Raggin' Piano Boogie
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Since 1987 |
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June 30 2009Taking a BreakLast day of June and the first month of not doing the usual Traveling Piano routine with pictures and specific content blogs. Did that for over three and a half years! I have a little concern that people will lose interest if I am not constantly creating daily interesting Traveling Piano senerio's which is exactly why I decided to give it all a little break. I need to make a statement for myself and say exactly what my priorities are. I think it was Tony Robbins who talked about the "Art of Fulfillment." Experiencing and living life in joy is an art to be mastered... for me. I never wanted to be just one thing in life, do one thing in life... I have always enjoyed tasting a little bit of this, a little bit of that... well, it takes practice I tell ya! Contribution... gratitude... involvement are words that come to mind. |
June 29 2009Taking a BreakDriving back to West Virginia with a teeny-weeny load of stuff. The new Traveling Piano truck has a teeny-weeny truck bed! |
June 28 2009Taking a BreakWent to Bill's (the guy building the piano for the new truck) daughter's graduation party today and took the Traveling Piano. It was a pleasure to be there because I now really enjoy life hanging around interested people. (not only interested in my journey but that certainly helps :) I took some pictures but feel no obligation to post them because... ha... just because. We talked for hours after everyone left. Bill is the kind of guy that has all the insight I have gained from 25 years of personal work on myself... he has it all naturally. Being back in Pipersville I realize that it is time to move the rest of my belongings out of my friend Charlie's house so I need to find a large truck and some help to move the remnants of my past life to West Virginia. Anybody able to help? Know of anyone? The process of totally letting go of everything... well it certainly is happening in its own time. One year to begin it all, another year to process it all... |
June 27 2009Taking a BreakDrove back to Pipersville, PA today... told my friend Bill, the guy building the new piano... that I would join in his son's graduation party celebration with the present Traveling Piano (if I can get the truck started). Also, looks like West Virginia (where I just drove from) may be a second home base option so I need to pick up some living necessities. There is also business to take care of... get the truck checked, computer repair, the new piano... transfer some raspberry bushes, they were my mothers and I want them to live on. Charlie... first home base friend who's farm I moved what was left of what I owned... has so much to do he does not have the time to keep them from getting buried in weeds. |
June 26 2009Taking a BreakWell, well, well... I finally sat down and opened a book to read. It only took twenty six days to wind down enough to relax and do some reading. Interestingly enough, I must drive back to Pennsylvania tomorrow to take care of business. This break as it stands will soon be over. Also today..., Boner and I did some naked swimming in the local creek's swimming hole. Finally, ha! I took pictures of Boner and was glad no one was around to take a picture of me.... a picture of a soon to be fifty four year old man overweight with very white toned skin sitting, splashing around naked in knee deep water... ahh, what you can find in a forest. I think most people would prefer to find the Traveling Piano. I did meet a local resident while walking back to the car. I told him he was lucky not to have arrived any earlier. He was driving on his two wheeler with his kids to check out the stranger near his property before his dad got home and brought out the shot gun. I am not kidding. People here are extremely territorial and that is an understatement! Visitors, strangers, passerby's... not welcome until you are somehow known and then it is... live and let live... don't bother us, we won't bother you. I respect that. Different strokes, different folks. Just leave me alone when I'm naked :) |
June 25 2009Taking a BreakI think... when shit happens why get constipated with thoughts about it, just let it all flow through and out of me smoothly and easily. Tonight I looked up into the sky and it was full of stars. etc... always was, always will be a fan of Michael Jackson and his music. |
June 24 2009Taking a BreakWow, found wireless internet in a local state park only 15 minutes away from the homestead... happy days! New 4 cylinder Traveling Piano truck could not make the grade up a mountain road in WV, ugh... had to back down 1/4 mile. Drove to Shepherdstown WV, grrr.... how could I have left home without the Traveling Piano... jonesin' to share music... beautiful day!4:53 PM Jun 14th from web |
June 23 2009Taking a BreakI'm in the woods with the flowers and the trees, birds and bees, mosquitoes and stink bugs, beetles and genie hens too... oh my . I was thinking as I often do... I've never been a "tip the piano player" kind of guy... not that there's anything wrong with that! The neighbors friggin' old chicken had been crowing for hours. It sounds like it is being strangled |
June 22 2009Taking a BreakUp and down the mountain ridge in the boonies of West Virginia, very little communication signal, how you all doin', ok... got to climb back up! |
June 21 2009Taking a BreakI wonder what fun I can have other than work and being in nature? I would like to switch up my life a bit, take a real break, a big break. Boner was in the creek today fetching sticks.They need to be longer than four feet long to be worth it for him. |
June 20 2009Taking a BreakThinking in the same mode of yesterday brought back another major memory. I was in Tel Aviv, Israel many years ago waiting for a seat in a small cafe when a young girl randomly sat down at the piano there and began to improvise music out of her head. It was amazingly beautiful and I was awestruck. I did not know that was possible, I had never seen anyone do that. It created a twinkle in my minds eye that would last for the rest of my life. I knew it. And look... wow, gratitude, amazment, life, wonder, joy... I am now creating improvisational music out of my head. I never thought, "I want to do that." At the time the thought was totally out of my realm of thinking although I never forgot the visual and audio feeling of musical beauty and wonder. Now this is what I have most to contribute for the world. |
June 19 2009Taking a BreakIt has taken two weeks to begin settling into some relaxation. I'm still not totally in a relaxed mindset. I am amazed when I think about who has influenced my life musically. You would think it would be teachers, famous musicians and performers. This is true but the most influential musicians in my life were just normal people I randomly met for only a moments in time. I will never forget going to Disney Land in California when I was nineteen years old and seeing a Ragtime piano man playing at an outdoor cafe on one of the parks street corners. The visual never left my head. I did not think about it very much over the course of years or should say I was never often conscious about it. When I was conscious, I always felt the punch of musical fun I had in that moment. I did not think, "I want to do that," but the experience that guy gave to my world in that short amount of time influenced the course of my life. An unconscious burning desire to bring that fun into my life stirred and cooked in my brain on unconscious levels beyond my wildest of dreams for ten years until the piano on the truck with Ragtime and Boogie Woogie music manifested for my life. And then I began to contribute that fun to the world. |
June 18 2009Taking a BreakI was sitting on the porch and noticed the neighbors trash can was out sitting on the road... again. My mind went immediately to defending myself in a projected mind conversation I was having with them where they were criticizing me about the trash they see everyday that has been sitting on the side of MY cabin since I arrived. In my mind I did not want to acknowledge that I was being critical of someone else and I did not want to look at my own frustration that I have not taken care of the trash on my side of the road so I started a fight with them in my head to defend looking into and being responsible for my own stuff. So this is what Iam dealing with being alone, hahaha... |
June 17 2009Taking a BreakThere is a tendency for me to take every wonderful impulse that I have and redirect the intent of it to something not wonderful. I know why, I know where this habit came from, I understand the hows, but all that does not matter any more. All that matters is that I recognize when it happens and learn to just trust my basic intent which is always good. I think that everyone's basic intent is good. I am talking about REAL basic. |
June 16 2009Taking a BreakI'm sitting outside the Creekside Creamery in Berkeley Springs 10:00PM, uploading 300 more pictures onto the website while sitting in my truck. I'm bumming their internet signal. The store is closed. They said it would be ok. I am so excited to get these pictures up to share with the world. What good are they doing just sitting on a hardrive doing nothing. I was never a person to keep things in a closet and never use them. Boner is bored shitless without Charlies dog Tilly to aggravate him and no Traveling Piano people to interact with. Myself, I'm doing pretty good. |
June 15, 2009Taking a BreakBoner gets bored when we stay in the house all day. Even with two walks he is just not satisfied in not having interaction with other people. It was raining today. I took mini breaks between work to run around the house with him. Funny thing, I shaved him yesterday because he likes it and the humidity really gets to him. Large tuffs of hair used to fall out at one time. This dog is a major shedder. Now, small tuffs of hair fall out at one time. |
June 14, 2009Taking a BreakI have realized in being by myself I have a tendency for three modes. Hanging out in nature, work and thinking in my head. When I think in my head, the thoughts are very rarely nice thoughts. They usually are about should and should nots concerning other people, judgments, projections, resentments, disappointments, on and on. When I am just sitting by myself not working I sort of meditate appreciating nature, I feel good, I have gratitude. Sometimes I try to remember my mission and what I am doing. Is it necessary to try to remember my mission or should I just let it go? I am definitely on a journey and that I do not want to forget. I have been reading some spiritual stuff. I enjoy doing this and have not done so for over a year. Seeing that I do not have the internet to stay connected between work breaks and I do not want to stay connected with my head, I think I am going to take several breaks throughout the day to check into life with some inspirational reading. When I am working it is too difficult to make a complete break into mediation, or just hanging out with nature in any way. |
June 13, 2009Taking a BreakNot having the internet by my side has really made me aware of how connected I have been to the world and how I am now in a different reality, connected in a different way. I am with myself. No television, phone, internet, people, piano etc... As I have been doing my work (now over 8,000 pictures loaded to Boner's website) ...yes, I am still doing work and not on a conventional vacation, (can't help myself, feel an urgency) also I have been cleaning this place I am in, ugh... in the past as I have been doing my work I take short breaks to connect with friends, check my emails whatever. The internet is what I have been using to check in with life so I do not feel alone. Now I find myself checking in with myself (my head) instead of the computer. |
June 12, 2009Taking a BreakI had something to say but I forgot what it was. |
June 11, 2009Taking a BreakWas driving up the hill tonight it looked like it was snowing. After two sunny, warm and humid days millions of bugs and insects have arrived. I am thinking in two modes...how wondrous and beautiful it is and how the truck front is going to need a cleaning. |
June 10, 2009Taking a BreakThis is turning into a diary. So be it. Lot of dog barking and howling going on over at the neighbors house. Cleaned out a kitchen cabinet drawer of a mouse and its five babies. They sort of all melted together, ugh. Watched the neighbor from my poarch across the road playing with a six foot snake in the grass. It was a wild loose snake. The neighbors raise and sell them. I'm dealing with noisy flies in the house. Thank God Bo cannot hear them (old age) because he would be freaking out. He was bit by a big fly as a baby and has been petrified of them ever since. I found a fly swatter, that is a good thing. I am dreaming about mouse poop and bad relationships. I was more aware this morning when I woke up that I am alone in this cabin. Does all this sound troublesome? It is not. I am in an adjustment period and there are so many great things happening. There was a time when I could not stand the thought of going to bed alone. Now I can be alone all the time and feel good. I wonder how this will all develop down the road in a few days. Gratitude is my saving grace. Boner and I went for a short hike in the mountains today. Were building stamina together. |
June 9, 2009Taking a BreakWhen it is said that the hills in West Virginia help distinguish the state, they are not kidding. We took a ride through the "Hills of West Virginny" and did a little walking even though the rain has not stopped. It feels like I am in Costa Rica or in a rain forest. One moment I was high in the air looking down on thick and fast drifting curtains of grey and white clouds. They were filtering through from above over a canopy of lush green trees and then all of a sudden I found myself down and inside the trees on the ground... opps, I'm out again high in the air... up and down, up and down through the rolling hills. I love the mountains and am also enjoying the rain as well as being able to flow with nature. |
June 8, 2009Taking a BreakBoner is especially happy to be just with me alone with no distractions. This is not my imagination, transference, mirroring or anything else. I can tell. This is like "our" special time together and just what I wanted. To get some excersise last night we were running around the cabin like two banchies. There are four small rooms that you can run through like in a circle and thats just what we did. Just like old times in our old house. |
June 7, 2009Taking a BreakYesterday I drove six hours while listening to the music I have been downloading daily onto the website for the last three years. I have not been through three months yet and I am delighted. There will be enough without question for a few very special cd's of music. I hope people will still be purchasing cd's by the time I get them done. My thought was, "this is music for company in just being." Perfect for driving, or doing a chill, hanging out activity. |
June 6, 2009Taking a BreakI'm in this cabin. Its been raining. I've been cleaning mold off of kitchen cabinit doors. The kitchen utility drawer with the rotting mice and nest is outside on the deck covered with plastic. I'm not taking a shower because the water smells worse than I do. Been a year since anyone has used this cabin. I must get big ant traps. I'm using candles to feel homey. I'm grateful to be here. Time... what day is it? |
June 5, 2009Taking a BreakWhen I stop anywhere to get gas or go to the bathroom en-route I think, "ha, I do not need to be nice to anyone." Not that I would want to be mean, it's just that without the Traveling Piano truck I without question do not give myself the choice. I was very aware that I did not have to be conscious of the when, where, what, why's of people around me looking at me and Boner just in case they wanted to interact or not... as they do with Traveling Piano. |
June 4, 2009Taking a BreakThe biggest adjustment with the new truck is in not having a bench seat so Boner can stretch across and lay on my lap as we ride. What a comfort that has been for both of us, whaaa, boo, hoo. There is a storage bin that divides us. He tried to get his head over near the stick shift and knocked us out of gear. The truck went spinning. He knew right away not to do that again. I reach over to lay my hand on him but it is like reaching over a wall just to touch. We both are constantly trying to maneuver but it just doesn't work. |
June 3, 2009Taking a BreakDecided to leave for a friends cabin in the woods... very in the woods, 20 miles to the nearest small town in West Virginia. No television, no phone, no internet, there is electricity, a toilet and a noisy refrigerator, lots of dead mice and a years worth of mice poop and pee. This is the first journey out for a distance in the new truck. (without the piano) I want to get used to the feel of it because I will be spending a lot of time with this baby. To my relief the cruise control makes for easy travel on the highway, saves a lot of gas and I realized that when I accelerate if I am easy on the pedal that also helps with the gas. ($2.60 a gallon) The truck hydroplanes in water, thats not good but with the piano weight it should not be a problem. I was furblubed to find that when I reached my destination the truck was still dirty after riding in rain. I am going to have to clean this truck allot, ugh! The other truck was a bright red so dirt did not show as much. This new truck is a dark maroon mixture and the surface texture collects dirt easier, I guess. Can't have a too dirty looking Traveling Piano truck. To keep it not too dirty can be tricky when you travel all the time. |
June 2, 2009Taking a BreakGetting used to the idea of not needing to blog and I am resisting taking any pictures as well as reporting on work and thinking about things to talk about. I am going to continue writing personally everyday because it makes me feel good. Writing daily has become an anchor for staying "in the day", more present. Also, for anyone who may care, I want the history to continue. But... no obligation, expectation, consideration, responsibility to life outside of myself... hmm... this that has helped make me a better person. What will happen now? Will I become better, better? :) |
June 1, 2009On a BreakFirst day of my first break from Traveling Piano work in over three years. |