Mark Hayward Is My Hero

It’s been going well so far, with only a little rain. Today is overcast again, but at least it’s cool, and there’s not supposed to be any rain.

The tally so far:

• 2 ears of corn
• 1 giant State Fair brownie

No cream puffs or deep-fried cheese curds yet, but that will come with time. The Shoebox Tour is coming to town in a few days and I plan on making the Japanese guys eat State Fair food until they are sick.

I LOVE juggling festivals. Love, love, LOVE them. This weekend is the Toss Up Jugglefest at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire IL. Yesterday was also the Illinios State Yo-yo Contest as a part of the festival, and I was a judge. In fact, I found out once I arrived that I was head judge. I treid hard to make sure I abused my power. ;)

For me juggling festivals are fun no matter what, although I ususally don’t get much juggling done, and this fest is no exception. I already knew that a bunch of my good juggling and yo-yo friends were going to be here, but I got the added bonus that Crash, Sky, and Luke Wilson are here too!

The yo-yo contest went well, although it always takes longer than I want it to. Today I get to actually do some practicing… or at least I have the option of practicing… I will probably end up hanging out and talking.

Jay Gilligan and his buddy Erik Aberg are going to pass through town on their very brief Shoebox Tour on May 26th.  Lenore has been helping me hook up a space for them to perform at Herron School of Art, and the show is going to be incredible.  Now I just have to do some promotion and get people there since school is out, and we won’t be able to count on the students coming.  I’m letting the juggling and yo-yoing communities know about it, and I just made up some leaflets to pass out at the dog park.  We’ll see how it goes, but I sure hope a lot of people come.  Every show is better with a big crowd.