But then, you didn't know I was gone, did you? Well, I was. Wednesday morn, I flew to Indiana. Why did I do such a fool thing? For meetings to plan the third season of The Garfield Show, a cartoon-type series I write, produce and voice-direct.
"Third season?" I hear some of you asking. "Isn't Cartoon Network still running the first season?" Well, yes, they are…several times a day on account of it's their number one show in daytime. The second season is just now starting to come off the assembly line. It'll be airing soon in France and other nations, and they're telling me we'll see 'em in America around October but I'm not sure that's definite. October, by the way, is also the tentative release date for the first DVD of episodes from The Garfield Show. It'll have six cartoons all featuring Odie, and I'll post a link for ordering when it's possible.
Some of you may have noticed that there's a list of episodes for Season Two over on the Wikipedia page for The Garfield Show. And what you don't know is that those aren't the real episodes. Someone — I have no idea who — made up a bunch of plots and put them up there. And what that person doesn't know is that he or she did some good guessing and got two or three close-to-right. I'm not going to correct Wikipedia just yet. I kinda like leaving it there as a reminder that you can't believe everything you read on the Internet.
Anyway, on Wednesday I hopped a Southwest flight to Indianapolis — and up to a point, it was a darn near ideal flight. Took off twenty minutes late but got in fifteen minutes early…the plane was half-full so we could all spread out…and there was a very funny flight attendant. Southwest apparently encourages their crew to "dress up" the little speeches they have to give about turning off your cell phone and not disabling a smoke alarm in the lavatory. I didn't catch this lady's name but I've paid a two-drink minimum to hear people who got fewer laughs. The plane had a stopover in Las Vegas and as we neared that fair city, she got on the P.A. to announce that those of us on the right side of the plane were about to get a glimpse of an important landmark. Everyone strained to watch as she said, "Not yet..it's coming up…almost…there it is! That house with the pool and the tile roof! That's my house!"
Well, it was funny on approach.
Just as I reached the baggage claim in Indianapolis, our bags started rolling out for claiming and mine was the first one off. I thought, "Boy, everything went perfect on this flight. I don't have anything to blog/bitch about." Then I noticed that one of the four wheels on my suitcase was missing and the whole section around another was cracked and caved-in, rendering the entire piece o' luggage eminently discardable. Spoke too soon.
Hertz promised me a full-sized sedan but instead gave me something larger…something that suggested they thought I planned to spend my time in Indiana moving sofas. It had that special feature they build only into rental cars: At least twenty mysterious dashboard lights, warning displays and audible alarms that cannot in any way be identified and which go off at random. There was a little flashing blue light that I finally decided meant either "low on windshield washer fluid" or "this vehicle is about to explode." I checked into an Indianapolis Hyatt that had nice rooms but a "high speed" Internet connection that Barney Rubble would have complained was antiquated. Then I went out to buy Drinking H2O and supplies at a nearby Kroger and stopped off for a burger.
Invariably when I carry on here at newsfromme about my favorite fast food hamburger, which is at Five Guys, eleven people write to say that I've obviously never been to a Steak 'n' Shake. And when they said that, they were right. I hadn't. So I stopped into one Wednesday eve and had a steakburger and fries. Very good. The burger was terrific — maybe a shade less tasty than Five Guys but only a shade. The french fries were a far cry but hey, if they had Steak 'n' Shakes where I live, I'd go to 'em. If I was still drinking milk shakes, you probably couldn't keep me away because theirs looked mighty tempting, even to a guy who's given up that kind of stuff.
Thursday morn, I headed for Muncie, which is where Garfield HQ is located. I made two stops along the way. One, for a mid-day meal, was at a B.D.'s Mongolian Barbecue in Northeastern (I think) Indianapolis. This is another one of those chains that is maddeningly unrepresented in my neck o' the woods. Then I went to a store that you can find in L.A. — a Costco, wherein I purchased a new suitcase to replace the one Southwest Airlines used in a game of Bocce Ball. I almost didn't go there because I was afraid that at Costco, they'd make me buy a package of twelve. I must say it felt odd walking out of that store without twenty-seven items including the obligatory case of toilet paper.
Spent Thursday evening and all day Friday in Muncie, which is a lovely little town. (If you ever go there, e-mail me and I'll tell you a great place to stay.) It was all business meetings and socializing and I'm not sure where or if one left off and the other began. Then Saturday morn, I packed my old belongings in my new suitcase and hit the road, Jack. I stopped off for lunch at a Five Guys in Fishers, Indiana…right across the street from a Steak 'n' Shake. It's not fair that Fishers has one of each and Los Angeles has neither. If Barack Obama is truly a Socialist, I expect him to do something about this right away, redistributing the wealth of good burgers. Then it was on to Indianapolis International Airport where I turned in that Rose Bowl float the Hertz people gave me. Then I checked my new suitcase and found a table to set up my laptop, then wrote everything in this message up to this point.
Now I'm home after an uneventful flight…which is to say nothing bloggable occurred. If I owe you an e-mail, and I probably do, I'll try to catch up soon. Right now, it's just nice to be back in L.A., even if we don't have anything better than In-N-Out.