crazy travel coincidence #1

As I prepared to depart Portland, everyone and their mother told me about someone I should talk to or visit in some place I might possibly end up.

One of these folks was Stef Sertich, who has been in Ashland for a couple months working on a show with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and whom I knew from Stark Raving Theatre. I, of course, completely forgot she was here.

As the randomness of the universe would have it, she was walking out of a lunch meeting by the theatres just as I was walking away from the box office. She spotted me, called out, and I found out she had been working on the very show I had just inquired about tickets for: Napoli Milionaria. We had coffee, caught up, and she told me all about her time in Ashland with OSF. It was pretty sweet.

I also had a fabulous dinner with Rachel Smith, her boyfriend Will, and two cute-as-can-be little girls: Emerald (7) and Ruby (2). We all enjoyed Rachel's fabulous homemade gardenburgers and Will's famous mashed potatoes- although he apparently botched the prep on this particular day, giving himself a "D". I enjoyed the potatoes anyway.

Rachel and I scrambled out the door on our way to the play, and were almost late (30 seconds from missing it, according to the usher). As we opened the door to leave, the girls ran over to give Rach a hug (Ruby's leg-hug was hilarious). Then, to my great surprise, they scrambled over to give me a hug as well. Goddamn can kids be cute.

After the show we met Stef and some of the other actors and such at the post-show bar of choice. I spent most of the time chatting with Stef's friends Nora and Bob, who briefed me on their travel adventures and had me take notes on their recommendations. We also chatted with OSF tech-guy Chris, from Australia. He was a riot, teaching us such fabulous slang terms as "Pome" for a Brit (Prisoner Of Mother England) and demonstrating his impressive American accent, which for some reason amused me no end. Stef passed her beer around to be finished as we were leaving, and I took a gulp before passing to Chris. He tilted it back and swallowed the remaining 1/3 of a pint or so straight-away. I gave him a look that said, "quite a show!" and he responded simply "aussie-aussie-aussie", as if the three were a single word and explained basically any question I could possibly have. And right he was.

gcb