Optimism 101

The perfect antidote to my state of mind as of late was spending the weekend playing in a little backup band for this superstar on a few dates of her tour.

Talk about owning your assets.

Watching Bernadette climb up on the piano to sing "Fever" - there was almost literal steam coming off the stage. She is a serious pro. She has a very set routine for how she performs every number, not rigid, but with as much thought put into every move and every phrase as we put into our music. 

She may be showing quite a bit of skin as assuming the posish, as they say, but she definitely owns every inch of that skin and curve that she chooses to reveal. As she's singing and inviting us to share in her emotions, the emotions of the music and characters from the musicals, she exudes her power over us as the storyteller for the hour and a half or so of the performance.

I never really understood the song "Send in the Clowns". However, hearing her rendition and that of her Marvelous pianist/collaborator, it all makes perfect sense to me now.

Also, she's 65 years old! She is the human embodiment of an energizer bunny.

So, it is possible to be sexy and still respected. It is the confidence, and the comfort of being in one's element that matters. And not caring too much what some grown men with the maturity of 13 year olds will think or say. 

Yes, that's the ticket.

The Ode to Joy of a Single Lady

Once again on Valentine’s Day I wake up with a big, deep breath in, and a slow sigh of relief out. I am single today. And it is glorious. With no expectations for this absurd commercial holiday, I’m free to enjoy this day in any way that I please. Which is how I spend pretty much every single day of my life (no pun intended). Don’t get me wrong, as a musician, I do hard work almost every day, with a true full day off maybe once every month or TWO. Teaching daily ages 4-60, practicing whenever I have the energy, errands, scheduling, phone calls and dozens of emails to answer always. But when it’s over, whenever I decide that I’ve done my work for the day, it is time, once again, to party however the fuck I please. Please excuse my French. Or don’t. Fuck if I care. Because I don’t belong to anyone, nobody belongs to me, and frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.

So, Happy Valentine’s Day to all, and here’s a shout out to my single friends. Teach the kids about music, change those little lives, and then hand them back to the tired parents.  Have a 30 Rock or Jon Stewart marathon, order a pizza, pour yourself a good scotch, smoke weed, read a Glamour magazine or Kesey novel…. Is that my biological clock I hear ticking? No, that was just my passing gas from all my indulgence. Well, excuse me!

Love to all!