A Man, A Jeep, No Real Plan

Amazing Stories and Adventures

Dallas TX

Goodbye Dallas!

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Sorry for the long gap in updates. Dallas has been filled with getting up early to adventure, running the show, and then staying out late to enjoy the nightlife. I honestly am struggling to put it all into words. Struggling so much that I have tried to write a post a half dozen times in the last 24 hours… So I am giving up and just sharing some of the photos I’ve taken.

As you can see from the above pictures, We partook in the vibrant nightlife that Dallas has to offer. Most of these pictures are from the night we tried to go 2 step dancing… some people were more successful than others.

These photos are all from my walks around Dallas. I know I was in the arts district, but there was just so much to see on the streets.

There is a tradition in the tour world of “tagging” a building that your show spends a decent amount of time in. Normally it’s a mural painted on a wall somewhere, but here in Dallas we removed a ceiling tile and decorated it. Each present has a different company members name on it.

Well folks, that’s what I’ve got for you. I’ll try to be better about updating this up coming week. This week will be the final week for the Grinch tour. We’ll be in Pittsburgh, so expect some fun adventures!

Adults need not apply…

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You know those friends that can read your thoughts, and have similar thoughts? You know, the person who you really shouldn’t be left unsupervised with because neither of you can adult correctly while you’re together. Well meet Parker.

Parker is an audio guy from Colorado who now claims to live in The City, yet he has spent about the same amount of time away from there as there since “moving”. He and I are on the same wavelength of refusing to grow up and since my last post we have proven it… repeatedly…

It all began while I was stumbling through the land of bourbon last week. I mentioned something about a “heels” challenge during load in. The conversation quickly escalated to “I bet I can last longer in 3 inch heels than you” and rapidly went down hill from there.

Fast forward a few days and Parker and I are stumbling around a Payless trying to find closed toe 3″ heels that we can actually work in… So, through my “day one” load in I learned several things.

1. There is no ankle support in those wedges.

2. It is possible to run, jump and climb in wedges.

3. Parker is stubborn.

In reference to the last lesson, the wager was that the first person to take off their heels lost. Parker was limping around, tears in his eyes (ok maybe no real tears, but his soul was crying), and trash talking the entire day. We both lasted to the end of the day. Parker claims I took mine off first, but we were off the clock and the agreement only covered while at work. That being said we reached a gentlemen’s agreement that we would not continue the bet on day two of the load in. Parker spends most of his day two in the orchestra pit and he had some safety concerns about all the cable and heels. In his defense he does bite it down there in regular shoes and he’d probably have broken his ankle if we tried to continue the bet.

So we had a rather well behaved day two of load in and opening night of the show here in Dallas.

Wednesday however Parker and I decided to stumble down to the famous Elm Street Tattoo. We really should have adult supervision… we talked to the guys down there and both got some work done.

Parker got two semicolons. One to represent the vibes he gives out and one to represent the vibes he receives.

I got 525,600 tattooed on my left forearm. This is a reference to Rent, but it means a bit more to me as well. I left Finding Neverland about a year ago. I left the road lifestyle and began a journey of figuring things out. I was burnt out, I was unhappy, I really just needed to go home and figure things out. In that year I got a lot of pet projects done around the farm. I spent months building the new Falcons stadium in Atlanta. I converted the garage in my condo into a wood shop…. above all else, I distressed and I more comfortable with who I am. Measuring that journey is something that can only be done through music. To quote the song from Rent that my tattoo is referencing:

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets

In midnights, in cups of coffee

In inches, in miles

In laughter, in strife

In closing I would like to go on record as saying that Parker is a bad influence and I throughly enjoy every minute of it. So Parker, what’s the next bad idea?