The title of this article is a reference to a promo ad Tennessee’s Department of Tourism released about fifteen years. Basically it had famous people from Tennessee (primarily country singers, no surprise) singing a bar or two from the catchy jingle “Come to Tennessee, We’re Playing Your Song” on the commercial. But at any rate, the title also states a fact; I’m leaving for Tennessee today, and won’t be back until next week.

First, I’m headed to Chattanooga for the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) to help teach a mime/physical theatre workshop with Dr. Lou Campbell on Thursday. On Friday, the physical troupe I work with, The Joshua Squad, performs at the 7:00 PM slot on the main stage of the conference. It’s a good time for the show, so we’re hoping there will be a good turn out.

I’m not really sure what I will personally get out of the rest of SETC. For those who have never been to this event, this is a run down of how it goes:

1) You network.
2) You audition.
3) You watch plays.
4) Network some more.
5) You interview for colleges, graduate programs, companies, etc.
6) Network even more.
7) You leave town networking.

The above is what you do in order to get the most out of SETC. Considering the list above (albeit a condensed list), the two main things you really glean from SETC is auditioning for acting or tech work for a theatre company (most of the companies only offer summer work, making it more geared towards students) and interviewing for various graduate programs. Since I’m not interested in either proposition at the moment, I believe the only thing I’ll gather from this event is meeting some new people and developing some new inside jokes with my friends (both worth their weight in gold, BTW).

However, on Saturday, I’ll rendezvous with my family in Chattanooga, and we will spend a hopefully relaxing week in Gatlinburg, which is nestled deep in the mountains of Tennessee. I have been there since I was a teen; needless to say, I’m fairly excited about the prospect. I’ll have my laptop with me, so I will make sure to post at least once while I’m up there just to give an update.

Speaking of updates, we had to postpone a shoot on Monday for Handry Kova because we discovered a location where we were going to film is no longer available. We plan on shooting on Thursday, March 13th. Also, my novel is not coming out as quickly as I’d like, but it is coming. And I’m going. Ciao.