the best

I may add to this over the coming days, as my mind is still in that jet-laggy-sleep-deprived fog. But here's a start to my "Best Of" list:

Best Airline: 1. V Australia (help-yourself 24-hour free snack bar, way too many entertainment choices, staff who actually talk to you like a normal person, wide/comfy/good-reclining seats, pretty coloured lights inside the cabins - mood lighting, and a bar area!); 2. JetBlue (out of all the domestic US airlines this one was by far and away the best - no baggage fees, free snacks all flight, free individual TV/etc all flight, nice new planes inside and out); 3. Southwest (the cheap-n-cheerful of the bunch, no baggage fees, sit-where-you-like - first come best dressed); all the others were pretty dreadful, and I was appalled that they were 3 of the "big" airlines - each one charged a $15 bag fee, and the only snack they gave out free was a pissy little cup of soft drink and a bag containing 5 peanuts/pretzels/potato chips. I shall avoid these airlines from now on, and so should you! United, American, Delta - pah.)

Best Meal: jeez, this is going to be tough. It was all amazing and delicious. Maybe I'll do it by city...... LA - Bamboo Chicken Ramen at "Mr Ramen"; San Fran - hmm, it's a tie between the Chinese dumpling banquet and the creole fried chicken with mashed sweet potatoes; Austin - again a tie between the Brazillian meal and my sister's amazing home cooking; Chicago - purely for reasons of atmosphere, I'll give it to the Greek place. For service it would be the Italian. Both were incredible; NYC - this one is tricky... but I can't go past the amazing naan bread at the Indian restaurant on Thursday night!

*phew*, that was probably the hardest award!

Best Crowd: for size - Austin; for friendliness - all of them!

Best Venue: they were all amazing. Seriously. I can't fault a single one for helpfulness, staff, facilities, vibe. Brilliant.

Best Performance: hm, there were moments in all of the gigs that were really special... but I'll narrow it down to - LA, performing Cat Lamb's new piece for the first time; SF - we *nailed* the duos!, and premiering Jen's new piece; Austin - recovering after the score-slipping-incident; Chicago - performing Nomi's duo; NYC - getting to finally, after 2.5 years, perform "beautiful//fragment" for Jenny.

Funniest Moment: inflatible sheep. baaa.

Favourite Touristy Thing: again, too many amazing experiences to choose from! But a few stand out - the Frank Gehry buildings in LA and Chicago, seeing "Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom" at the Blanton in Austin, the California Academy of Science in SF (especially the Spiny Lumpsuckers!), and the Jenny Holzer exhibit at the Whitney in NY.

Best Nature Moment: definitely hiking in Austin, albeit brief!

Cutest Moment: Joshua (my nephew) wins this award, hands-down. He wrote/drew me a little sticky note when I was rehearsing in Austin, saying "good luck" for the performance. awww. Also performing at his school was a real treat.

...more awards to come!!