seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from South Africa
seen from Singapore
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Burkina Faso
seen from South Africa
seen from Yemen
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from Canada
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
Dear Gus,
We ate waffles this morning and then rolled home. Everyone is exhausted. Nene picked you up from Yiayia & Papou’s this morning and you’re spending the night with her. I came home and watched “Moneyball” in the dark. Then I started watching a television show. When Mom got home from work, we went and got Chinese takeout and watched Gilmore Girls. I feel like I could sleep for days.
Dad.
(Near) Seminole, Oklahoma. 10.23.2020. - 10.34am.
Dear Gus,
Not having a live audience was weird, and I flubbed a few more lines than I wanted to, but the event was a lot of fun. As soon as the show started, I got blown up with texts and emails from people who were loving the show. People were at watch parties across the company footprint. One office even had FatHeads made of me, Brock, and Michael. The biggest hits were the videos we’ve made over the last couple of months and the cameos. To announce the winners of the Garvy Awards, we got cameo videos from Carole Baskin, Emmitt Smith, Bob Stoops, Mike Leach, David Koechner, and Kate Flannery. I cannot wait to watch the playback. This is my seventh Garver Summit and it looks way different than my first, which didn’t even register on this blog.
Afterward, we all went out to celebrate. Dinner, then we bar-hopped around town. I’m still not drinking, so I ended up drinking coffee around 11pm or so, which kept me up until 2am. I’m looking forward to coming home tomorrow. I miss you and Mom. And I’m tired.
Dad.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 10.22.2020. - 2.50(ish)pm.
SIDENOTE: Here’s a recap video.
Dear Gus,
We had rehearsal this afternoon and tonight for GarverSummit2020. We’ve set up the stage at the new contemporary arts museum and it’s legit--Derek has done a great job. I’m MC’ing the show with Brock and Michael. I’ve been nervous about it because I knew there wouldn’t be a live audience, but after rehearsals, I felt a lot better. Brock and Michael left at 6.15pm, but I came back after dinner and rehearsed my lines again while the production team worked on their A/V cues. Tomorrow’s going to be great.
Dad.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 10.21.2020. - 6.01pm.
Dear Gus,
You got up multiple times last night and I kept taking you back to bed, so I was exhausted this morning at 6.15 when you whispered into my ear, “Dad, don’t you want some breakfast?”
We drove to Nene’s and ate biscuits and honey on the porch and played for a few hours. Then I dropped you at Yiayia & Papou’s so I could go help Derek and the rest of the crew putting Summit together. We’re four days away and have so much to do. Since we came straight from Beebe, I had Suki with me, so I brought her to the warehouse with me. She enjoyed hanging out and keeping an eye on things.
Dad.
North Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.18.2020. - 4.47pm.
Dear Gus,
The crew loaded up and drove to Oklahoma City to make final Summit preparations today. I drove Bryan, Sasha, and Mary in a rented Yukon that felt like it was the length of a football field. But I could get used to having a V8.
Dad.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 10.20.2020. - 5.29pm.
Dear Gus,
This is Bryan and Mary’s editing suite in the warehouse. Summit is a humongous puzzle and we are creating the pieces. It’s a giant sequence of audio and visual assets that we’re dropping into place. But unlike a puzzle, sometimes after we put the piece down, we aren’t sure if that’s where it fits because the puzzle is not a defined shape. There is still the live elements that are slightly unpredictable. This is the hardest, most satisfying part of my job, but man, this year feels like it’s going to kill us all.
Dad.
North Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.12.2020. - 5.34pm.
Dear Gus,
It’s been a long week. We got in late last night and up early this morning to film in the Kansas City office. After lunch, we drove down to Bentonville to scout for next week’s filming. We’ve gathered up a lot of footage, but haven’t been home long enough to edit any of it, so I think Mary will stay behind next week to crank some things out.
Dad.
Kansas City, Missouri. 9.30.2020. - 7.32am.
Dear Gus,
On the screen behind Derek in this picture is our Summit countdown clock--112 days, 5 hours, 6 minutes, 6 seconds at the time of this photo. That thing is terrifying. The good news is that everyone’s excited about whatever this thing will look like.
After our meeting with Michael, Derek and I met with Colby at our production company in OKC to talk about how we could execute the ideas we’re mulling. Then we drove home and I got in after you’d already gone to bed. It’s been a long week.
Dad.
Norman, Oklahoma. 6.25.2020 - 11.53am.
