Greetings from Charlotte, NC

Well, here we are on our third day in Charlotte. Let me just begin by saying how freaking annoying it is that Holiday Inns never have a business center. It's pretty much my only complaint with them, but it's a big one.

We taught some workshops in Wilmington on Sunday, then drove in to Charlotte. It's gotten quite cold down here actually. Tuesday's high was 34 degrees. Not Chicago cold, I know, but definitely not balmy! Sunday night Brendan and I went to see "The Life Aquatic." It was really good. I love Wes Anderson's films!

Monday was our big day off. I think it's the only day on the trip where we have absolutely no obligations -- no driving, no shows, no workshops. We took the opportunity to do laundry. I had the cast's show clothes dry cleaned. We went out to dinner and did some shopping at Target. I got a new tattoo.

Yes, you read that right! I can't wait to show it off when I get back. Dave took a lot of pictures to document the process, and I'll try to remember to post some of them so that those of you reading from afar can see it. But that won't be until we get back. Until then I'm going to keep it as a surprise :)

Tuesday we went to a matinee of "In Good Company." It was GREAT! I was not expecting much from it, but completely loved it. As Brendan put it, it was the movie that "Garden State" should have been. Much more realistic and less heavy handed. And the soundtrack included many of the same bands as the "Garden State" soundtrack. I love the "Garden State" soundtrack, by the way, and can't wait to buy the "In Good Company" one. That'll definitely happen before the end of the trip. Speaking of which, on Monday I was at a coffee shop and picked up a cool 8-disc CD set of all local Charlotte bands. I'm really enjoying it so far.

The show last night went really well. This morning we did a kid's show for a bunch of school groups, and now we're off for the rest of the day. We're gonna go see more movies! I'll report on them soon.