It was a very productive meeting of long-time supporters, new business neighbors (including TJ, the owner of Kings Sandwich Shop next door to the theater)
and past and present actors, directors, and other creative people who have had some kind of relationship with Manbites Dog Theater over the years.
We came away feeling very good about Manbites Dog as a 25-year downtown Durham business veteran, as well as being recognized as a consistent provider of high-quality and thought-provoking theater during those years.
Along with my three-hours worth of notes (the board stayed afterwards and chatted for about an hour), I left with a digital recording of the entire meeting, from which to cull highlights. Another to-do I have is to schedule the February, March, and April board meetings.
I drove from Durham to Cary for our 6:30 Mostly Social Book Club meeting, and I stopped at the Jersey Mikes off Cary Towne Boulevard, and I thought as I walked into the place as the only customer, "I wish that in the days I used to work in fast food, I could've watched television while working."
There were three guys working in there, none of which I would guess was in management by their actions, although one of them most likely was. They had some playoff-level football game on, and they were absolutely screaming at the TV and the game, and didn't feel any obligation whatsoever to stop just because a customer had walked in.
I met the book club at the Barnes & Nobel off Walnut Street, where we met from 6:30 - 9:00, and at one point, actually discussed a book. Everyone had finished The Help and everyone had pretty much liked it, albeit to different degrees. It took some people longer to get into than others, too.
In the time we weren't discussing the book, we caught up on each other's lives, scheduled our meetings for the remainder of the year, and talked about what our next book will be. It's Suzanne's turn to chose, and she's going to get back to us via e-mail to let us know what her decisions is or to solicit ideas from us if she can't decide on one herself.
At home, I worked on catching up some entries of my blog, and then did a little bit of work, but not as much as I'm usually doing on Sunday night.