Road dog diaries

I definitely thought this would be me 50 years from now. It definitely could still be. But I’m realizing something. As I get back out on the road again, working through the daily panic of trying to dodge Covid or random bullets I’m realizing how much more I am appreciating these moments out on the road. A lot of the things that I found annoying before don’t bother me as much now. I’m not sure if it’s my deep desire for some sense of normalcy or maybe I’m just growing up? Been in the same job with American Pickers for 13 years. I always think that I’m going to walk away and follow my bliss. Then of course I realize that this is a deeply ingrained piece of my bliss and I stay and I put off other things that I really want to do and I waffle like this back-and-forth frustrated with one thing or another. The porridge is too hot or it’s too cold, the bed too lumpy or too soft, I am an incredibly particular person. I am coming into a full understanding of this. And the fact that I’m actually realizing it means that I can address it. So I suppose that’s a good take away right? And I think from these moments of discomfort, if we can have a good take away the discomfort is worth it right? I’m back out on the road right now. Performing in Chicago, House of blues last night, today is a day of rest, tomorrow I’ll be performing one more time in the city before I head out to Film with Pickers. Yes I still have my job. Yes I still love my job. Yes I still get frustrated with my job. And yes, I’m super excited to be out with Mike this time. It seems like we just don’t see enough of each other lately. But this time in Chicago has been really interesting. The city is definitely much more dangerous, it was sadly obvious since I’ve been here. What happened? Was it the pandemic? I noticed that even the homeless at 3 o’clock this morning when I was trying to get in my Uber, we’re incredibly aggressive. I’ve not ever had that interaction with the homeless population in Chicago. I also noticed that the police were out in full force. Everything seem to be pretty chaotic. I don’t know if maybe that’s just because I haven’t been downtown Chicago at 3 AM on a Friday night in a while or if the city is just really becoming that much more dangerous but I’ve never been terrified to walk three blocks in the city at 3 AM. This time I was. Terrified. It’s pretty hard to terrify me. It breaks my heart that the city is experiencing these growing pains right now. I wonder what the reasoning is? I’m extremely concerned about the homeless population in Chicago. I did not like what I was seeing as I was walking down the street at 3 AM from the house of blues to meet up with my Uber driver. I did not like the sense of panic they all seemed to have. Much more than normal. Not that panic should be normal, nor should people not have options for housing. I have a friend who works with the homeless coalition in Chicago. Maybe I need to reach out to him and see what his thoughts are. You can tell a lot about a city by the homeless population. On the upside, our event was magnificent! I posted about it on Instagram just a little bit but the level of talent in Chicago at this time in the Burlesque and Drag community is off the charts! If ever you plan a trip to Chicago to see Burlesque or Drag, now is the time to do it! I think that right now is the most exciting time in Chicago performance arts history especially Burlesque and Drag. I had the entire event filmed and photographed. I will share as much of that as I can with you as soon as the edits come in. It’ll be the same story for tomorrow night. Those photographs and video will be exclusive to Patreon. Only fans will not receive those videos but possibly could receive a few photo sets. And I’m incredibly excited for tomorrow. My niece Alaina graduates from Malcolm X College in Chicago. Her graduation is in the afternoon and she requested a burlesque show for her graduation party so we have facilitated that! The show at Ina Mae and Chicago will start around eight or 830? I’m sure it’ll be a packed house. So if you’re planning on going definitely get there early it will sell out. I know the show is going to be absolutely killer! My entire family will be there which is so rare because they have not seen me perform in many many many years. Both of my sisters were burlesque artists with me as well as my niece Alaina who is graduating. So it’s gonna be incredibly exciting for all of us to be together in the same venue in a Burlesque setting again! None of them perform anymore but they all love to watch the performances so they are going to have the time of their lives.

My daughter memphis lands tonight in Chicago so she will be there as well and a few other family members are going to join also. I’m telling you it’s going to be a goddamn Colby jamboree!!!

I don’t often put up any photos of my family members anymore but I have a feeling will have a lot of pictures from the night. I will definitely share those pictures here on this platform.

Anyhow, it’s 11 PM, I’m laying in bed watching Seinfeld, heating pad on, waiting for memphis his lift to arrive so that I can greet her downstairs in the hotel lobby, eat some late night sushi I picked up earlier for her and go to bed so that we can celebrate with our family tomorrow.

I hope all you beautiful people have a wonderful night and remember to cherish each moment.

Chat more tomorrow 💗