I Need to Vent

all i want to do is order dominos. all i want is some pizza. when i call for a delivery order they tell me they wont deliver to the train because we dont have an address. they cant seem to get it through their heads that the circus train doesnt have an address. so i give them the address to the strip club across the street and they say the wont deliver there because it isnt our house. then they tell me to just get in my car and come and pick it up. wow- wouldnt that be nice to have a car and not have to rely on a black and white school bus to take me everywhere. so if you are reading this- please appreciate the fact that you have a car and you have an address that pizza can get delivered to! UGH! you really have no idea! haha.

so it dawned on me today that even though i take care of the ponies, i pick up twice as much crap as anyone else. when one of the ponies craps- the other one will go over to it (and it doesnt matter if he has already pooped) and crap right on top of the other poop. typical boys- competing even if it is about who has the better poop. before every show, asia the elephant is given a paint brush, a white canvas and 6 buckets of paint and she paints a picture. yesterday, my friend stole me a picture and now i have an asia painting! how exciting- i am going to need to get a frame for it. today marilyn and i played dress up with steffi and silvios circus outfits. it was so fun. we have the rest of the night off and tomorrow off as well. i plan on sleeping most of the day!

so yesterday, they were taping an episode of the bachelor season 11 at the circus. they actually came into the animal compound and were filming. let me tell you- they pick some real idiot girls for the show. they are like blow up dolls. we were asked if a horse zebra mix was called a liger and if champ (my black and white mini pony) was a cow-horse. i dont really know what a cow horse is or how people get that dumb, but as one of my friends said, "they were so dumb they made my teeth hurt." today we had 2 shows- nothing very exciting happened. between shows i read at champ's stall. every 30 minutes or so i would get a nudge to the face. i think he was looking for treats. so i let him have 1/2 of my cherry pepsi. he's a cheeky boy. today when i was walking backstage, asia the elephant was back there with alex. he had me put my face up to her trunk and she blew all over me. most people would probably be really grossed out by it, but man i LOVED IT! i was all smiles. i walked back to the train again tonight- i stopped in to baskin robbins and got myself a treat for the rest of the duration. yummy- that is my kind of dinner.

i've come up with a list of things i see on a typical day that may seem out of the ordinary in a normal work place:

1. clowns and clown shoes
2. people on unicycles
3. juggling bowling pins
4. walking next to elephants
5. lots of poop
6. people walking on stilts
7. tigers
8. bello and his foot tall hair
9. the teeter-board act people standing on each other's shoulders
10. people getting pied in the face for no apparent reason
11. people napping on concrete, shavings, chairs, mats, etc

well that is just off the top of my head. time for bed.

night!

Another News Article

check it out-

if you watch the video, i'm the one holding the 2 white horses.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/one-1783624

This is My Kind of Cali....

anaheim is wonderful! i am so glad to be out of that awful city of los angeles. our train is about 1 mile from the arena. there are all kinds of shops and places to eat around here. they also have a city bus that takes you pretty much anywhere for $1.25. yesterday a group of us went to newport beach for a few hours. they had all these cute beach houses. i fell in love with one- a yellow house with windy staircases on the inside. a mere $2,200 a month for 2 bedrooms one bath. hah! i think i will stick to my $7/week rent. i have never seen so many expensive cars in all my life. please tell me why people buy hummers? especially in california. i think i saw at least 5 when we were waiting for the bus ride back. yesterday was marilyn's 21st birthday. when we got back from the beach we got dressed up and went to the nicest mexican restaurant i have ever eaten at. after dinner we went to a bar called suga's. no hard liquor and no credit card usage. today is opening day. one show later tonight. disneyland is only a few blocks away and every night they shoot off fireworks at 9:30. pretty neat. let's just say im glad we are going to be here for 2 weeks vs. la.

chow!

Mickey Mouse Territory

what a long few days! yesterday was our last day of shows in L.A. me and dani found this awesome street market where you felt like you were shopping in a different country. everything was so cheap! they had shoe stores where everything was $10 or 2 for $15 (insert mom's comment about spending habit's here). here is what my life has consisted of as of 7am yesterday morning:

1. we had 3 shows from 9-9pm
2. a load out from 9-10:30
3. a 4 mile walk back to the stocks to drop the animals off
4. a 30 minute bus ride to anaheim- eat 3 triscuits for dinner before passing out
5. sleep for 4 hours
6. wake up today at 6:30 and load in until noon.
7. shower at train
8. wait for call to go back and do animal walk in

it's days like this where i remind myself how much i love my job

tomorrow is marilyn's 21st birthday. enough said.

well- im going to lay down for 35 minutes until the bus comes to get us again

chow!

Ready to Leave This City

Things I have seen here in quantity:

1. donut shops
2. businesses that advertise "we speak english"
3. ice cream trucks
4. grafitti
5. homeless people
6. garbage everywhere
7. fast food chinese


today i got to drive a car! man, how i miss that. i drove to walmart and finally got food. i had been eating microwave hamburger helper every night for the past 2 weeks. last night, cindy crawford and tony from the sopranos were at the show and went backstage. tonight- tom cruise. tomorrow night- john travolta! how cool. well- im exhausted- time for bed!

Stupid PETA People

today was opening day. atfter mucking out stalls in the morning, a girl i work with and i went to a FABULOUS thai restaurant. i felt like i was back on the streets of bangkok. too bad this meal cost $8 vs. the 90 cents in thailand. i bathed my 2 ponies and 3 goats after lunch and got them ready for the show. the staples center is really sweet- huge arena. we had a sold out show tonight, i hear there was a lot of celebrities there. when i was walking outside the arena, an animal rights person threw a bag of trash at me and yelled "F**K YOU!". talk about crazy people. and they think we are insane! im back at the train now, super tired and ready for bed. i just have to wait for my laundry to get done.....

A Much Different Animal Walk....

today was yet another animal walk. my alarm woke me up in the uncomfortable hotel bed at 3:10 AM. half asleep i dressed myself and was out the door in about 6 minutes. marilyn and i checked out of the hotel and drove the mile to the staples center where we met all the other people who did the train run. we hopped on the bus and went to get the animals. our walk started at 4:45 AM. we walked the streets of L.A. (very gross, by the way) where we saw homeless people, too much trash thrown everywhere, smoggy skies and several peta people. they had huge banners saying "the CRUELEST show on earth- ban animal circuses". they run up and down besides us taking pictures and video taping us the entire time. i dont know what they expect to see other than us exercising our animals. at about the 2 mile marker we stopped and the fire department came to us in their big trucks and hosed down the elephants. they were all trumpeting with delight and spraying the water everywhere. now that was a sight to see. sometimes i do think i have the coolest job in the world. the walk was just under 4 miles and we completed it quarter after 6. and the ENTIRE time, i had to go to the bathroom. im back at the train now and we have the rest of the day off. i plan on sleeping for as long as i can, then who knows.

night!

Off to Los Angeles

load out is done. yay! i am currently sitting shot gun in steffi and silvios car making the 200 mile trek to los angeles. during our animal walk back to the train, PETA was following us holding signs that said we beat our animals. you would at least think they would come up with something more clever. we will get to LA late tonight and check into a hotel. we set up again tomorrow night so i think marilyn and i will hit the beach all day tomorrow. well i dont have much more to say- im tired so i think i am going to konk out for a little while.

see ya in los angeles

Last Night in Fresno

so here is the update on two teardrop tattoo man. he lives on my car- great. i now officially keep my door locked all the time. last night we were talking to him and we asked him what his tattoo was for and he said he did time in prison. he then paused and continued to explain how that wasnt what the tattoo meant, but he didnt really want to talk about that. he then asked us how serious they were about the drug tests because he had just smoked weed the other day. i couldnt help but think of what a totally idiot this guy is. he is worried about a drug test when he popped off two dudes in prison. i tell ya- some people are just not that bright. today was a 3 show day. yuck. we worked from about 830a to 830p. between the 2nd and 3rd show we got a car and went to try to find a walmart. we ended up at fiesta market. what an interesting place. i was the only white person, in their meat aisle they had fried octapus, they had a whole aisle dedicated to different assortments of beans, and dont even get me started on the beer selection. on the way back to the arena we passed not only a 99 cent store but a 79 cent store. now that is pretty darn amazing. tomorrow is load out day. i am going to drive overland to LA with marilyn. that means that after load out and the animal walk, we drive straight there- about 200 miles. we will get a hotel that night and start setting up the stalls and tents again on monday evening. fun fun. but i do get an extra $50. well- back at the train now. im going to watch some friends and hit the sack.

Same Stuff, Different Day

last night a group of us went out drinking at a local bar called, shepards inn. they had $2 beers and gave us free shots because we were with the circus. it was the first bar i have ever been to where they served pickled tounge, chicken liver and snails. UGH! the bartender explained to us how they prepare the tounge. lets just say a meat grinder and shredder are involved. gag. we only had one show today- i came home inbetween practice and the show and took a long nap. i stayed out too late last night, but had a lot of fun. the next two days we have 3 shows a piece. those are killer. they have been hiring a lot of people in this town. two of the guys today had teardrop tattoos by their eyes. for those of you who dont know what that means- it usually says that they killed people. steve says they will see what their background check is. haha. as long as they arent in the animal barn i suppose i am safe. im about ready to leave this town- LA is next- cant wait.

well, i have some cold busch beer waiting for me in my fridge.

night!

here are a few questions we have gotten from the smart people during animal open house:

1. what is that (while looking at a horse)
2. is that a cow (while looking at a horse)
3. so, can elephants see through their trunks?
4. do you dye the manes of the horses?

circus joke of the day:

what did the elephant say to the naked man?
- how the hell do you breath out of that thing?

well so far things are going fine. there is a really nice mexican restaurant across the street from the arena that i have eaten at the past two days. we have peta on our butts again- last night they found a video camera hidden in one of the trees that overlooks the animal compound.during my break tomorrow, marilyn and i are going to sneak into a hotel pool.

chow!

I've Entered Hell

so this is what hell feels like. fresno is gross. it is hot, dusty, trashy and i have added to my list of places that should be run down by a tornado, right behind eldon, missouri. the train arrived early this morning. we had the animal walk at around 1pm. while the crew was setting up the tents for the animals, one of the guys i work with, tripp got his finger caught in rope and it severed off right in the middle of his finger! so he is now on a plane to san fran, hopefully in time for them to reattach his finger. EW! there was a finger laying on the ground and he was all full of blood! hah. sick. the train is parked in a not so nice area- a lot of homeless people around. hopefullyh this week goes by fast so we can get to LA! im back at the train now- 5pm. i am going to take a nice long nap then get up and go drink with some friends.

thats all for now- not a lot happened today other than severed fingers and a lot of sweating!

Off to Fresno

Oh what a long day. 3 shows, plus load out. i just got back to the train, 14 hours after leaving this morning. there were a lot of PETA people in this town, handing out flyers and driving around in their vans. funny how they never show up when we are busting our butts setting up the tents, stalls and AC fans in the 115 degree heat. today i should celebrate my 1 month anniversary. i have officially been a carnie for 1 month- can you believe i made it? i was told by people they didnt think i would come back from the hotel with my mom. other people gave me 2 weeks. so i am glad i showed them! fresno is only about 110 miles- we are scheduled to do the animal walk tomorrow at noon- but you never know. it is always "hurry up and wait". tonight after the show, the elephants were all lined up waiting for their big trash buckets full of water. they all wait with their trunks curled up in the air, swaying back in forth in unison, squeaking with excitement. it is so darn cute. then, when all the water buckets are in place, joe says "alright" and they dive in with their trunks, spraying water in their mouths and all over their bodies. they have big ol smiles on their faces too- it is the cutest thing ever. well i think i am going to watch an episode of friends and go to bed.

see ya all in fresno.

Time to Learn New Tricks!

Well bakersfield is hot. i think i already mentioned that. it is making the horses crazy. today during practice, taba told me he wants to train me to be able to run next to a horse while it is running in the ring, jump up on top of it bare backed and stand up on it-- all while it is running. i kind of laughed, then realized he was dead serious. haha- so i will let you all know how that works! today we only had one show- so during our break, marilyn and i went to a public pool across the street and soaked up the cali sun for about 3 hours. we went to a birthday party of a girl who turned 2 back at the circus. free pizza and cake! well not much else is going on---

I'm Famous! Not Really....

Check out this link- we were on the news- I am the one walking the black and white mini pony :)

http://www.kget.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=388FBF96-6075-4B46-A2B4-87106DD7914D&gsa=true

Happy 4th of July!

there is not a whole lot to do in bakersfield! yesterday after work i took a nice long nap and then took my very first cab ride ever to the mall. i hung out with my friend eric for a few hours just to get away from the train. not that i needed it- but i found 2 tank tops for $4. how on earth could i pass them up! when we got back to the train i met some people from the animal barn at a chinese buffet. delicious! anything but pie car food can put a smile on my face. after that we walked about a mile to a bar called the martini lounge. we drank there until about midnight. it was a lot of fun and we had the whole bar intrigued by us because we all worked for the circus. apparently i have the coolest job in the world. i challenge anyone who says that to come live in a room that is smaller than a full size bed :) today has been great. i had taco bell for lunch and re-organized my room just a minute ago. i am starting to figure out how to live in here. eventually i need some shelving-that will really make my life easier. tonight at the train, the circus is having a bar-b-que with free booze and food. that is my kind of party. tomorrow is opening show. yuck!

well off to enjoy the rest of the day :)

kate

Welcome to Bakersfield

Bakersfield as far as I can tell thus far is going to be one boring town. we had the animal walk this morning- i was up at 6 and just got back to the train about 30 minutes ago. the animals are inside again- thank god since it will top 100 everyday. while we were with the animal at the arena, joe, the elephant handler, let me go into one of the pens with 4 elephants and play with them! i about died when he told me i could go in with them. i didnt have a my camera, only my camera phone. but it was pretty neat :) they are so cute! we have the rest of the day off and surprisingly they gave us tomorrow off :) how wonderful. too bad we are in such a lame town. tomorrow is the 4th- i think we are going to try to find somewhere where they will have a fireworks show. well i am going to take a nap for a few hours then get up and explore the town.

chow!