One Week!!! Chicago! Barbiere! Lyric! Nathan Gunn! Candy Eggs! And So Much More!

One week until my JDF-less trip to Chicago!!! One week!!! A week and a half until Barbiere at the Lyric!! And hopefully a little visit backstage after the show! C'mon John O, don't forget! Of course a little message on Facebook before I leave won't hurt.

Google maps has a street view with panoramic photos, so I've actually located the stage door on the picture. So now I wonder... what will happen? Assuming John remembers to put me on the list... I'll go there after the show and I assume there'll be someone there with some sort of list that I'll hopefully be on... and then what? I envision a long hallway, lots of doors, people scurrying about... where to go? How to find John? How not to be totally starstruck if I see/meet Nathan Gunn or Joyce D (whose blog I've been reading and commenting on), who I know are just normal people but still... how not to totally pee in my pants? Or in my dress... In a way it's good that JDF isn't going to be there. True, I wouldn't have had the backstage invite (which I'm still not counting on, just in case...) but the whole starstruck thing - I'd probably start crying and then pee in my pants. Charming.

Ok, let's get realistic. Flashback: 1985. Age: 18. I'm crazy for Adam Ant, INXS, Duran Duran. Ok, never met Duran Duran. But I met Adam Ant and did I pee in my pants? No. In fact, I had a little argument with him because he insulted me. Stupid man. What about INXS? Hung out backstage with them. No big deal. Eurogliders? Anyone remember them? They should have been more popular here than they were... so I wrote them letters when I was in high school. Later met them... and they had the letters. Did I pee in my pants? No. The drummer propositioned me. Did I pee in my pants? No, I didn't really understand what he wanted... but that's another story. The point is, I was starstruck yet I was totally cool. Of course that was before I had a baby... damn better start doing kegels.

Another issue... a thank-you gift. Can't show up backstage empty-handed. Flowers are inappropriate and cumbersome. I have this cute book of anecdotes called The Bumper Book of Operatic Disasters. I looked for it online and found two sequels. Ordered both on Feb 13. Where are they? Not here... so if they don't come this week... there goes that idea. Next idea: an Allfathers Egg. It means schlepping a 1 lb chocolate egg to Chicago and then to the opera house. Hmmm. They're good but... is that a good thank-you gift? Worth the schlep? Candy... not sure. Then what do I do with it if he forgets? Give it to Nathan when he leaves the theater? Better not write a note with it... or maybe I can have an alternate note to stick on it... there's an interesting thought. Prepared for any situation. Heh heh. Ok for anyone who doesn't know me, it's a joke, ok? I'm not writing an alternate note. "Hi, I was going to give this to someone else, but... here... enjoy!" Heh heh.

To the 4 people who read this blog... any gift ideas? Leave me a comment...

Ok, off to find my xanax.