BIZ!

 Biz, biz, busy and show-bizzy day! Ellen picked me up and off we went to the Ventura County Fair. She dropped me off, then drove to the place where a shuttle bus could be boarded, free of charge. That made a lot more sense than to pay the twenty-buck charge to park. 

It was jammed--Saturdays usually are--but I got to the agriculture building where the "Cowboy Poetry Contest" was to be held. I was very early--my usual--so had time to look around at the various booths and displays, some that caught my eye:

At first, I thought what was covered was "sh-t," but after checking, I saw it was "steak."

I thought this was a terrific slogan (at the Santa Monica mountains booth.) 

These remarkable carvings on fruit and vegetables intrigued me. The bottom pic shows a hollowed-out cantaloupe set on a light to show the brain-like pattern of the carving. Besides all that...

I did indeed, enter the Cowboy Poetry Contest and--won first prize! I tried to put the video of me reciting my verse here, but it didn't work. It can, however, be seen on my Facebook page of yesterday, 8/13. (I call it a verse to distinguish it--it's doggerel, really--from what real poets--Yeats, for instance--write.)  

El and I had lunch at the fair, then she took me home to prepare for the show.  Access van picked me up early and I got there a good half hour before the 6:30 call. That was okay, though: I chatted with Ken, then took my few things to the dressing room. It was a good one--better, I think, even than opening night on Friday. The audience was very responsive and I got some good laughs via my small part. We had plenty of wine and crackers in the dressing room, in which I indulged only after my walk-off.

During intermission, Ken came and got me to see and chat with my set: niece Carolyn, her Dana, nephew Steve, and his Robyn and Dexter. (This isn't proper show biz protocol--you don't let the audience see you break character--but I did it, anyway.)  They loved the show and especially, a certain player who impersonates the year 2023--their Aunt Mimi.

Ken and his brother took me home and, gawd, after a session of "Better Call Saul" with snack, I didn't get to bed until midnight. But hey, I'm not complaining--it was a terrific day!