Carol Burnett – under planning and over planning 2019

Several months ago, Carol Burnett came to town and did a performance at the Winspear I Dallas.  I got there about 2 hours before the performance. She got there about 4 hours before the performance.  I missed her.

It happens. I under planned. I was disappointed.

Luckily, she decided to came back to Dallas in March. This time she was going to do 2 nights at the Winspear.  The Wife and I actually got ticket to the Friday night show. I took Friday afternoon off to make sure I got the theater early enough to see her enter.

My hope was to be there, get the autograph, drive him in rush hour traffic, and then The Wife and I would drive back to see the show.  The plan was a little hectic but it was ‘a plan’. Not the BEST plan but it was my plan.

4 O’clock rolls around. No Carol.

5 O’clock and no Carol.  I text The Wife that she will probably need to drive down by herself.  

6 O’clock and still no Carol.  The Wife is about to drive to the Theater.

7 O’clock and we wonder if Carol will just walk in at the last second and not sign for anyone.

7:30, Carol’s car arrives.  The Show starts at 8 PM. The Wife is at the front of the theater waiting for me. I’m at the stage door.  Carol waved and one of the handles told us she will sign but they will collect all of the items and she will sign inside the building.  We knew she would do this because this is what occurred the last time.  We were all good with this.   

About 7:45 when I get my photo back. I quickly say my goodbyes to the other hounds and walk to the front of the theater to meet The Wife. It took a few minutes to find each other as we had different ideas on where to meet. We got to our seats and saw a wonderful show.

A great addition to the collection and relived some great memories from the show.

AH

My self- centered encounter with Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil (note how I call Neil deGrasse Tyson, Neil?   After all I’ve been through; I can call him that.) came to town and spoke at the Winspeare Opera House in Dallas.  While I was happy he didn’t sign for anyone when he arrived( because I was late), I wonder how everything could have been different if he did sign…

As the norm, I got off work ‘early’, about 5:30 or 6PM.  When I arrived at Winspeare, I was told Neil was already inside the building and he didn’t sign for any one. This was 'good' as I didn’t miss my opportunity.  I would also have some friends to hang out with.

Four of us went out to eat and gabbed about autographs and upcoming events. It was a good excuse to get out of the heat and the sun.

Once we got back to the opera house, we waited. We watched the crowd leave after the show. And we waited. We watched the police that directed the traffic leave. And we waited. We watched the employees leave the building. And we waited…

Then, there he was. Neil deGrasse Tyson was leaving the building.  He looked surprised that we were there.  I think he was hoping he outlasted us. He asked what we were doing. We told him we were waiting for him. He started to sign. As he signed the first photo, someone asked about his podcast with George Takei.  As he answered, he started to warm up to us.  He started interacting. He started asking questions.

So what’s the deal with…Jerry Seinfeld 6/8/13 Winspear Opera House

I got lost finding the Winspear Opera House.  It didn’t matter. I found out Jerry Seinfeld doesn’t sign before the show anyway.

I waited until after to show to get lost again as I tried to find the sweet spot at the venue to get my photo signed.  A fellow hound helped me by tweeting me with some details on the location.

I got there.  I didn’t need to wait long before Jerry came out.  He signed for everyone.  Maybe 15 of us had waited.  He quickly put pen to photo.

Since I always wear a UofA shirt, I pointed to the logo and said I went to the UofA too as he stopped in front of me.  He nodded and moved on.  Since it was a total non sequitur, it bounced off him and landed on the sidewalk. The statement flapped its broken wings twice and coo’ed quietly before finally being declared dead.

Okay, that did not go according to Hoyle. Even the opening line died but I did get an auto.  And I probably won’t get lost next time.

AH