Well, I have nothing to say but thank you to about a zillion people.
I have to start with Kevin Ross, who endured my rehearsals and delivered in the clutch, giving a tremendous performance, both physically and verbally. The show would not have been nearly what it was without his dedication to learning the material and then his execution of it when game time arrived.
And the reason why I know Kevin gave such a great performance wasn\'t just because of the positive audience response, but because I watched the performance on DVD last night. That\'s right. I go to Jake\'s for the third set after hanging with some of my literary cohorts at Delaney\'s, and who do I see but Ken with about twenty copies of last night\'s show in his hand. I was like, "are you serious?" to which he replied, "sorry it took me so long." That was a totally unexpected cherry on top for last night. I bought Ken a beer. I felt like I should have bought him a car.
Just as a little aside, after watching the performance, I cannot believe that I did not sustain serious injury when Kevin kicked me into the chair. But the best was watching a Southern professor cover her mouth in fear and shock each time he threw the books at me.
Ok, back to the thanks. I have to thank Todd for volunteering to videotape last night in an effort to perhaps get this baby onto youtube. And Dave also deserves a ton of thanks for taking numerous photos that resulted in a slideshow which really does trace the anger and intensity of the performance as it builds throughout, simply through images with no words.
The fact that last night is documented in so many ways makes it all the better and again I cannot thank you guys enough. I don\'t often use the term surreal, but it was truly a surreal experience watching that just hours after we did it.
I also want to thank the three of you--and all my other friends--for going last night. About half the crowd consisted of my posse and the fact that you were all there means everything to me. It\'s a situation where it makes me step it up during the performance because I want you all to feel like your getting your money\'s worth (even though admission was free) and also makes me feel even better afterwards as I look at your expressions and realize we did good work. It also just helps my confidence in general knowing that you\'re all there and I couldn\'t have asked to share last night with a better group of wonderful people. You are all dear friends and I love each one of you.
Of course, the staff at Folio, headed by editor and former classmate of mine, Jeff Schultz, need to be thanked for putting out a fine book with numerous talented authors, for hosting monthly readings that promote and unite Southern\'s literary community, and for allowing us, specifically me, to make fools of ourselves in a room full of people. And just the English department in general needs a shout out. I\'ve made some good friends--both classmates and professors--since I\'ve dedicated myself to being a part of this community in the last year and I am extremely grateful. I only have two classes left this semseter in Advanced Fiction Writing with Professor Tim Parrish and I know I\'ll be jonesing for classes like that when I take Intro to Algebra next fall. Ugh.
But to be fair, I was not the only performer last night and I want to give credit to the others who read their works from Folio and gave fine showings in their own right, including my friend and classmate, Nick Dorio, whose short story, "A Small Glass Jar About the Size of an Egg," won first place in Folio\'s fiction contest; Rayon Dwain Lennon, another classmate of mine, whose poem, "Seaview Gardens, Jamaica," took first in that contest; and of course, our own Cori Payne, who gave a solid reading of her short story "Merry Freakin\' Christmas!" at open mic.
To conclude, I just again want to express how happy I am with the way everything turned out. It was a night that I will remember for the rest of my life. Kevin and I rehearsed the piece seventeen times and our hard work and focus resulted in a performance that I would say was an unquestionable home run.
So once again, thank you!
Pitch
