretty good vittles!

We had some last minute excitement before we were done with Georgia.

Before we even got on the plane to head back home things were looking pretty good. We stopped at the airport restaurant for some last minute yummies, and speaking of yummy; both our hostess and waitress were breathtaking. What most caught my eye was the menu listing their “corpse reviver” cocktail. Sounded tasty – but I’ll pass. We were worried when we booked this gig since we were catching the last flight out of Minneapolis for Atlanta, as it turns out we had nothing to worry about. An easy, snoozie flight and by 11 pm I was home in preparation for the final weekend in Georgia. We had also invited some very cool guests to see us, and to see the faire. Riki and I are big fans of a charming and informative podcast called “Stuff You Missed in History Class”. We invited the hosts to come out and they did. SO FREAKING COOL! It was really nice to meet you Sarah and Deblina!

With Georgia done there was still so much to do

We had to pack down our house, Heather’s souvenir shops, our drum booth and the clothing shop. Whew! We had our year-end debriefing with management and renewed our contract for another year – into 2014. I had to take another ten hour/ $80 dollar round-trip to Florida to rectify the mis-gendered driver’s license. Yes they charged me for the replacement license. I don’t know if I have mentioned this or not yet but Heather got Nomadic Dreams into Bristol for this summer – and because of that I suddenly got the drums into Bristol and Kansas City. This is on top of the businesses we are setting up at the brand new Michigan fair named “Blackrock” – we’re gonna have a busy summer. There were finances to arrange, another trailer to acquire and a hitch to put on the Honda. Nonetheless, by Thursday we were on our way to Kansas City. We slept at a truck stop in Kentucky – this also allowed us to eat at Denny’s! It was an easy painless trip.

Once we got settled into our normal park in Kansas City we got to – relax?

We have already spent a couple of evenings at Bob and Ann’s. Scarlett got some photos shot, Bob and I played video games. But Heather, Scarlett and I also spent a day or more just languishing in front of the TV catching up on old shows. Heather organized a huge get-together of many of her old friends, some of them  she has not seen in decades, some are our Kansas City Family. We also spent some time just driving to picturesque parts of the area we haven’t been to together before. We ate lunch with an old friend in a town charmingly named “Peculiar”, and we drove by a place named after women of loose morals; I think. (Hee hee hee, they said "Ho"). We even explored two small, quaint towns we might eventually move to: Lee’s Summit is really nice, Parkville is just beautiful. We are here for a few more days before we head early to the Bristol site. We have a lot on our plate, but we’ll handle it. It’s what we do.

We lose a great light

Before I end for this month I need to touch on a tragedy. An genuine travesty. A friend of mine was shot and killed on the day after my birthday. Mitt was beautiful. Funny, talented, immature, strong, smart, dedicated. On his hip he had tattooed the molecular configuration adrenaline. That is a picture-perfect representation of him. It is trite to say that he was “Full of life” but I have rarely met anyone to whom that phrase has applied more. He was on a date at a drive-in and his car wouldn’t start. He approached another car and knocked on the window to borrow some jumper cables and the driver shot him dead.

Dead.

There are people that should be dead, or even could be dead. Mitt was not one of those people. We weren’t close. I saw him on the weekends, twenty minutes a day for two months of my year. But I liked him. I respected him. If I were in a bar and saw he was about to get into a fight – I’d wade in without question. We weren’t close enough, but I liked him. My emotions are complicated and this is a first for me. Of all the things said and written about mitt in the days following this tragedy, my favorite was written by a man named Sean Moreno an actor, a friend and a guy that we’re bringing into the Tortuga Twins stable. He wrote this:

“Sometimes the world turns without incident. Sometimes it moves with serenity and in it's beauty it embodies perfection. Today it is ripe with the loss of a great fighter, a great entertainer, a great man, and a better soul. Mitt Lenix was an inspiration, a leader, a friend, and a compatriot. Our friendship was in its infancy, but he was a brother none-the-less, and his name will be hung in the list of heroes whom I've had the immense pleasure and the great blessing to have known.

To his family, I, like so many others, offer my sincerest condolences and support in any way possible.

To his partner and ally, Judah Andrews, words cannot express my sorrow and great depth of compassion for your loss. Through the memories, kind thoughts, great love, and inspiration he has spread in us all, he will be remembered.

He would not, I don't think, want us to remember the loss of him, though... but rather the beautiful individual he is, and the greatness his love stirred in each of us.

Cheesy and nerdy though it may be, I feel it's appropriate, especially considering, like most of us who knew him, how much of a dork and amazing person he was, is, and forever will be:

"Long live the fighters."

Rest in peace, brother. Your name will never be forgotten.”

Beautifully done Sean.

So that wraps up May’s journal – 19 days late, or if you prefer nine days before the next one is due. I think June is going to be another Zombie Journal… with the stuff that happened in the news lately it seems like an ideal time. Wish Heather, Scarlett and I luck with these daunting business undertakings. And let me leave you with a song that woke me from a sound sleep by rattling around in my head. Besides being vaguely akin to my life; it’s also a song I remember from my childhood. My mother loved this song. My mother, who at one point in her life was planning on running away with my biological father and becoming a carny. You see? It’s destiny. Enjoy your spring day. Hug those you love. Savor each moment of joy and happiness. As Kahlil Gibran suggests “Be like a flower and turn your face to the sun”.