Down Time

So I'm sitting, alone and bored, in a Microtel Inn just outside of Charlotte. I'm not terribly impressed with the place, as I didn't have any towels in my bathroom and my toilet ran for half an hour after I flushed it. But at least it's clean and has internet access...

A friend made the trip with me this time. He wanted to visit some friends who live in Charlotte and agreed to split gas money. Two nights ago, we drove all night through snow and idiots, over and under mountains, to get here in time for me to drop him off and make the 4 hour drive to Greenville (where I performed last night.)

Tha car is so covered in salt and grime that it looks like a whale came on it. Ick.

The show in Greenville went well. I expect tonight's shows and tomorrow's shows will go better.

My friend asked me what it's like on the road. I told him that I read a lot. I listen to a lot of NPR podcasts on my iPod. Now I listen to a lot of XM radio, too. I get to see the modest hotel rooms of many cities that I can't really afford to act like a tourist in.

There's a lot of loneliness, or at least alone-ness, that goes into being the life of the party every show. No wonder so many comics self-destruct with drinking, drugs, alcohol, and cheap sex. They must not have my inpenetrable shield of NPR podcasts and fantasy paperbacks.

Or maybe they just ran out of authors...