today was payday, so i had to wake up earlier than i wanted to in order to get a draw for minor expenses like crew internet cards, ship satellite phone cards, coffee and souvenirs on shore, incidentals, etc… everything else gets directly deposited in the bank at the beginning of the month – that’s a lot better than paying a fortune to wire it home, believe me! they charge an insane amount of money to wire funds, and it feels like flushing money down the drain… anyway, i then posted yesterday’s blog entry, checked my email, called my folks to say hi, called bob and nino, and worked on a couple of new tunes… went to lunch and then attended the sea day writing class – the teacher is an author named patricia rushford who was a nurse first, then an author. she and her husband ron come to the piano bar each night and i go to her writing class each sea day; she is a neat person to get to know… i also appreciate that she is a great resource in terms of exploring various avenues for writing projects and what to do with them, how to market things, etc… she has done fiction and non-fiction, and i am glad to be getting to know her as a friend and a writing coach…
today was the perfect nap time, the ship was rocking soooo nicely, and i had a great crash in my cool, quiet room… since i stay up ‘til 3 or 4 routinely, i usually sleep about 4-6 hours at night, so an hour or two in the afternoon is the way i begin getting ready to work… i generally nap at 3 or 4, wake up 5 or 5:15, shower, light supper and ready to sing at 7… i have to kind of reverse dinner and lunch as it’s hard to sing when you have to digest or feel full…
so psyched that my supervisor has now scheduled a break for me from 8-8:45, which is my dead time! now i can go see the first main stage show, or at least part of it – i always want to be in my lounge when the show lets out so the people walking by can hear and see that i am there and playing… tonight’s show was a piano duo (4 hands one piano) from great britain called 'katzenjammer' – they were pretty dynamic, witty, and very flashy stylistically. there was a camera trained over the keyboard with big screens on either side of the stage to watch their hands. they made me want to practice my classical stuff i brought with me to dust off…
if i haven’t mentioned it lately, i am more in love with my ipad, louise, than ever… the name came from my mom’s middle name which was also my nana’s middle name – since i didn’t get it for my middle name, and i won’t be having any more children or dogs, i had to put this special name somewhere… wow, what a brilliant tool she is! when i saw the katzenjammer guys later in the night, they were drooling over it, and i felt lucky all over again to have it… my set tonight was the music of billie holiday… quite possibly my favorite themed set list thus far – some quintessential billie stuff like “god bless the child” as well as a bunch of other great songs like “summertime,” “the man i love,” (which i dedicated to bob!) and more… moving the happy hour and theme set to 9 was a good move – my 9-10 was as full as the 7-8 tonight… good call, me!
on a sad note, we must say goodbye to nino’s computer which bit the dust in some sort of momentary power outage. i think papa and bob are already on it, and helping nino to order a new one… he was ready to throw in his savings and said maybe i shouldn't get him any souvenirs, and i was once again struck by the joyous rarity of having such a great, unspoiled teenager who does not have a sense of entitlement that is often typical of that age... save your money, bean, and i will still pick you up some cool road trinkets, we will just call this happy early birthday from papa and bob and me! i suffer such intense mama guilt being away from you at times, but one of the reasons i am working hard on the road is so you can have the things you need... i hope you realize how happy it makes papa and bob and i that you are such an awesome person, and how proud we all are of you! in this day and age, particularly considering your studies in media arts, web design, etc., we view a computer for you as more of a necessity than a luxury, like a video game console or something... you just keep doing as well as you are by doing your best, and let your folks help you on this one... love you bean, give everyone hugs from me! xo, mama
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