Didn't realize that it has been 2 weeks since I last checked in. Oops! Things are beginning to pick up now, in a manner that feels like "foundation building". The "music business" (on the local and regional levels, at least) is suffering, and musicians are hurting. I'm continuing to stake my tent pegs where I've often placed them; outside of the regular gigging network. There is no question (in my mind) now that (on multiple levels) my (immediate, at least) future, and, certainly the foundation of my path, is as a soloist (sorry about all the parentheticalness and run-on tendencies). The time may come soon when I only list select public concerts (all or nearly all solo) on my schedule. Had a successful concert in Newark, DE last night that suggests I may be doing (some of) the right things now.

Okay, what does any of this have to do with the above photo? Nothing. I was waiting for my scheduled performance time, in a retirement community that I regularly visit, "having set up shop" in a small, unoccupied room, to get some work done. A resident came in to check his e-mail on the public computer, and began polite conversation. When he asked my name, my answer provoked a few blinks, and a hard stare. "Oh", he said, "I didn't recognize you without your piano" :)