so much time...

...so many events have occurred between this post and the last one. I think: don't bother to update, what's it to ya? And then I read what I've written thus far, what I started when I came back from my vacation in Greece in 2005 and started a weblog that all my friends were into (I am a conformist in some respects, yes.) I feel that it would be good to write, and if anyone reads it, well then, good for me. I have it in the ether.

Last post I had finished one cruise ship contract, headed for the second in a month. This time around, I finished the second (with a two month stint as Bandmaster. It not only gave me a salary boost, but now I have a better salary to get normal musician contracts with if I wish), and with a three week break in between, finished a third contract. Now on break for two more weeks, next month I start my fourth. It's a short one, too. I get to be home for Xmas and New Year's, which I haven't done in two years. My brother's kids are growing up, and so fast is not a figure of speech. Six months is a considerable amount of time, and in the case of babies growing into infants, infants into toddlers, the fast forward button is much faster than 32x.

One thing that I cannot get over working/living on cruise ships the last 21 months, is that I feel "incomplete". Bad or good, with a job on land my family is always there, never too far out of reach. On ships, it may as well be a prison, but I'm not saying it is one. It obviously isn't. Lack of "easy" communication with family is difficult, and in some cases, unbearable. And it transcends "missing" them. The vindication, the validation from them that even if it's not the right direction for you at the moment, they are RIGHT THERE. On a ship, the telephone or computer is the closest link to that family connection, and...you better pray there's a satellite signal.

That's why there needs to be a higher direction one can take. My music skills are such that I feel I can if not make an impact, then carve a niche and a catalog of work with national artists that love my playing and know that my enthusiasm and pocket playing is exactly what is needed for this session, or show, or concert. Stagnation, plateauing in your work can easily spell disaster for advancing. The moving has to go up, else you're not moving.

to be continued...