Fringe Volunteer Party at Pulse

All Fringe volunteers were invited to an appreciation party at Pulse. Pulse is a gay bar on Orange avenue south of Downtown. The tiny parking lot was packed and the side street parking was full for a solid block. I walked in and was given an armband. When I entered the bar area through an beaded curtain I could not see a thing since the room was so dark. I greeted some friends and then after staking out the room decided my best bet was to muscle up to the bar and sketch from there. I ordered a Fringe Tini and it was tasty. The bartender was of course in constant motion trying to keep up with all the orders. Another challenge was that the room would change color from red to blue to green to pink every few minutes. I chose to paint a lavender room.

When I was perhaps halfway done with the sketch, most folks went into the front room for an awards and a raffle. I stayed at the bar since the awards didn’t concern me. Brian Feldman and Jessica Earley also stayed at the bar. As I was slapping down watercolor, I heard Brian calling me and he said that the announcer was calling my nickname, Thor. I pushed my way to the stage thinking well maybe they made up an award for the most sketches done at the Fringe. I stood in front of the stage and shouted out, “did you say Thor?” The confused announcer said no George. What would I do with a pink flamingo anyway? Right? I still don’t know if Brian was pulling a prank or if he misheard the name. I shook his hand when I got back to the bar anyway to let him know no harm was done.