back in the atlantic again… on our way to the portuguese island of madeira for our last port of the grand world voyage before ft. lauderdale
it’s quite a project to gather and organize to go home, and i’ll need this entire next week to do a proper job of it… this is also the most important week of the gig besides the first week – i really have to put my heart and soul into every set and mean it, too… the folks can tell if you are phoning it in, and some people, like the ones who just got on in athens, should get the same quality show as the one everyone else got 100 days ago; but that is a bigger job than you might think! i am actually in pretty good form, though - the pipes are feeling good, i’m feeling alright from my fingertips to my shoulders (shoulders usually are the hardest hit, and they are a little weary, but not too bad…), and i am getting enough rest each day to feel as genuinely personable on and off the set as possible…
on the set, i expect to be there for everyone and look forward to it – i do love the gig and the room has really developed into a nice community… tho, i’ll be honest, i do struggle sometimes with folks wanting to stop and take pictures and ask me about songs when i am on shore walking down a street holding hands with bob or in a restaurant trying to have a date, but i also realize that part of being a public person on this gig means you are “on” as long as you are visible… i have learned that for most folks, there isn’t a real clear dividing line between my own time off and me being there for them unless i choose to stay in my room, which i can’t really do all the time and be sane… would you want to miss any of these places? i don’t! you just have to take a deep breath and try and be gracious and understand that it’s coming from a nice place on most folks’ part… i am grateful to not know what actual, true celebrity is like, ‘cause i am sure that’s why people like lindsay and Britney and charlie are totally cuckoo… at least when i go back home, the only people i might run into that i know on the street are nino’s friends’ moms… knowing i have the next 6 days at sea, i will spend some deliberate time above being available, having some good farewell times with folks, and some deliberate time below, being private, spending some good times with bob before we have to part, and getting myself ready to go home…
after tomorrow, i won’t have port songs to write, but i will have the final episode of piano broad as well as a cruise finale song… the big last night is always actually the penultimate night, as many folks don’t come on the last night because they are frantically packing or trying to rest to get out as early as they can in the morning… so i will prepare for all the really good finale stuff for the night before the last night.
tonight was formal night, so i did the captain’s cocktail party for his guests and then my regular sets. my theme was music from the 1920’s, since formal theme tonight was roaring twenties… the ship was rolling pretty good, and we did get a note in our cabins to expect high seas out of funchal tomorrow as well, and to secure all our belongings as it would be quite swoopy… exciting! those are my favorite nights… i sleep like a baby when the ship is rolling… i feel bad for some of the guests, tho, who do not do well in rough seas. more tomorrow from our last stop before home! ciao, me
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