Home again
The trip? The trip was fabulous. We met with a few misadventures on the way to Tupelo. You can watch the story unfold in hastily-edited-on-the-bus detail here. The good news: we made it to the venue before showtime with all of our members and most of the bus intact.
Depending on how you count them, we played either three or six shows, most of them with different set lists. It was a good deal less organized and polished than TaikoFest, but I got to play a bunch more, so I’m not complaining. I messed up twice in ways that were totally obvious to the audience and at least a dozen times in less obvious ways. My crowning achievement, I think, was when I miscounted one section of a song, transitioned four measures too early, and brought two other people down with me. Believe it or not, I think we looked good enough doing it that almost no one noticed.
The New Orleans show, held outdoors, was pretty hot, but by all accounts not nearly as miserable as last year’s show, when the Japan Festival was held in June. This show marked the first time I’ve ever changed clothes in a library. Not the last, I imagine.
We spent four nights in four different hotels. In Biloxi we stayed in a casino, which had an excellent buffet, a hot tub with a mini palm tree on an island in the middle of it, and way more slot machines with glassy-eyed old people sitting at them than I expected.
We had Saturday afternoon and evening off to wander around New Orleans, tra la. I had beignets at Cafe du Monde, got my tarot cards read, tasted absinthe (it’s like drinking licorice), played a lot of cards, and learned a new drinking game. While wandering down Bourbon Street, we saw a sweet-looking old man playing the spoons in a bar. Goofy and possibly mildly retarded, he was adorable right up until he grabbed the waitress’s ass and buried his face in her boobs. Ew.
All in all, I had a blast. The whole experience reminded me of the best parts of high school—all those bus trips to Quiz Bowl, math, TAPPS, and tennis competitions. (Yes, those were my favorite parts of high school. My friends were all nerds like me, mkay?) The only things missing were the chaperones, the awards ceremonies, and Risk marathons in the hotel lobby. It goes without saying that I don’t in the least regret missing two rounds of Crump’s class (which I’ve been half-listening to as I’ve been typing this post) and one session each of Contracts and Legal Writing.
Best. Hobby. Ever.
