Performers (aka The Tribe Post)

One of the things that I love about my brother and sister in law is that they are performers. (Troy will say he's not, but by proxy...he's in.)  I first met Rhonda-of-the-Comic-Strip-Pantyhose at college where I knew her first as a very talented actress.  Her friends--other theatre majors--created a very interesting, very talented tribe.   (For accuracy, my actual first introduction to the theatrical tribe was at Cornerstone Theatre and yes, that is me on the right of that photo, but that is a totally different blog post.)

If you hang out with theatre people very long, you learn that a party full of them is much more fun than a party of engineers. (I know I've just completely dissed 2/3'rds of the people I work with, but c'mon....you know this is true.  I've heard rumors that Brian can juggle, but haven't actually seen it yet.)  So, when John and I moved back to DFW after living in Panama for three years, we simply adopted Troy and Rhonda's friends because we knew they would be great.  People like Robin-the-Artist and Floyd-the-Sidekick, Shane-the-Microsoft-Cowboy and others became our new tribe.

As our kids grew, we began to develop friends in our own geographic regions in the Metroplex. (Note that we live in North Dallas--or Baja Oklahoma as I was told last night--and Troy and Rhonda live in the uber-cool and artsy Oak Cliff.) 

We have a variety of friends who we love...artists, engineers, musicians, accountants and a few who are so scary smart I have no idea exactly what they do except that it involves algorythms. (How is it that I even know that word?)

A few years ago, through Crosspointe we met Magical-Kylie-and-David Knight--who are also part of the performers tribe.   If you hang out with Kylie and David you might meet someone at a party like an authentic Chinese Dragon acrobat, or see David make something appear out of thin air or you might read a tweet that David is wearing a suit that lights up and is juggling at Six Flags. All of this to say that Magical-David-and-Kylie lead a somewhat more interesting life than the rest of us.

Last night, John, Bethany and I went to my neice Jordan's graduation and onto the after-party at Troy and Rhonda's house.  It was fun to be with family, but like always, we also got to hang with the tribe.  Robin-the-Artist and Floyd-the-Sidekick were there with their sweet son Elliot.  We met the guys responsible for the Soda Gallery and as I was standing by the front door tweeting to David Knight to pleeeeese post a twit-pic of the light-up suit Dal Sanders walked in.  Dal once had the Magic Shop at this amazing mall that used to exist in Dallas called Olla Podrida. (Other stores included a Left-Handed Shop, Model Train Store, Miniatures Shop among other random incredible stores you would never find in a place with a Gap. And the whole thing looked like a pirate ship on the inside.)

I had seen Dal perform onstage several times, including once at the Dallas Public Library where Chase got to go up and be part of the act.  As I was asking a zillion questions (wouldn't you if you had the chance to meet a magician?) I learned that Dal and his wife Cinde are not only the parents of my neice's boyfriend, but also have known Magical-Kylie-and-David for years.  In fact, David learned some of his earliest illusions hanging out at Dal's shop in Olla Podrida.  Then someone started singing "It's a Small World" STOP IT and that degenerated into "Meet the Flintstones" (still-in-my-head-this-morning-thankyouverymuch) and as the party was just getting started (because this tribe is a late night tribe) I had to leave because I turn into a pumpkin at 11pm.

All of this to say that if you don't know any performers, you should totally meet some.  (ArtLoveMagic could totally hook you up.) And learn to drink coffee in the evening because it is very much a late night crowd.