Raggin' Piano Boogie

HIS SPIRIT LIVES ON! ... BONER, THE PIANO DOG ... November 27, 1994 ... February 20, 2010

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September 30, 2007

Schuylkill Haven PA

Well as usual, I am wiped out from yesterday, more than usual but then again the work yesterday was more than usual. I visited Black Hawk mountain today a lookout area. I wanted to find a quiet walk and musical escape for Bo and I. It was tourist trap packed with cars! They did not allow dogs. Dog bans such as this are BAD for society. A dog owner cannot walk a dog in a park? I am against unwarranted restrictions based on projected fear. Laws like this do nothing to empower responsibility for anyone or anything. What the hell does this protect? How often to you hear of a dog biting someone, or someone getting seriously hurt from a dog, anywhere. I did not want to attach to much negative energy to the day so I asked the guy for a spot where we could be alone and he sent us down a couple of roads where I found the true "boonies" that I was looking for. There were only a few people around, we had a nice walk on the Appalachian Trail, I played some relaxing music and all was good.

I am experiencing the laws of attraction everyday and the experience is coming in negative and positive forms. I am becoming more conscious everyday that I have a choice as to which of the two I want to give my energy to. I want to keep as much negativity out of my life as possible. I am attracting a journey to China into my life and I am doing that everyday.

Two very different women came into my life today. The first says, "you know I was in China as a tourist, they eat dogs in China, they have cages on the street with dogs in them to purchase and take home to kill and then EAT." I thought, why is she telling me this? Does she think the Chinese people are going to eat my Boner? Do they know something about me that I do not know that may result in my being careless enough to let my Boner slip through my hands so they can catch him to EAT? I thought back to when I was a kid when my parents used to threaten me. "You better eat those peas on your supper plate and appreciate them because there are millions of poor starving children in China with no peas to eat." I thought, " The American society kills dogs everyday. Who knows what the SPCA's do with the millions of dogs that they kill... burn them, bury them, grind them for feed, what? They should be sending them to China to feed the poor starving children! Then a second lady with her husband came into my life. The were telling me about China and their son who lives there with the Peace Corps.. "we were in China, in the rural parts near Afghanistan; the Chinese people are so nice and respectful." I have heard this many times. It is good to be aware of every concern possible but I am not going to dwell and align my energy with fear. Love is the way to go!

I can see the trees shifting from green to yellow as autumn approaches and there could not have ben a better day to listen to the sounds of music not only from myself but from the world around me... the wind, trees, the birds, the mountain bears in the bushes?

September 29, 2007

I woke up in Schuylkill Haven PA today thinking, "this is how it should feel to be home with family." I am here for their 19th Borough Day and I have been at this event for 11 or 12 years. The newspaper did a a small feature stating that this was our last performance for the town as we will be going to China. The day was filled with well wishers and the Borough Day Committee made a generous contribution to the Journey of Peregrinating Musical Exploration so you can bet your ass I worked mine off for them today and it was full gratitude for our relationship over the years from beginning to end. Over a thousand people from this community signed a piece of paper for me two years ago to support my Wildest of Dreams with Harpo Productions. Many came to the event that year specifically for me and I'll never forget that. I would not allow any sadness to enter... only good feelings and it was a reality check of what is really happening in my life, I will be leaving.

Boner is so great he came alive for the whole day, he loves to be around people. He becomes more responsive when we are performing, interested in life, engaged with life. This is the only festival I have ever been to or involved with that has stayed its course it was as strong today as it was 19 years ago. Easily over ten thousand people were in attendance. Waves of people stopped to play on the truck, groups of teenagers, young kids, punks, college kids, fat ladies, thin ladies, old men, young men, skateboarders, gangster rappers, families, yuppies, volunteers, other entertainers. There is no greater joy that I can experience than to share the piano on the truck and be able to offer something to all people... my music and the Traveling Piano, this entertainment property crosses all boundaries. People used to try and pin me down in the past. "What is your target audience, who are you going after." That NEVER made sense to me as I go after everyone, Raggin' Piano Boogie and the Traveling Piano does not fall into any specific catagory and neither does my music.

A woman who played the piano reminded me of how I used to practice the piano when I was young to get out of washing the dishes after dinner. She did the same thing. The town's crossing guard lady gave her usual set of piano playing. At first she did not want to, it only took about twenty minutes, "ok, i'll play some". She would have stayed on the piano the whole day if she was allowed to. Someone said they missed the fact that I used to wear a white shirt and tie, I had a unique "look" with that. I thought, "yea well that look is over." A guy came up to me with pictures that he saved for me from last years performance. I took Boner to the fireworks at night to test the limits of what he can handle for the upcoming journey. I held him tight in my arms the entire time while covering his ears and he shook the entire time but did not go crazy. He trusts me so much, how can a person not totally love trust? All the kids on the field treated us as friends.I think I will stick around in the neighborhood for tomorrow.

September 28, 2007

I packed up and left for Schuylkill Haven Pennsylvania today to play for their annual town festival tomorrow. It is my twelfth year with the community, one of my favorite places to be. Tonight I went to the center of town to play a little bit while my friend Celeste took some pictures, she is a major photo taker. If you ever need any pictures, especially nature photography she's the one to look into! We played and took shots while the patrons of a nearby bar fell out of it. One guy stopped and fell into the truck to play some piano and he was good at it. There were many Friday night couples passing by with the traffic. We were on the street next to the train station by the town clock. I am always apprehensive before a booking it has never become the same old, same old for me because I care which is good. I just hope I can get to bed. Bo needs to go for a run which I am going to take him on right now.

September 27, 2007

I drove into my neighbor Donni's driveway today to play some music. He and his friend Toni were having at it with a basketball and it did not take long for them to switch focus on the truck to play some piano. They suggested we drive around the neighborhood and of course that is right up my alley so thats what we did. I drove while they jammed. Two nights in a row driving around while creating music. None of it was planned. An hour before we hooked up I had no idea what was to come.

September 26, 2007

I just came back from several amazing experiences. It started with my waking up this morning and reminding myself of my focus... to have the world meet Boner and to share our musical fun, friendship and respect with others and of course to have fun experiences for myself. I went through the day being especially conscious and aware of my thoughts and actions because I wanted to accomplish as much as possible. I did some good stretching and breathing. I decidedly took time to buy some fresh fruit and vegetables because there was nothing but popcorn and nutrition bars in the house and that was all I ate for two days. I gained weight just eating popcorn and nutrition bars. Screw that. I made some really good eggplant parmesan. I let nothing stop me from eating it slowly and mindfully and really enjoyed how alive it felt to open the refrigerator and get a strong whiff of fresh ripe strawberries when I open the fridge... ummmmm.

Jackie from yesterday phoned me to take me up on my offer to have a traveling piano truck experience for the day. Today is her eighteenth birthday! We started out at her grandmother's house where I met some new neighbors and played in the driveway and then I drove around the neighborhood with Boner on top of the piano while Jacki and her boyfriend Alex played the piano in the back. A neighborhood dog started to run after us as the owners unsuccessfully tried to run catch up. I could not stop because I did not want the dog to jump for Boner so I just drove to the end of the street and turned around without stopping to lead the dog back to the owner.

We then left to create some beautiful music in a beautiful cemetery spot where the full harvest moon was shining bright in a grassy field surrounded by trees. On the way I realized is was getting dark quick and I wanted to get a video take of dizzy fingers... my fifth for fun to upload on Youtube. I stopped to play dizzy fingers under a bright light at Nino's farm market. Right before I started the owners ran outside to us and looked like they should have been carrying shotguns. I could not blame them; someone had just stolen a hundred dollar pumpkin from them tonight. I tamed them with music by playing the Maple Leaf Rag (while thinking over and over in my head, "love, love, love) (good thing I'm good at the piano too), did the video, explained myself, talked a little about them contributing and my gifting for them and then Boner, Jackie, Alex and I continued onward.

We pulled into the cemetery and a car followed us in, actually four cars followed us in and all the way to the back of the cemetery. I decided it was time to stop and see what was up. I did not know whether it was the cops, maintenance people, a curious fan or what. It was a group from North Philly and as they started getting out of their cars I walked up to them and said, "whats up?" The main guy says, where here to visit my son's grave it is the first anniversary of his passing." I asked what his son's name is and where he was and he said, "its Drew and you pulled your truck up right in front of his tombstone." I started to ask about Drew and found out that he was 23 years old and these people were his gang of family and friends. It was dark, I said I should play some music for them and Drew and they said sure and then I asked what kind of music Drew likes and they said rap and hip-hop and stuff like that so I told them I would play some good Boogie street music for them and I did. They were completely jolted out of their expectations of the moment and I was keenly sensitive to the situation. I knew what was happening in the moment... this was not a first time for something like this.

It was was just awareness of pure synchronistic goodness. One of the guys pulled his car up to put the lights on so we could get pictures to mark the moment and we all knew it was more than a coincidence. Drew's dad said they had planned to be there at five but got hung up on dinner and travel and thats what happened with Jacki and Alex and I at the farm market. It all timed perfectly to have met at this spot at this very moment at the same time. I told them that while I was playing I had a strong impulse that Drew wanted them to be happy and that was why I was there to be with them. This was a clear strong feeling that came through me so I shared it and they agreed.

We said our goodbyes and I drove the truck to the other side of the cemetery so I could bring the energy level down some to improvised in the moonlight. Alex and Jackie hung out on the back door of the truck bed and when I was finished Jackie said, "I almost forgot you were here." Cool. We headed back to Jackie's parents house and pulled into the driveway so her sister, I think her name was Kim could meet Boner. We had a nice visit with music in the driveway, Boner got a few treats and then we headed home. A wonderful full harvest moon night full of musical fun, friendship and respect!

September 25, 2007

I could very easily feel overwhelmed but I refuse to go there in my head because I am having too much fun. I will take it easy... no matter what. I do what I can do and that is that. A guy came to the house to check out some of my family furniture today. I wonder if he will buy it before I find out it is worth ten thousand more than he price I gave him. A normal person would check that all that out first right? Well, I'M NORMAL but I still do things ass backwards. it is what it is, I do the best that I can. How many time can i say that? Anyway, later I was taking a walk down in the city and came across an oriental rug dealer and asked him about the rugs I am selling. We got talking and I offered to bring the Traveling Piano to his place next week to play some music while he took a look at my rugs. He said he would be truthful with what they are worth because I'm a nice guy. HAhahaha... this is all so funny. I was confused about a shipping issue with an ebay person tonight so I got the nerve to call her up on the phone in Arizona. Yikes! Good thing she was a cool lady. I am her first ebay purchase. She is my second first ebay purchaser :) We had a good talk and she decided to pay through BonertheDog.com. The first $$$ to come through Boner the Dog's website!!! Yea, happy me and... she got the concept of the site which really brought a smile to my face. She sent $50 for a $20 ebay auction win. She knows it is all about sharing, being part of, fun, contribution. I am thankful to experience people like this. She called me back on the phone later on with the suggestion to get papers for Boner to be a service dog so he can fly with me in the cabin of the plane to China. What a great idea!!! The more options the better. Earlier in the day I stopped over a neighbors house to have this young guy Alex video my fourth take of Dizzy Fingers for Youtube (I am going to do one hundred) Why? Because... anyway, I got to meet Alex's hot girlfriend Jacki and Alex's younger brother Logan who also plays the piano so of course we did some jammin'.

September 24, 2007

A guy named Sal video taped me with my camera yesterday and his mom sent me a pic of the action. So this daily log with pictures and writings is now transitioning into video bloging also. I went back to New Hope tonight to play on a real piano in a showcase thingy. I stopped off to pick up a new friend and tried to create a video but it did not turn out. I was in a rush, I could not wait to get my hands on the stage piano. People were stopping me in the parking lot on the way in, "Hi its you... oh my god I can't believe I am seeing you here... hey I read an article about you in the Scranton Times... hey piano man I know so and so who knows you"... I was like hi,hi,hi, I gotta get to the piano. I had a one track mind going. It did stick in my brain that articles are being written about me and I have know idea what people are saying... I think that may be a good thing to let be, for the future... knowing as little as possible. I improvised while people were waiting for the show to begin. I had a hard time staying interested in what I was doing but did explore musically. After I was done my friend told me that the woman who she was sitting with said the music irritated her so much she was about to leave and this new friend also thought it was awful and repetitious and boring and loud! I plan on irritating them and being repetitious and boring and loud again next week if they are present. What the fuss! I know they just wanted to hear what they wanted to hear... show tunes or some other expectation. Not on my watch! On my watch your going to hear Danny music and if you don't like it... leave, or have me thrown out! OUT I SAY!!! Hehehe... In the old days I would have wanted to jump off a bridge. Today, "it is what it is."

September 23, 2007

Tyler Park

I am not sure why I feel so good today, why ask? I loved going to the park to play some music. I had some good alone time as well as people time. When I drove into my parking spot there was a family hanging out on the grass. Their car bumper read, pray the rosary. I thought, "oh no, I 'm going to be in trouble". You need to know my past and the many Catholic blog entries to know what I am talking about. It is either the laws of attraction, God or my mother, dad, my friend Gertrude, Michael, Cathy or anyone else Catholic who has passed from this earthly place out to bug me, reassure me or just be a reminder for me. We had a lively animated time talking, sharing music, video taping my second performance of Dizzy Fingers for YouTube... check the last part out. I have added a new dimension of fun to all of this. Type in the keywords on YouTube... Dizzy Fingers Piano Truck Dog.

I feel so alive when with nature. Bo and I took a walk through the fields. A hot air balloon rose up above the tree line. Boner was not comfortable with that; he began to try and bark it away. I think it moved a little too slow and smooth for him, like a stalker. I on the other hand loved it. I was hoping the balloon would drift overhead so i could turn up the speakers to play for the riders. The balloon pickup van drove up and everyone jumped out to meet Boner while the young piano guy played the Star Wars theme as the balloon approached. Another group of kids from my home area stooped by to hang out for a bit. I came home to find that I sold five pocket books via the internet and made a couple of hundred dollars to help fund this journey and to pay the bills today. Check out BonerTheDog.com, I just listed three more onto it.

September 22, 2007

Tyler Park

I woke up 12 noon today, it was raining and the first thing I did was embrace the fact NOT that it was raining but... that I slept until noon. Of course this means I will be up working and not get to bed until 5 am... the time I would really like to be waking up. Oh well, it is what it is and I am grateful that I am in control of my schedule. I did not get out of bed until I was feeling good about something and that something was that I was going to have a great day... and I did! I am moving forward with the www.bonerthedog.com website... sold four more items on Ebay ( a nickel here a nickel there, this needs to change) and then I went to Tyler park. People stopped and jumped out of their cars... played a few notes... and then jumped back into their cars to drive off... other's stopped by and I spewed my verbal energy at them while they soaked it all up with interest... three fun girls stopped by and videographed my First Take of Dizzy Fingers on the piano. I started today to download one hundred takes of Dizzy Fingers on YouTube without looking at the keys while playing it today. Why? Because I can. What friggin' FUN!!! There was some kind of flying bug hatching today in the park there were millions of light teeny bugs flying everywhere. I thought, "this is really cool" as I tried to not think about the fact that I was breathing them in. Eileen and Chloe (friends) stopped by to listen to some of my music and Chloe danced all around the truck while waving her hands in the air while I was playing. Do you know how much joy that brought to me? Alot!!!

September 21, 2007

China

September 20, 2007

Pipersville, Pennsylvania

I have felt like I could go to sleep at anytime all day today. It is called, "I would like to shut down". I choose a bag of potato chips and two soft pretzels instead. I have been moving forward with these websites, specifically with Boner The Dog and I often (trying to be soft on myself here) spin my wheels constantly before moving forward and then I often still continue to spin while moving. Wes is the man who helps me with these sites and he does it for no fee. He generously donates his time, patience and expertise in site structure, the back end stuff. He deals with my vision and the particularizations as to what I want and need and often to the minutest detail. I try to tell him how much I appreciate his help even when he is a pain in the ass but I do not think he realizes how much his contribution means to me. Am I ever a pain in the ass? ... Anyway, there is a tremendous about of emotion and angst involved with pacing, decisions and life balance with these Wildest of Dreams that are the makeup of my life. The idea of trying one way and then reevaluating it, letting go of an idea completely if needed because it did not work, taking a different direction etc... ahh enough.

I went to a new friends house tonight for dinner and ended up staying until early in the morning. Suzan is a mighty fine jazz singer and she offered to cook dinner for Boner and me. We hooked up through a series of synchronistic connections and people. I improvised some in her backyard out in the country which is about an hour from my house in Upper Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The sounds of the crickets at dusk make me dizzy with love. The bites of the mosquitoes made me want to go inside. I talked Suzan into climbing on board the truck first for a wee bit of tinkling on the ivories for herself. She was not going to miss an opportunity to be close to Boner and he was the same with her all night in the house. Suzan also invited musician friends over to meet and have dinner with us and I think I had my closest inkling yet to the concept of a musical family... a circle of musicians... I am sort of getting a feeling of what it is like to experience people who are tight close friends because of there common love of music, people who identify through music... Like I am one of and accepted as such. This is very interesting indeed. I actually read a music chart of chords from a piece of paper while Suzan sang. This is new stuff for me. I think it is the lack of fear that is most new. As I drove home, I was thinking how I can tend to take a high level of talent for credit. I have heard several amazing voices this week and I have been listening to what goes into making those voices and the music. It is a lot of care, thought, work and love.

September 19, 2007

September 18, 2007

I am wiped out today, last night was draining, i don't know if it was being around the alcohol, my past, the energy I am not used to, or me, myself and I. In any case i am consciously taking it easy today. No rushing, no chaos even though i did visit a very chaotic family. On the way home I said to myself, "just take it easy go home and rest". I ended up finding a quiet place to play some piano first. A parking lot corner very near my house tucked away in the middle of a lot of chaos. I could position the truck so i was surrounded on three sides by trees and bushes and the crickets drowned out any man made sounds. It was wonderful. I am realizing that my music is being influenced and shaped by nature and I embrace that. i am beginning to feel in perfect harmony with the sounds of nature when I am creating music. This may sound a little stupid but it is true... where most musicians are jamming with other musicians, I am jamming with nature's sounds. It makes sense that I am getting really good at it because first of all I care, I am interested... and then I acknowledge it, appreciate it and share it... and I have been consistent with it, I have been playing in nature almost everyday for over like two years now. Sometimes it is only ten minutes a day but still... it is the consistency that is most important. Then there is the variety of natures environments, so many and so many more to come.

September 17, 2007

I cheated on my piano tonight. I played on not one but two other pianos. I did a real "out of the box thing" tonight. I went to my old stomping grounds of thirty years ago in New Hope, Pennsylvania to a cabaret showcase. Yikes! I wanted some new flavor for my musical life. My old piano playing friend Bobby Egan, the music man on every level of the New Hope area opened a new cabaret theatre named Bob Egan's Cosmopolitan Club. It is a great room that seats about 120 people... and I took advantage of the opportunity to improvise on a good Steinway grand piano in a completely alien environment. Boner stayed out in the truck. I played while people came in to be seated. I worked on not being musically conscious of whether the situation was working or not, I just did my thing and worked on staying interested for myself. It was fun and there is nothing like playing on a good piano! There was a lot of talent on hand and I joined in with the show giving em' some Ragtime and Boogie Woogie. My nervous manic state of mind was perfect for the night's entertainment and I did one of my all time award winning 30-second race throughs of the Maple Leaf Rag. It should take more like about three minutes to play but I become a runaway train when my nerves are working on me. Afterwards, everyone adjourned to the bar where I played on another grand piano that was completely different in sound, much brighter. I am astounded at how unafraid I am to improvise my own music. This fact might be the biggest gift for my life so far. I had three different reactions to the music. There was of course, "I want to hear the Ragtime and Boogie Woogie", then there was the "Wow" over the intensity of my improvisation and then there was major appreciation over the calming effect of it. That was from the bartender. One seasoned actor/singer brought up the idea of producing a writers workshop where I would play the piano straight through for several hours while a group of writers wrote a screen play to my music rather than the other way around. What a compliment!!!

September 16, 2007

This blog is so much work! What can I do, I enjoy sharing my musical life experiences. I was at the park today and had a record number of people stopping by. It is so interesting... the difference of days when I attract people verses when I push them away. Today was definitely an attract day and I loved every minute of it. So many people were able to grasp what the Traveling Piano is all about, the concept of music being "it is what it is", exploring, creating, experimenting etc...

There was a guy Anthony in his mid thirties with his wife and daughter who was friends with my next door neighbor when he was little and he remembered me... cheezzzzz... little kids I knew now have families of their own in their mid thirties... cheezzzzz. There were people who have seen me in the past many times in the park and today was the first day they felt safe enough to approach me, they said things like, "we didn't know wether you wanted to be bothered before". Ha, I am becoming so conscious of the positive and negative energy vibes that transmit from my body without physical communication; maybe it comes through my music too.

Young, old, male, female, there were even several interested dogs. A world disc throwing tournament passed by the truck, about 130 participants in groups of ten... they had their apparatus set up to throw discs at behind the truck. I wanted to get a picture of them throwing discs while I was playing music but it did not work out. I stayed until it got dark... and cold, a record time of four hours of inspiring and empowering with musical fun, friendship and respect.

September 15, 2007

I am coming to understand the laws of attraction with my Wildest of Dreams more and more everyday. The laws of attraction are the facts of how life works. They have been written about repeatedly through the ages. The laws are about my favorite saying, "it is what it is." I am so thankful to have this daily log in order to share the process of the laws of attraction in my life.

It was interesting, as I have been shifting thoughts all over the place in my head. I have been feeling like, "where's the fun, why can't I allow myself fun, what is fun supposed to be, where did the fun go, why is my life not like it was a few months ago"... and then I realized that I have been distracted from my goals, the focus on my Wildest of Dreams, the real fun. The dream of streaking the Raggin' Piano Boogie truck across the superbowl field while wailing away with my wild Boogie Woogie piano music... the dream to have the world meet Boner before he retires... the dream to gift the world, to empower and inspire with our brand of musical fun, friendship and respect. Here I have been focusing more and more on selling my possessions, raising the finances, paying the bills, eBay, BonertheDog.com and going to China as a means to the end.

It is so tricky to keep my focus on the end results while focusing in the moment to achieve that end result. The moment seems to want to work itself into being the end result... in of itself. "Remember Danny, the present is a means to the future not the end all of the end all." I must live the future in the present. When I get into an unproductive kind of "present" mindset everything becomes fixed, there is no flexibility, no ability to reevaluate, to change, to have options, I become all about, "it is this way or the highway". Nothing works right.

So now that I have my priorities back on track, I went to the park today with the truck, piano and Boner. Out of nowhere Iris and Jeff appear. Guess where they are from? China, they came over four years ago. I learned how to say Hi, Piano and Bye in Chinese. The words stayed in my conscious memory for about 15 seconds. Oh well... They said they would help me with the language and connect me with their family over in China. Way cool... We were all attracted to each other.

September 14, 2007

The Dzong From The Tibetan Quarter, Gyantse China

September 13, 2007

I heard two local bumpkins' in my back yard today "Danny...Danny." I was self absorbed inside with what I was doing but that did not deter them. Next it was the back door banging, "Danny...Danny we know your in there." Then it began with the front door bell "ding...ding...ding." I gave in and went to the door. "Hi, guys what's up?" "Can you bring the truck out so we can play some piano?" How could I resist that! I took advantage of the opportunity for some fun so I pulled the truck out of the garage and parked it on the curb and then I let them have a go at it. The one guy got bored after about ten minutes and left... the other, I ended up giving a piano lesson to. I taught him how to use both hands and what a chord is and how to play it. It was very interesting to hear the words I was using to help him to achieve the lesson. I used sentences like, "Focus on your third finger so it presses down along with the others." Ha, the terminology for learning and accomplishing has certainly changed from when I was a kid... for the better!

Teaching him was forcing me to ease up, have patience and take it easy on my brain. I had been grilling myself hard for the previous two hours but that had to change because for him to understand the lesson I needed to adjust to his level and pace of understanding. What a gift that was for me in the moment. After they left I went to the park. I had to. I was grilling myself into a state of oblivion feeling frustrated about getting up not early enough to be as productive as I want to be and also... my food intake is out of whack! Yikes, I hate when that happens.

September 12, 2007

i made a run for the park to create some music before meeting up with friends for tonights Phillies game... front row behind the dugout. At the park the weather was just so great, I parked the truck so my face was in the warm sunlight as the cool breeze blew in every direction. Feeling a little rushed and manic and that was cool because I channeled that energy right into the music... it turned out crisp, strong and disjointed... I experimented with that fact and the feelings surrounding it. A young boy named Zachery stopped by to jump up and play some piano and then had a hand at taking pictures of me. I think he took about seventy pictures standing in the same position. He was having fun! As I was about to leave more kids arrived so i gave them a mini introduction and musical meet the dog exchange and then ran home to meet with my friends. Creating music is becoming more and more important everyday.

September 11, 2007

Somerville, New Jersey

It rained for most of the day. I have been spending much of my time researching my belongings so I have text for everything I am selling on www.bonerthedog.com . I admit, it is kinda fun although I do think about how many things I need to do. Looks like I will have to find some performances to pay some bills as well as plan for the next leg of this journey. The idea of being here for Christmas turns my stomach. I wantto be out in the world playing on and sharing the Traveling Piano. I used to be Mr. Christmas and now I am selling it all. I have faith this will work. My goals... to streak across the superbowl field while on the truck (with clothes) while playing wild Boogie Woogie piano... enjoy my time with Boner while he is still with me to the fullest all the while sharing our fun, friendship and respect with the world at no cost... sell my possessions and take care of my house to pay the bills and attract funding from as many sources as possible... ready and carry through with gifting China during the Olympics and throughout the rural areas... develop my talent of musical improvisation and perform it for the world... create a musical CD, book etc... anyway... I did take time to improvise for about an hour outside today. I feel in such a safe head space when I am improvising. Before two years ago that was one of the most unsafe places in my head to even think about visiting. How wonderful this is. I am started to crave performing for audiences in a new way, like seated at a real piano on a stage with people!

September 10, 2007

A Park in China

September 09, 2007

Somerville, New Jersey

My friend of twenty five years John hit a very special and personal milestone today and decided to celebrate it by taking 30 friends to dinner! I don't know how he did it because he is not a "mister money bags" kinda guy. I am glad to be part of his life and that he is my friend. He had another friend of fifty years also present. Wow! It was a wonderful gathering of miscellaneous types and I had a good time. As I ate I thought how rare it is for me to sit down and be served a cooked meal! Afterwards we went to the park for some music and John ended up contributing $300 to the journey it was absolutely a celebration of his own accomplishments. Way to go my friend! When things like this happen all i think is, "I'm going to turn this gift over to make it worth ten times more!" it's true, this is what I impulsively think and that is how I know things will work out. It means everything to me that friends join with me on this wonderful journey to gift the world.

I decided to stay in the park for a bit after everyone left because the space felt so good and i was full of so much love and friendship and appreciation. Parents started to come up to the truck with their kids after a little encouragement of waving my hands, "come on over." It feels so dumb to do but I do what I have to do! I must reach out to let people know we are approachable and I am glad to be out of the rut I was in last week where I could not reach out. I stayed until dark because people kept coming up to play and there was some fun musical experimenting going on all around.

September 08, 2007

Philadelphia Cathedral

Ahh.... for a change today I was the one treated to some music. I was the one who was inspired by a musician. I was the recipient of anothers musical fun, joy and major good vibes of energy. The world renowned musical couple, Deva Premal and Miten were in town to give a concert and invited me as their guest and of course they wanted to meet Boner. I took Bo into the hall when the concert was over. My dog loves to be empowered. He knows what is happening... that he is being given special treatment and he behaves accordingly... always. I love that about him. He has so much gratitude... and all the time. I was first turned onto Deva's voice during a yoga class I attended when I began this present life journey of mine over two years ago. Deva and Mita's music helps to give me a balanced perspective when I am seeking a calm and safe place in ma' head. They are creators of mantra music... of spiritual music through song and chant. It is a high energy and at the same time even keeled music, full of love and joy... bliss even. They had a friend, Manose who lives in San Francisco playing the bansuri flute with them. There were a couple thousand people present from all walks of life so you know this was my kind of crowd. There was no applause between songs, man was that refreshing. It was like we were all just hanging out together. I brought almost all of the CD's they had to sell there must have between 11 and 16 of them. Deva and Miten have been touring non-stop for almost 15 years they have no home they spend about five weeks a year at Deva's mothers house in Germany and the rest of the time they travel and perform. I am getting ready for this life of traveling the world for a few years with my music. I have had a home and now I am ready for something different. The world will be my home. It is easy for me to desire this as I have a purposeful drive and that is to share what I have to offer... my music, because... it is fun, giving and good! Deva reminded me to not hide behind anything as I have so much to offer. I want to keep a check on that. I hid behind the truck and I hid behind sunglasses for many years. I presently want the world to meet Boner but equally I want to continue to create personal intimacy along with my music and not hide behind him. Check out this website www.mitendevapremal.com ...this duo is becoming more and more mainstream in audience everyday. I mean think about it... they turned on a Ragtime Boogie Woogie piano man who plays piano from the back of a pickup truck with a dog that hangs out on top of the piano ...they turned me on with their spiritual music!

September 07, 2007

I was practicing my Ragtime and Boogie Woogie repertoire today as I told myself, "lets keep it all realistic, in China you will be working every musical angle and using every musical tool that you have to communicate since that will be the only workable language you have to communicate with if there is no translator around. Of course I'll be creating my improvisational music but more musical languages I can present the better. I'll be able to musically speak Boogie, Ragtime and Danny. I found a spot today in a nearby park under a tree. It was warm and breezy and just plain beautiful. A guy name Tom stopped and impulsively tipped me $10 bucks when he heard about my agenda. Successful people do things like that and I could tell he was my kind of successful guy. He had gratitude in him. Another woman jumped up onto the piano on her way out of the park with her husband. She definitely lightened my day... she was one beautiful woman, oh damm... she was down right hot! I did not get her name. I must play more in the daylight and not before I go to bed. The musical energy level during the day is like... day and night. I was reminding myself how it takes practice to keep my performance energy high and part of my psyche. It is sort of like exercise for me. If I walk tired... I can start walking so slow... as time moves on the exercise becomes practically non-effective. I need to get to the gym every once in awhile to get on the treadmill to keep speed in my system and my metabolism moving. I have been thinking about using a metronome to help speed up my music. I've said this before. A piece of music that took me three minutes to play twenty years ago at top speed now takes five minutes at top speed. That will not work for me; I enjoy speed, lots of it. I like calm too; I want the best of all worlds.

September 06, 2007

After going to the movies tonight to see Transformers before it left the little movie screens (it has already left the big ones) I went outside to the field. I had needed a good laugh and I thought the movie was going to be a funny Disney like cartoon. It was a lot more than that full of fun and violence and wonderfully amazing graphics. So here I was sitting in the field once more in the middle of the night. It occurred to me how I was playing the piano everyday because I wanted to. This is still a new experience for me, playing for my own enjoyment. I do not think I will ever take it for granted. Now I am not only just creating stream of conscious improvisational music, I am beginning to hone my technical skills along with my... I'll call it spiritual skills. Intellectual enters that picture on both ends. I began to run through some of my Ragtime and Boogie Woogie repertoire as I do not want to lose it from not playing it. I have not been performing for events so there has been no reason to play it. This may sound a bit strange... but I share what I do because I want to share my process. I was listening to my itunes with my headphones as I played tonight... an audio tape on the laws of attraction. As I was hearing all this spiritual, love, bliss, and meditative stuff, I was bouncing along with the Boogie Bumble and the Entertainer. It was interesting and creative for me. It felt good to play the old stuff... I do it good too! The people in China will love it! I will be interested to experience how they respond to the Ragtime verses the Boogie Woogie verses my own musical creations.

September 05, 2007

Guess what? I did not play the piano today, no... I did not, not, not! I did not want to. Ha, so there. I did make my first online sale to support the journey today. I sold my wooden bunny rabbit to someone in Denmark! My priority today... make money so I can pay the bills to gift people with music ...specifically to pay the past bills from Mexico, rural America and the Virginia Tech and then next... for China and throughout America including Alaska.

A married couple called me today to tell me not to take Boner to China because the Chinese government will slaughter him or the people will eat him. They found out from a miscellaneous save the dog's or... care about the dog's organizational pamphlet. I thanked them for their concerns and then assured them that I love Boner and care about him and that I was looking into all the dangers and planning for him. I also reminded then to be concerned about the fact that the local humane centers right here at home are killing dogs every day. Of course, I took a deep breath before I said all of that. Did I mention that a few weeks ago someone had their ten year old daughter handwrite a letter with words fed from mom and mailed it to me with fearful pleading not to take Boner to China because he is too old and would get hurt? I'll respond to that now. God forbid when I get old no one takes me anywhere because I am too old. If anything would kill me... it would be THAT! This stuff I write here... I don't make this stuff up you know, it really happens.

I am practicing daily to experience and create good thoughts and feelings... it takes conscious awareness and practice for me. I know the purpose of life. It is to experience the joy of this world and the universe even... to feel happy and joyful and free. God that sounds so queer but its true. I am coming to accept myself and that truth more everyday. There is more purpose in life... and it can be yours too if you want it because I say so. It is to join in partnership through the ongoing creation and sharing of it all... the joy... and more and more and more... damm, now I feel a need to go outside and create some music... I gonna do it, I'm outta here...

September 04, 2007

I took the Traveling Piano truck into Center City Philly today. The traffic was crazy with reckless drivers. I need to be conscious always of my "fun" state of mind when I am driving in the truck. "I wish Boner could remind me, "no yelling at other drivers while you are in the Traveling Piano truck Danny." We ended up on Lemon Hill in Fairmount Park next to the Art Museum. It was a beautiful day on top of the hill with very few people were around. I realized today that no one can hear the sound ten feet away from the truck. I have been leaving my speaker home because I have sound coming from the piano and in this way I don't need to worry about the speaker being stolen when I leave the truck. I guess if i want to draw people to the truck I need to create some sound for them so I will be going back to the speaker. Only two people found us today but what two special people they were, Sophia and Dale! The Traveling Piano attracted an amazing classical pianist. Sophia has been playing during lunchtime for the last ten years at the landmark Philadelphia Reading Terminal farmers market. I asked her how old she was and she said fifteen. I don't think she was telling the truth unless she meant in spirit. We had a lot of fun and I enjoyed especially her Chopin. Her spirit was truly absorbed into the music, I could visibly see it. I said, "man you have a crappy instrument to play on over there at the market." She said, "its fun." Well, she certainly set me straight! She reminded me of my priorities and what is important. She is a true musical artist.

September 03, 2007

Me so crazy. After eating a few hotdogs and hamburgers with my friends Theresa and Mark I headed for the local school field to unload some emotional music. I invited them to come along but they declined. Bo has been opting to hang out inside the cab when I play at night, who knows why. Cars and trucks drove by creating a shortcut for themselves through the two schools I was playing in between. The Traveling Piano draws a lot less attention with Boner missing from the top of the piano. As I was leaving I stopped on the road as two kids were walking by. Then I jumped up onto the piano and started to play while asking them to take a picture shot for me. They did, I jumped off and we all continued on our way.

September 02, 2007

I am experiencing life everyday, thank God. When I was on the road creating music is was a lot easier to stay in a zone of progressiveness. I had to in order to survive. I used every tool I knew of and on a constant basis to create joy all of the time for myself and for everyone else. Being here at home does not necessitate so much joyful survival awareness. It is a challenge to stay in the "positive zone" ... as I consciously must create joy all by myself without any outside stimulation. I am forced to find joy and create it for others in the same old, same old... sometimes bonafide old negative environment and triggers. Man, this is all even too wordy for ME!

I learned something through Boner a few months ago. As I was feeling the joy of loving him, I realized that I had fear attached to it. Like, "I love you so much how can I lose you, how can you die". That fear of lose and abandonment was passed on to me and... I also experienced it personally as a child. From that moment on with Bo... I stay conscious of my loving joy for him in of itself. Nothing more. "It is what it is" ...and that is enough. It is in fact everything! Over the period of a week or so now I have been realizing that all of my gratitude in life has an attachment of relief to it. The relief comes from a place of having been needy in some way. I am never going to get the great, great things I want out life with an element of neediness in the mix. A feeling of fun, joy, entitlement, expectation, acceptance and gratitude (standing on its own) yea... that works.

All of my writings have been about sharing my process, my musical process. I had a tinge of uncomfortableness while playing in the park today. All these people were there picnicking and being together and there I was sitting in the back playing the piano, unable to connect, all by my little old me self. I thought, "are you becoming all about music, don't become all about music. You are about relationship and your music is to be just a form of communication and expression concerning relationship with yourself and others and music for itself but you do not want your life to be all about music in of itself." .

And then before I was about to leave, thankfully... a couple walked up to me and we had time together musically, philosophically and with friendship. A friend phoned me on the way home to say hello and connect. A neighbor stopped by as I was closing my garage door to enter the house. A couple friendly emails of validation and interest were waiting for me on my computer. These thoughts are my music. When I am improvising on the piano, it is the same energy as my thoughts.

September 01, 2007

The first day of September I would have liked to have been a bit more exciting for my musical life. I spent the day building a brick wall in my back yard so I am spent even tho I took a shower and spruced up to drive downtown to play at 11pm at night. I was heading for the top step of the art museum to play out into the city. I am losing my nerve these days I am not sure why. I was driving down route 95 for about two miles and turned around... What was I doing heading out at 11pm at night? I went to the high school grounds and pulled into the grass out of the lights and view of anyone. I tried something really different. I put on my Ipod and listened to the Secret tape as I created and recorded music. It is what it is. I tired out after an hour and was glad to be close to home so I can get to bed at a decent hour. This feels all so boring. I am heading for a big change I can feel it and I want for it to be a wondrous change.