Anniversary!

Greetings, gentle readers! I apologize for my extended absence, but this weekend was my anniversary weekend, and Marta came into Fairfax, VA to spend some time. It was very enjoyable, even considering the fact I drove the truck from Knox, TN--all 500 miles of it. But it was very nice; the cast went out with us to a hibachi restaurant called Sakura, which has excellent food, and a lovely selection of sake. I had an entire bottle myself, so you know I was having a great time. I've never experienced a restaurant of that type with a large group, and let me tell you, it is a lot of fun. We had a good chef as well--not only very skillful (which is a must, considering the whole thing is a show and there's nothing more uncomfortable, at least for me, than watching a hibachi chef mess up one of the routines you know he does several hundred times a day) but also amusing with a good personality, like when he was trying to get us all to play the game "catch the food", where he flips pieces of chicken across the table and you try to catch it in your mouth. He was very funny, trying to convince the people at our table to join in. Not everyone chose to, but he went after Levitt with determination. I believe it was because she was sitting right in front of him. She demurred several times, then gave in and promptly missed the food. But I will say, at least she was a good sport about it. I attribute that to the fact she was sauced. The important part was that Marta got along with the cast, and the cast seemed to like her, which is always good. Most of the cast returned to the hotel after dinner, but Bob, Flo, Marta, Bob's friend Mary Helen (who isn't going to appear enough in this blog to warrant an alias), and I wandered around Fairfax looking for a place to either get coffee, ice cream, or both. While Fairfax, VA is nowhere near as sad as Portsmouth, NH when it comes to night life, 10:00 p.m. on a Saturday seemed to be as late as most establishments wanted to go--including Starbucks of all things. Oy. Finally, we ended up at an Applebee's, where we were able to get coffee and indulgent desserts. I highly recommend the chocolate mousse shooter. Trust me on this people.

Sunday was LAZY. One of the few days in my life I slept until 11. It's a glorious feeling. I recommend that almost as much as the chocolate mousse shooter. Almost. We found a nice diner in town called the 29 Diner, which is an actual old time diner, not a replica, but one that's been there since the days of the long silver diners. You can tell because they still refuse to take credit cards. I don't think that will ever stop surprising me. Which is funny because there was a time not THAT long ago, when I couldn't conceive of walking around without any cash on me at all. When I was in college, everyone was talking about turning into a cashless society, and I was highly skeptical. Why would anyone want to be caught without any cash at all? I mean, who wants to use their credit card to buy bubble gum, or a candy bar, or a coffee? That's stupid--you're paying interest on something that small? In my defense, at the time the concept of debit cards did not exist. You had either a credit card or, if you were new-fangled, an ATM card. And really, what good was that? You could only use it to GET cash at a machine. So in the end, you still needed cash. So the whole idea of a cashless society was beyond my ken. Of course, I also thought it was stupid to carry around a phone in your pocket or purse because come on, you're not that important. But I absolutely refuse to watch TV on my cell phone. No-one in their right mind wants to watch TV on a two inch screen. And I'll stand by that. But I do realize I'm old. I was just talking to Bob about this today, about how there's no way in hell I can predict what the world will be like in the next ten years, since the changes in the LAST ten years have been so staggering, and it only looks like it's going to stagger even more. But I will say this--I refuse to submit to microchip implants. I want answering the phone to entail more than blinking my eyes. What I DO want is jet packs. Where the hell are my jet packs? We were promised jet packs and flying cars. I don't think that's too much to ask. Don't give me a cell phone with the ability to compose a symphony, edit a movie and launch a nuclear attack, give me a freaking JET PACK! Somebody call George Lucas and get him working on that instead of messing up another beloved movie franchise. (Indiana Jones survives a ground zero nuclear blast by hiding in a refrigerator? Come on....) Anyway, where the hell was I? Oh right, eating an omelette for cash. After breakfast, we tooled around th local mall and I gave up my cell phone carrier for a family plan. Yes, change comes to Andrew. But worry not, my number is the same, even if I did end up with a cell phone that, while I will admit I haven't found a "Launch Nuclear Attack" application, DOES play music and record video. Oh...and I can watch TV on it. (But I refuse to use it...mostly because it costs extra to connect to the internet.)

So the rest of the day passed slowly. We went to dinner at a place called the Lamplighter, a restaurant which is apparently where Fairfax seniors go to feel like they're living the high life. It had a piano player who did a rousing elevator version of "Careless Whisper." Yep, it's one of those kind of places. Red chairs and white tablecloths, and hotel art on the wall. The place was empty when we got there at 5:30, and by the time we left at 7, the population had increased by only about 8 people. Yep, it was party central. BUT, the food was excellent. Whatever other problems the place might have (like being crammed into a strip mall with a korean barbecue place and a Dairy Queen) food quality is not one of them. Marta's filet mignon and crab-stuffed shrimp was lovely (although I never understand stuffing shrimp with crab. It strikes me like stuffing butter with margarine.) and my Pork Schnitzel Viennese was amazing--and roughly the size of my face. Daddy likes his capers. (Wow, if you didn't know I was talking about food, that statement sounds pretty creepy...)

Before she flew back to Chicago, Marta came and saw the show this morning, which was at the Performing Arts Center of George Mason University, a really beautiful space with ample everything. We had a great crowd which filled up the entire lower level of the theatre and filled the rafters with their applause at the end. Ted did well on his messed-up toe; you would have never known how much pain he had been in just two days prior. I was glad MArta got to see today's performance, because it really gelled. We are now in Fort Washington, PA, just outside of Philadelphia. We're in a Best Western I remember staying in last tour, but I don't remember anything about the theatre space. I am praying it's not another freaking symphony hall with no wingspace and a lack of masking. I hate places like that. Not as much as I hate getting stuck in a high-falooting Marriott hotel for the weekend where we have no free breakfast, no free coffee in the lobby, and no free internet in the rooms. Apparently, the more expensive the hotel, the FEWER amenities you get. What annoys me the most is that they changed our reservations to this place FROM a Comfort Inn much closer to the venue. But it's got something to do with Spring getting points or something at Marriott. Oy. And it's always on a weekend. 

But, all in all, the weekend, and today, went very well, and I'm happy the week's started off so well. I'm also glad to say that I have somehow managed to stay married for a whole year. I'm sure that it has something to do with being on the road for eight months. So if anyone has any more touring gigs, let me know--I do this enough, I could be celebrating my golden anniversary....in separate cities....;-) But when it comes to work, seriously, if anyone knows of anything for this summer (preferably in Chicago) let me know. 

So that's about it, save for this little tidbit I picked up. Apparently, a San Diego area middle school has enrolled several (like 39) native Spanish speaking students in its AP Spanish class. Why? you ask. Well, according to the principal (or as I like to refer to him, the idiot) it's because the good grades they get in the class help them feel good about themselves, thus taking what has traditionally been an ethnic and economic disadvantage and turning it into something positive. Yeah, and I can't imagine those kids aren't bored out of their mind being taught their OWN LANGUAGE. And how good can they really feel about themselves when they get high marks for speaking the language they've been speaking since the learned HOW to speak? You want them to feel good about themselves, help them get high marks learning how to speak English. This is like taking a bunch of American kids and showering them with praise for speaking English. I almost hope this is actually a scam the principal came up with to pad his test scores or something and he's using this stupid self-esteem argument to cover that part of it up. Because if this was done for the reason stated, then I weep for the educational system in our country. Because what this says is that kids feeling good about themselves is more important than them learning something. Because they're not learning a damn thing. And I really can't imagine this is doing much to boost their self-esteem. The positive thing that HAS come out of this story is that I have finally figured out the way to fix the American educational system. It's so brilliantly simple, it's breathtaking. The way to ix the educational system in this country is--stop hiring stupid people to run your schools! My plan is NOT complex, it's cheap, and it's basically shovel-ready. All we have to do is find some non-stupid people and hire them to run the schools. Thank you, thank you. Pond in 2012. Donations for my exploratory committee can be mailed to me and made out to cash. That's Pond in 2012--How Dangerous Can A Redhead Really Be?