Meeting My Daughter

I was nervous all day long. Unlike me i left to the airport very early in order not to miss the plane. I was there 2 hours before my flight (like a big nerd) but the airport was empty. 

I am going home to meet my daughter who is 5 days old. My flight will be 10 hours. That's what you get when you live in the "boonies". I felt good but ... nervous because Sofia was very excited to meet her daddy for the first time.

Next morning i had to take some lessons from pros.

All of this for me was very foreign. 

Hey, no flirting!

Its my turn.

I had some suggestions  directly form the client as well.

Finally it was time to rest.

My work was evaluated by the committee consisting of women only. There were long debates before my work was approved satisfactory. 

At the gala concert the Chair of the committee performed "Purple Haze" by Jimmy Hendrix

Mathews VA

Today i was already running late for my show. There was 4 hours of drive to Mathews VA if didn't get lost. OK, i got lost and missed my exit because i was blasting Kesha's top hit on the radio. My next exit was only 6 miles away. My poor GPS lady was screaming  probably her lungs out "EXIT EXIT EXIT you brainless piano player!" at 60% volume while Kesha was at 1000%. I almost got a speeding ticket but ... luckily i saw a police car at the right moment. 

BTW after all the driving around the country i got really good at spotting police on the road. Today i avoided 3 of them while ... "being in a hurry". I already have a feel where is their ambush. I learned how to hide from the radar and how to recognize them at night. Too much time on the road. I might as well learn something.

My detour wasn't that bad because i took short cut through the forest. Nice! 

.....hmmmmmmm ....... maybe not.

 

I was late so my sound check was very short. I was still warm from yesterday's concert. Good show but very stressful day. 

Back to blasting!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP6XpLQM2Cs

Staunton VA

I hate those types who whine about the comfort in hotels and march to the front desks to constitute their rights. Well, this time it was ME and even twice (except i didn't march). I needed a working heater in the room. They placed me in the suite with the balcony. Well, i couldn't care less about the balcony because i needed to be warm and get better before i see Sofia. I froze at night in that suite with #$% balcony. I (almost marched) i went downstairs again and said that i want to downgrade ... to the ... SMALLEST room with the BIGGEST heater!!! Receptionist raised her brows ... ??? ... I guess downgrading is not an american thing to do ; )

Today for the first time i had to cancel my outreach in order to be alive for the evening. I am still a mess. 

The president of the concert association  brought me the lunch to the hotel. It was so sweet of him. He was one of the most interesting persons i met. He was a microbiology professor at the Yale univ. Very humble and non-pretentious scientist. He was not the kind "let's not discuss religion". He made me not say just anything because he was an amazing listener. The conversation with him had always an interesting and intriguing points. I was flattered to have a very distinguished scientist to be my nurse for one afternoon.

By the evening i felt much better (not visually)

The hall had 1200 seats and great resources. We made piano sound big and natural.  

Now! The piano. Definitely the best of all on my tour. An old Steinway. How good it felt! From the first touch it sounded like a gentle and round piano but with a little more attack you could turn it into the wild animal.

I loved my audience. Even if we had some mic malfunction during the most important moment of the show it still was one of my fave shows. Tomorrow i have to cross the whole Virginia and play the concert in the afternoon and then ... home. 

Blue 

New Bern NC

Today's concert is 4 hours away. I don't look forward to driving across N Carolina. Yesterday was quite enough. Do i have a choice? At  least directions were easy. New Bern is on the east coast of N Carolina. Beautiful and historic town. I didn't have time for pictures or exploration because i arrived straight for the sound check. The tech and light options were very limited but the piano very good. I didn't spend much time for sound check. I went to rest for an hour to the hotel.

The concert was awesome: jam packed hall and the most fun audience (for my surprise). I am still sick and exhausted but the energy of the audience gets me going.  Next morning i was dead and still high from the NyQuil but the children concert at 9:30 am was one of the most exciting ones. Kids were very diverse and receptive. I left right after because i had a 5 hour drive to Virginia.

When i was approaching my destination the road became very nice. Even with my killer cold i could enjoy it.

I thought about Sofia all the time. 

I am almost there. Just across the valley

Wow! It looks like Lithuania.

I miss everybody not only Lily and Sofia. I miss my sister, my parents, my friends ... everybody. What am i doing here alone? Tomorrow i will be gone anyways. 

Time for NyQuil. .............. hmmmmmm ............. i love that stuff ; )

A nightmare drive

After celebration Sofia's B day (w myself) i had to sleep in. Not only that. I got quite sick. Bad cold. It was my day off however i had to drive 6 hours from Tennessee to N Carolina. I had to cross Smokey Mountains and i knew that there are some problems with roads. But where exactly? On the way i saw announcement that the road that i chose is closed. Well, i thought i will take another one through the north. My GPS lady was going nuts telling me to come back. "Please come back!" It was a little suspicious but i kept on going. I tried to get everyone on the phone for directions. No luck. Where is everybody when i need the most? GPS lady now was insisting to turn around. She was even threatening me but i kept going into the Appalachian Mountains

Hmmmm ... i hope it is the right way.

The views were great. 

However it was very hard to enjoy the road because i was having my lunch on my knees, cuting avocado, tomato, talking on the phone, checking directions on GPS and trying to take pictures at the same time. I am not a multi tasker but it is never too late to start. When i saw this i freaked out.   

W ....... T ............ H (optional) ............... ?????????? Kentucky is not on the way to N Carolina! I pulled over to the Welcome Center and they confirmed that i was going to the wrong direction for 70 miles. The only way to get to N Carolina was to come back where my GPS lady started to swear. Go back for 70 miles? Listen to this: in order to make a U turn in this "banjo land" i had to go for extra 10 miles and then to turn. Another 20 miles for nothing? Yes, we always have to pay for stupidity. Ahhhhhhh!!!! I wanted to rip my hair off. Its getting dark. I am sick like a dog, hungry like Sofia, there and ... there is no one to blame. 

I drove back and took the right way. By now it was 5 pm. When i thought that i was on the right way my GPS lady offered me a different road. This time i listened to the GPS. I learned my lesson. But my road was not getting wider. It was getting narrower and more wet. Later on very curvy. Soon it started to snow and i was there alone. This time GPS lady really messed me up!

Cute natives provided a mellow entertainment. (look at my sharp right turn ahead).

As i was going higher up the mountain my speed was getting slower and slower because of the ice.

Soon i realized that got myself into the deep ... and that i can't make mistakes here.

My speed was 15 to 20 mph. I was getting really tired and even more sick. When i looked at the GPS to check how far was my destination. It showed ... 14o miles. (Do the math at 20 mph.) That was funny. I had to tell myself to start enjoying where i am now. I switched myself into survivors mode. No mistakes, no mistakes, feel the road, look ahead, don't blow your nose yet, its a sharp and slippery turn ... Then the blizzard came. When i reached a small town it became even more dangerous because of the other cars and frequent stops. I went sideways only once ; )  

It was impossible to go even to he gas station because they all had little slopes. It was not possible to get out from there without chains. The good part was that i was having another Christmas. Now i was real Rudolf!

I thought how much more pleasures i still have in front of me? After this town the raod started to go down. There was less snow, i picked up more speed. There was another 80 miles to go. I was like deflated balloon. Every mile went with pain. I tried to distract my desperation by choosing the most horrible music on the radio and to listen to it carefully. The worst thing was that i couldn't speed anymore. I will go to jail with the next ticket. The road became very clear, wide and empty but i had to drive like a big nerd 65 mph. Frustrating! The worst was the last 12 miles. I was begging for them to finish. When i finally took my exit i saw ... a buffet. I ran there like a mad man and ate everything that was in my sight. What a nightmare it was. It took 9 hours without breaks to drive. Tomorrow i have to drive 4 hours and play the concert. But tomorrow is tomorrow. Let's sleep for now. 

Sofia's Birthday

I picked up the phone. It was Lily. Her contractions started. I couldn't believe that today a new era will start. However for me it will be very anti climactic because i am not there. I will be tortured by my own imagination for a few more days. 

That day i had 2 concerts plus 3 hour drive. I really had to concentrate on the road because my thoughts were somewhere else and the roads in Atlanta were confusing. I couldn't afford to get lost because i left exactly 3'5 hours before my first concert. 

I was about to start children concert when the phone rang and Lily told me that her water broke. I wanted to be with Lily and not on the stage. I tried to hide it as much as possible. At the end of the concert children came to me to get their programs signed and  to talk to me. I couldn't run away because news paper people were there too. I wanted to kill everybody especially moms who wanted one more picture with their children, with another ... and another .. flash didn't go .. then "i want just two of you" ... "just three of you" ... LET ME GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lily kept pushing and i was getting ready for the evening show. The venue was great but my energy very low. I was so tired and .. distracted. I was thinking about Lily. I was in the wrong place now. 

When i started to play all of a sudden i got this boost of energy. I decided to dedicate every note to my girls. I unleashed my demons and gave more than i had. At this moment i wanted to participate in the events that were happening in California. I wanted to attach myself emotionally and that was the only thing i could do . The hall and piano was perfect for that. Huge space and big sound. I made it roar. 

Intermission. Pretending that i am not in a hurry to check my messages. 

... nothing. It meant that everyone is busy and that might be it. 

The audience was ... almost ... no ... the proper way to say it would be ... the most shy i ever experienced. I played like tornado and response was ... clap clap ... clap ... cla ... p ... cl ... After the concert young guys told me the reasons. I didn't care because I was playing for my girls anyway. 

There was no encore (with that kind of enthusiasm?). I ran to check messages. There was one. It was Lily's sister saying that i am a papa. I jumped in the car and went to look for the bar. On the way i got Lily on the phone. That was incredible. In the background i could hear Sofia crying. I was laughing so much but at the same time my tears were running down my cheeks. I couldn't stop it. Estrogen was possessing me. I was making a thousand of u turns on the same street over and over. I didn't know what i was doing. When i got my consciousness back i found the first bar and dove in. It was the loudest and perfect bar. 

It was FAT TUESDAY. I ordered a triple whiskey and wanted to talk to someone but everyone was completely "wasted" 

It was only me and my thoughts there. I don't know if i was the happiest guy over there but definitely i was the most alive. The band played the song which from now on will be Sofia's song. 

listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIdIqbv7SPo

Freaky Story in Griffin GA

Woke up @ 1 pm. Still tired. Lunch. Facebook. Time for sound check. The tech guys were not talkers at all. One of them was completely silent. They both were buff and no smiles. 

I liked that. He was doing his job and i was doing mine. 

The piano was an ancient honky tonk however it worked for this hall. No complaints. I liked the venue.

The audience was very slow to react. Imagine a classical pianist going on the stage and telling with KGB accent that he will play torturous Beethoven.  I would be scared to death. But its ok. I knew they will catch up at the end. I was slowly breaking the walls and enjoying that. In my shows i never had a flop at the end ; ) But today it was like pulling the train with the left overs of my energy. 

FREAKY STORY:

Today happened the most bizarre thing in my concert history. I talked about New Orleans, about 1800's, about the fun that people were having there. Then i played a Ragtime. On the last chord i looked to my left towards the dark stage and .............there was a black face without teeth staring at me from the darkness. I freaked out. I started to talk to him in the mic hoping that audience will understand the situation but the audience thought that it was my act and they were expecting some funny punch lines. Well, they didn't get any because i was dealing there with another "world" who had no intentions to leave the stage. I said politely to him "sorry man, we are here in the middle of something". I felt stupid after i said that but that what it came out from my mouth. For the first time i was caught in such a surreal situation + in real time. The audience were looking at me from my right side, the homeless dude from my left and i was in the middle ... in the spotlight. Its like a worst dream that could happen to a musician. When the security realized what was happening they came on the stage and justified their functionality ; ) After that i told audience that i am not playing ragtimes anymore. I chose Schubert in Tango style. That was better although i still was checking the backstage for new fans. 

Finally the concert was a great success. The audience was riled up and gave me very satisfying roar at the end. The silent lighting guy did the best light show ever. I told him that he had a total freedom during the show and he overcame my expectations. He was so sensitive to the music and changed lighting accordingly. Great intuition. That inspired me to play even more. Also ... he talked to me after the show and told me very nice things.  I was flattered. Silent guys do not say b...it.

Just an exercise for your eyes.

Mount Dora FL

Does this look like Alaska to you?

or this one?

I thought so. It almost snowed here. I wonder where do alligators go when they are freezing. I was so cold too + hungry. It looks like it's been closed in the fifties. No luck!

UPDATE: on my smashed thumb ( if you have strong stomach). WATCH OUT! Its graphic. I know that some of you "sickos" will like it. 

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I don't need piano in order to warm up. I just need a cool retro couch.   

I am ready! Can't wait to start the show.

The piano was one of the top 2 quality Steinways on this tour. Unbelievable! The venue was a small 500 seater. It was a perfect size for the intimate interaction with the audience. I loved every minute! Great audience and fun atmosphere. Usually i am very tired after the shows and do not party but this time ... i was hand cuffed and dragged by ... this army

"Oh Mary Lynn! Please, i'm not lookin' at that wine. No, no! ......ok, give me a sip!"

"We need some more please!!!"

"C'mon Steve, it was only a joke"

"Where ... is ... my .... car?"

Next day i had to drive for 7 hours. It was a Valentines Day. My schedule book on the Feb 14 page had a hidden card from .. my Lily. She is so sneaky! It was the best break in my day. 

Happy Valentines to you all!!! (wink wink)