Going on a business trip this week.

It’s been years since I’ve traveled on my own and longer still since the last time I went on behalf of an employer. The first such trip was back during my days as a marketing data analyst for a now-defunct HMO. They sent me to Kansas City to train up on a piece of mapping software. Geo-something. All I really remember was how incredibly flat that part of the country seemed. It was bitter cold, as well. The hotel room was nice enough, but I don’t think I could’ve tolerated more than a two-night stay.

This time, I’m going to Chicago. Heading up on Wednesday afternoon. I’ll only be there for a couple of nights, spending just about all of my time in various conference panels, but perhaps this visit will still serve as a decent introduction to a city I’ve admired from afar through books.

Hopefully, I’ll be back to join Nikki, Alyssa and the rest of our cast and crew sometime around Friday night’s performance, most likely during intermission.

This weekend’s shows went off with nary a hitch. Normally, this would be the end, the place where I write about the lessons learned and how we’re looking forward to the next show. But we’re going for three weeks instead of two, so the postmortem will just have to wait. And if you’ve yet to check us out, please do so. Our actors are doing an excellent job and I’ve yet to hear a single audience complaint.

Well, aside from the complaint that all of us had on Saturday night. Apparently, the bar across Atlanta Street from Barrington Hall thought that the best way to ring in the first weekend of October was to celebrate in grand karaoke style. And so, patrons and actors alike were treated to occasional blasts of noise from the speakers on their outside deck.

Snippets of unfortunate songs would waft over like bad smells. We sent someone over to talk to them during the first half. That worked for a bit, as they lowered the volume, but before long it was back up. So during the second half, shortly after somebody warbled through a soulful rendition of “The Hokey-Pokey,” we gave them a call and asked nicely for their cooperation. And cooperate they did, allowing us to have a final act without interruption.

What’s with the fighting Doctors? Nothing. Just an image I thought was cool, so I’m using it. I read a couple of the Doctor Who comic books when I was in junior high. I think I read this one and this one. The art was great, particularly since Marvel printed them on better paper, but the stories were never quite as good as what I watched on late night PBS.

Oh! And I forgot to mention another something! Last night, Nikki and I met up with Larry and Katie (from Merry Wives) to see Bat Boy: The Musical at North Springs High. Another of our cast, the excellent Claire, has been splitting her time between our production and Bat Boy, serving as Assistant Director for that production. And it was exceptionally good. North Springs has a talented pack of kids, certainly. They did seem to be plagued with the same little technical glitches (wireless mic connectivity, mostly) that flitted about their production of The Tempest from last year, but all of that aside, they put on a show that would put a lot of professional houses to shame. They have one more weekend of performances, so if you’ve any free time next Sunday (after you come to Merry Wives), go check out the little bloodsucker!

(Image from Doctor Who #8 (May 1985), art by Brian Bolland.)