Fayetteville is a DRAG!

So people…I have STORIES! And what makes this so sad is that I have ALREADY typed out a whole blog entry, full of pictures and crazy stories. BUT – for some reason, when I went to post it, there was maintenance problems, and I lost it. So here I sit, trying to recreate the magic that was. Wish me luck.
OK. So – yesterday we woke up, packed up the van and bid a fond farewell to Tulsa – AND Oklahoma as a whole. We hopped on the highway and headed a little over 2 hours EAST to Fayetteville, Arkansas. We got here (to the Hampton Inn) at about noon – and came to find out that we couldn’t check in to our hotel until 2pm. So we headed across the parking lot to Ruby Tuesday’s and everyone just hung around eating and talking. We headed back over to the hotel around 1:45pm – and the tech crew headed to the venue to start setting up the show. Elisa got us checked in, but came to find out that the rooms weren’t QUITE ready yet. She was told the rooms would be ready in about 30 minutes. Elisa headed to the theater and we all unpacked the van and headed into the lobby to wait/get online/watch baseball/sleep/chill.
LONG about 2:50pm, I asked the woman behind the desk if she knew when the rooms would be ready – and I got a shrug and a “I am just as baffled as you” response (although she wasn’t doing anything to move it all along.) Then about 3:15pm, I decided to take matters into my OWN hand and head up to the room MYSELF and see if it was done. And lo and behold, there was a clean room awaiting us! We all ended up getting into our rooms, but I think Tara and Jen actually didn’t get in until a little after 4pm. So that’s fun.

Here everyone is WAITING, WAITING, WAITING in the lobby. Sorry a couple of them are blurry...I had my camera set to a different setting. Evidently, the BLURRY setting.

Once I got settled, I got a call from a local friend who was on her way over to say HI. When I was working for the Washington Speakers Bureau (I can’t believe I haven’t included this before: http://www.washingtonspeakers.com/), I did a few events for Sam’s Club Headquarters, up in Bentonville, AR. (Just north of Fayetteville.) The client I worked with there was my friend, Kathleen, who came to say HI yesterday. We had never actually met in person, so it was nice to get to see her and say hello! She brought her mother, and then her daughter, Sidney, and her friend, Alexandra. They are 9 years old, and they told us that their classes are going to be coming to see our show on Wednesday morning! So – I called the cast down and they got to meet everyone and take some pictures with us all – and ask us an endless stream of questions about our show and our characters and what we do IN the show. It was a lot of fun – and everyone in the cast was SO cooperative! Thanks guys! It was good to get a chance to meet Kathleen and talk to her – and it reminded how much I LOVED what I did with WSB – and made me realize how lucky I was to spend a couple of years there! (A HUGE shout out to my WSB Peeps! Love and miss you guys!)

Here are my visitors! Kathleen, Alexandra (left) and Sydney (right). Please notice that I weigh 1 trillion pounds in this picture. I love it.

After they left, I hopped in the van and headed to the venue to pick Elisa up and bring her back to the hotel. After I got her, we decided to spend some time driving around the campus of the University of Arkansas, and check out what we were working with. It turns out that it’s a BEAUTIFUL campus with a great area full of shops, restaurants and bars/clubs. And then, as we were driving back – we came around the corner and saw…
THE RAZORBACK FOOTBALL STADIUM! It was SO exciting! And right across the street from the stadium was ANOTHER fun surprise building. (Please see the pictures below…) I am loving getting to see all these different campuses and cities around the country. Go HOGS!

THE STADIUM SIGHTING! I love it! And the second stadium picture is just from across the street. And finally, THE SURPRISE building. I knew people have been focused on poultry science, but a whole center for it? Not only that, but a center focusing on EXCELLENCE? I've seen the Center of Mediocracy for Poultry Science...but that was at BYU. What a TREAT! Plus, it's named after the Tyson's Chicken Guy!

Later that night, a group of us (Elisa, Emily, Chris Sizemore, Eric, Andrew and I) headed back down to the Dickson Street area (the cool restaurant/shop part of campus) to find something to eat. We ended up at the Hog Haus Restaurant – and I think, all things equal, we all ended up enjoying the food experience we had there. I enjoyed the chicken strips – and would happily recommend them to anyone who asked.

On the left, Andrew liked the cheese dip at Hog Haus so much that even when we were out of chips, he ate it with a fork. A true fan. And on the right, Andrew and Emily smile for the camera, right before Emily announces, 'Wow. I'm pretty drunk.'

AND THEN…after we went back to the hotel…the real wackiness began. Chris Sizemore and I agreed to go with Eric to THE ‘gay club’ in town. (It’s actually ONLY a gay club on Sunday nights…called Xanadu. The rest of the week, it’s a regular straight bar, I guess.) Eric wanted to check out the scene in Fayetteville, Chris agreed to be his wingman, and I was bored and not sleepy. So we ended up at Club Xanadu – and GUESS WHAT? IT WAS DRAG SHOW NIGHT! Now people – how lucky could I be? I’ve never been to one before, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that it was quite possibly one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in my life. Funny – hell yes. Good – not at all. Terrible – quite possibly the most terriblist. (I made that word up.)I confirmed with Eric, who has been to these things before, and he also said it was NOT good. But the best part about it was that BECAUSE it was so bad, it also was so much fun!

OK - so right off, sorry these are blurry, too. Must have been on the same setting. OR - these girls were so full of action that I couldn't really catch them standing still. Either way - these are just a glimpse of the terribly fun show we saw last night. WOW is still all that I can really muster.

We got back home, (HOME = hotel) and I tried to write the blog entry that was promptly LOST. I finally got to bed about 3:15am, which was a bit rough, since we had to be UP and at the van at 7:50am! But we made it.
Today we had one morning show (we thought we had 2 – and were pleasantly surprised to NOT have 2!) at the Walton Arts Center – and the space is BEAUTIFUL! (Check it out at: http://www.waltonartscenter.org/) Our audience this morning was local school kids (I’m guessing 3rd or 4th grade) and they were probably the most excited/noisy/energetic audience we’ve had on the road! They were a lot of fun – and made performing at 9:30am totally worth it! We have one more show tonight – a public performance, and then I’m sure we’ll all be ready for BED because we have another 9:30am show tomorrow!
That about does the recap of the recap! OH – and you’ll all be excited to know that my younger brother, Tim, comes in to town tomorrow to see the show. Should be a riot when the Anderson boys get together.
I’m sure I’ll have updates!
Cheers!
Gussy


L: Welcome to Arkansas, indeed. R: This is the photo we were SUPPOSED to get on our way IN to Oklahoma, but were thwarted by The OC.
Again, expert photographer Elisa J. Rupert comes through to capture both of these. THANKS ELISA!


Speaking of Elisa. She decided to be ZANY here in Fayetteville and WALK through the DRIVE THRU ATM. I tell you - she is OFF THE HOOK!



So Chris and I saw this on the back of a car - and it tickled me to no end. I mean, what exactly does 'UNS' refer to? PLEASE send me a comment and let me know your vote for what UNS are. Crazy Arkansas.


Post Drag-Show, Chris and I show off our Wrist Bands. It was ALMOST like being at the Tulsa State Fair. Except...you know...not as much fried food. And a LOT more 'BIGGEST PIGS ALIVE' all over.