I said I would tackle this week & wrestle it to the ground, and that I did. Nothing much I want to remember about it. (Except maybe when getting back to the room after midnight Friday night, exhausted, there came a light tapping at our door—Tayler, that funny mix of ebullient & courteous drunk, inviting me to smoke but trying not to wake anyone else up.) The previous weekend was such a mess, so this week I made up for it in work. The Miss Tennessee USA beauty pageant was hosted here. This is not the Miss Tennessee pageant; this is the Trump knockoff version, hence the “USA” attached. The winner advances to the Miss USA pageant instead of Miss America. There’s also an even skeezier Miss Teen Tennessee pageant, the winner likewise moving on to compete for the title Miss Teen USA. Both Miss Tennessee USA & Miss Teen Tennessee pageants were held in tandem this weekend in the concert hall where I do my scholarship work—and the pageant organizers regularly hire students to run the spot lights. So I actually got (am getting) paid. It’s not as exciting as you think. They don’t let the contestants anywhere near us; we’re way up 3 flights of steps in the stuffy spot booth listening to the stage manager thru clunky headsets for our cues. The girls are tiny little figures on the stage. And once you spend hours & hours following them around with a beam of light during rehearsal, they all just become a blur of skin, brightly colord fabric & shimmering hairdos.
Anyway—soon Fall Break is coming. Ceejay & I have tickets to see Cat Power. Should be fun.