Tromp, tromp, tromp, the boys are marching...

Seven VMI cadets are reenacting the march their predecessors did over 100 year ago, when they left the campus in Lexington,Virginia, in May of 1864 and marched 85 miles in five days to New Market, to the north, where they took part in the battle there on May 15.  The 2009 cadets are dressed in period clothing and (perhaps most importantly) wearing period shoes.

I had often said that it would be an interesting little film to follow such an adventure, but no one had done it since the last effort in 2005.  So when I was told it was happening this year, I could hardly back out.

Here we see the cadets marching up Route 11, having already been on the road over a day:

And at their campsite at the end of the second day (last night), at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, Virginia:

It's not much helping the drama of my show that they all seem rather cheerful, with high morale, and not very worn down by the beating their feet are receiving, after an 18-mile march on the first day and 19 miles on the second...

Oh, yeah...

Aside from learning what I already knew (that I know nothing about retail, and am not suited for it), I've relearned a valuable lesson I'd forgotten over the years: I don't like doing public relations, and I'm not really suited for that either.

There was a time when I was actually paid to do PR.  Fortunately, I discovered my shortfall in that area before my bosses did, and quit to move on to other stuff before anyone noticed I wasn't ... well, I wasn't relating to the public.  They -- particularly the media -- weren't interested in the things I was promoting.  Specifically, there's a P.G. Wodehouse line about a novelist expecting a reaction being like throwing a piece of paper into a well and awaiting the splash.  I know the feeling...

I suppose I can't complain.  Our Karant Jou gallery (which is the cause of all this personal growth and discovery) opened to decent crowds, congratulations from friends and some press attention (including a really nice listing in the Staunton paper's weekend section: www.newsleader.com/article/20090226/NEWS01/90226004)  But others I would have thought might have noticed, let alone covered us, have said nothing.

Ah, well, I guess I must keep a sense of perspective...