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I missed the ACME show on Saturday night, because I hurt my neck so badly on Friday, I couldn’t even stand up Saturday morning. More on that later.
As if the pain in my neck and shoulders wasn’t bad enough, I’m trying my best not to get sick, now. I think it’s just the dry air from my heater and the weather the last few days, but my throat is sore and scratchy, and my sinuses are all dry and ouchy . . . so I’m just going to put up this quick reminder and get back into bed:

1. I’ll be reading and signing Just A Geek on Tuesday November 30th down in Huntington Beach, at Barnes & Noble. I have rehearsal that night, so the event will go from 7 until 8:30. Watch for me doing Warp 11 up the 405 to get back to Hollywood by 9!
2. What’s My Line? The show starts at 8. More details can be found at j.keith.net, including a two-for-one discount.
3. I’ll be at ACME this Saturday, December 4th, for a preview show of ACME Love Machine. The show starts at 8.

Details:

WHAT: Signing and Reading of Just A Geek
WHERE: Barnes & Noble Bookstore
7881 Edinger Avenue #110
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
(714) 897-6201
WHEN: Tuesday, November 30, 2004. 7 – 8:30 pm.
WHAT: What’s My Line? Live On Stage
WHERE: Acme Comedy Theatre
135 N. La Brea
Hollywood, CA 90036
(323) 525-0202
WHEN: Wednesday, December 1, 2004. 8 pm.
WHAT: ACME Love Machine Preview Show — tickets half price.
WHERE: Acme Comedy Theatre
135 N. La Brea
Hollywood, CA 90036
(323) 525-0202
WHEN: Saturday, December 4, 2004. 8 pm.

Last night at dinner, my dad’s cousin (who we all adore, but only get to see once a year, at Thanksgiving) asked us all to say one thing we’re thankful for.
Have you ever tried to do that? Come up with just one thing that you’re thankful for? It was really hard for me to do. I have so much to be thankful for, I didn’t know where to begin.
So I said, “I’m thankful that I’m able to be here with everyone tonight.”
In my mind, that encapsulated many things: I’m thankful that l live in a place that’s safe and comfortable. I’m thankful that I can afford to drive my car 100 miles to my great uncle’s house for dinner. I’m thankful that I love my family, and they love me, so I actually wanted to make the drive. I’m thankful that I’m having success in my creative work, from acting on stage to voice acting in games and on TV, to writing all the things I’m writing. I’m thankful for my wife and stepchildren, and my dogs and my cats, and my friends, and my blog and . . . .
See what I mean?
My cousin Dustin, who has overcome one of the biggest obstacles anyone could ever face, and has a lot to be thankful for himself, had simple but powerful insight. He said, “I’m thankful for my family. Because friends will come and go, but your family is there forever, no matter what.”
I know it’s not like that in all families, but it sure is in ours, and for that, well, I’m thankful.
I hope everyone gets to spend at least a little time this weekend with someone they love.

I am so freakin’ tired, I can hardly see.
Last night we rehearsed “ACME Love Machine” until almost midnight, and I didn’t fall asleep until around two. We’re having work done on our house, so I was up at 8 enjoying the sound of sawing and breaking glass. If I was eating better and exercising more, six hours would be plenty of sleep . . . but I’ve let myself get overwhelmed with work and travel in the last two months, so it’s been a horrible fast food life. Things should slow down at the end of next week, and I can start putting my body back together. I didn’t realize how much time it takes to exercise daily and prepare my own food . . . I’m going to appreciate it more when I have that kind of time. (And I can start running again. I plan on doing the San Diego marathon again this year, and maybe Los Angeles, too, if I can train in time.)
Tonight, I’m back at ACME for another rehearsal and a complete show tech. I think I’ll be there until at least two. We have a preview show on Saturday, and it’s going to require a lot of focus and professionalism to be ready for that show. Normally, I’d be freaking out about how soon we are taking this show in front of an audience . . . but I’m so excited to perform it, I’m actually anxious to get our funny up on the stage.
Yeah. This is one of the funniest shows I’ve ever been a part of, and I can’t wait to perform it. I’ve done a ton of sketch and improv shows over the years, and I can honestly say this show will rank in the top three best shows of all time.
Most of it is the writing, which is really funny and solid, but the cast is phenomenal. It’s one of those “lightning in a bottle” things, like the cast of TNG, where we all like each other, we all love the show, and the energy backstage is so positive and so supportive, it carries over into the audience. I know there are some other actors and musicians who read WWdN, and I’m sure you’ll back me up on this: when you’re in a show with a cast you love, and when that cast is supportive and enthusiastic about the show and each other, you could do the show for an audience of one and it wouldn’t matter.
Some of us are in EarnestBorg9 together, and many of us went through the ACME school together, so it’s not surprising that we all get on so well, but there’s always a chance that something weird can come up, some stupid personality conflict or something that can happen, but we’re already like a family . . . or maybe a group of inmates who’ve just escaped from an asylum. I’ll bring fruit cups tonight, and see what happens.
Our first show is December 11th, and we run every Saturday at 8 until Christmas, take a break, and then we’re back through all of January and February. Please come out and see us. I promise you’ll like it.

Some places you can see me do my thing in the next week:

1. I’ll be at ACME this Saturday, November 27, for a preview show of ACME Love Machine. The show starts at 8.
2. I’ll be reading and signing Just A Geek on Tuesday November 30th down in Huntington Beach, at Barnes & Noble. I have rehearsal that night, so the event will go from 7 until 8:30. Watch for me doing Warp 11 up the 405 to get back to Hollywood by 9!
3. Complete the trifecta at ACME on Wednesday, December 1, for What’s My Line? The show starts at 8. More details can be found at j.keith.net, including a two-for-one discount.

Details:

WHAT: ACME Love Machine Preview Show — tickets half price.
WHERE: Acme Comedy Theatre
135 N. La Brea
Hollywood, CA 90036
(323) 525-0202
WHEN: Saturday, November 27, 2004. 8 pm.
WHAT: Signing and Reading of Just A Geek
WHERE: Barnes & Noble Bookstore
7881 Edinger Avenue #110
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
(714) 897-6201
WHEN: Tuesday, November 30, 2004. 7 – 8:30 pm.
WHAT: What’s My Line? Live On Stage
WHERE: Acme Comedy Theatre
135 N. La Brea
Hollywood, CA 90036
(323) 525-0202
WHEN: Wednesday, December 1, 2004. 8 pm.

So now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

I don’t know why I’ve always loved the desert. Maybe it’s the clean air, the limitless stars at night, or the strange romance I’ve always felt for seclusion, or maybe it’s just all that sand . . . but I really do love it, so when I was asked to head out there for a book signing, I jumped at the chance.
It turns out the desert doesn’t love me as much as I love it — hardly anyone showed up at the bookstore when I did my reading, and I think the owners sold a grand total of 30 books the entire time I was out there.
See, the average crowd at a book signing since I started promoting Just A Geek has been about 80. The largest was well over 100, and the smallest (until this weekend) was about 30 . . . but I guess my target audience just isn’t out there in Palm Springs.
I felt so bad, because the guys who own the bookshop are so nice, and took such good care of me and my family, but for whatever reason, I just didn’t draw people out there. . The bookshop guys told me that it’s hit or miss out there, and not to feel bad . . . but I wanted them to at least make back their costs, you know? I think it’s just that Palm Springs is a much “older” town than my target audience, and most of the press materials stressed the Star Trek-ness of my book. I need to develop some materials that talk about the other aspects of this book that non-Trekkies or WWdN readers can relate to. If you’ve read Just A Geek and wouldn’t mind sending me some ideas, or posting them in comments, maybe we can brainstorm something useful.
Anyway, there were only about 12 people at the bookstore on Friday night, which would have made me super depressed a year ago, (like my experience at LosCon, for example) but I heeded some advice someone gave me about speaking to small groups of people: enjoy the intimacy of the smaller crowd, and honor the few people who did show up, rather than wasting energy on the people who didn’t. So the reading on Friday, which could have been a real bummer, ended up being one of my favorites.
Because the group was so small, I could take more time to read and talk, because I knew I’d get through the signing in about 4 minutes. I read from Just A Geek as planned, but I also got to read the story “Ready or Not, Here I Come” from Dancing Barefoot, which was a real treat for me. I don’t know if I blogged about this or not, but way back when my first Monolith Press printing of Barefoot showed up, I gave the first copy to Anne, and the next two to the kids. Ryan and Nolan were so excited to be in the book, and so excited to be in that story, I remember them both declaring with absolute certainty, “No, I am the kid in the drawingI I was totally wearing a cap just like that one when we played that night!” I just loved it that they were so excited to be part of something I created, and when I read the story on Friday night, it brought back the game, and the joy of holding my first book in my hands.
If the group at the store on Friday hadn’t been so small, I wouldn’t have been able to just pick Barefoot from a lady sitting about three feet from me and ask the group, “Do you mind if I read you a short story from this book?” after I’d been talking about how having a family to love and support turned my focus from Proving To Everyone That Quitting Star Trek Wasn’t A Mistake onto just being a good husband and stepfather — and enjoying the experience of my life with them.
I haven’t picked up Dancing Barefoot, other than to read a brief selection from SpongeBob Vega$ Pants at a con, in months. But when read from it on Friday I remembered how much I love that little book, and how proud of it I am. It’s really like my first-born child, and the stories in it about my family made me so happy, I decided that I’m going to do another Barefoot-style book, this one with stories that are just about family. Earlier today, I went through my blog archives and also looked through the stuff I cut from Geek, and I have more than enough material (some of it just notes that never made it onto the blog, which will be developed into complete stories) for another book. This one will probably be a little bit longer than Barefoot, and I have a cool idea for the illustrations (that I’ll talk about if / when it works out.) It’s going to be wonderful, and if everything goes according to the plan just forming in my head, it should be available from Monolith Press early next year.
Overall, I had a good time in the desert. I got to bring Anne and the kids out, and we got to enjoy some desperately needed family bonding time, away from any disruptions.
There was also something very cool reading about my family when they were right there in the room. Afterwards, Nolan told me he thought about raising his hand and asking, “So tell me the truth . . . are the kids you talked about really that cool?”
Heh. Yes. Yes they are.