Me and the Boyz

This last Friday night, I went to see Li'l Pookie at the Barn at Catonsville -- as a dancer, not a guitar man. Seems Pookie found a guy he had worked with before who could accompany him to New York for the remaining performances. So another guy took the stage that night instead of me. I thanked the bandleader for being able to join him the Sunday before. As one who has been playing since he was 11, and who has been around enough of these guys, I could appreciate his position, and his need to be as much at ease with his lineup as possible.

So my son Paul and I had a "boys night out." Over a bowl of chili and rice, we listened to one of the band members give his own account of life "behind the music." ("Listen, VH1 doesn't begin to scratch the surface.") He'd been playing with his dad in Nashville from the time he was a young teenager, and he's been playing professionally ever since. For all the hardship, loneliness on the road away from family, cheap hotels, occasionally getting shortchanged after a gig or a recording deal, he could not imagine doing anything else.

I persuaded a woman Paul didn't know to get him out on the dance floor ("Hi, Paul, I'm ****. Your dad paid me to come over here and..."). He's starting to get the hang of it. Afterwards, we got a bite to eat at an all-night diner. We talked about the video game business, where it was going, and how Paul saw himself in the midst of it someday. He wants to develop stories with multiple endings. I recalled seeing mystery novels that were similar in concept, but couldn't remember the names of them. (Well???)

The weather has been cold in the middle Atlantic region. The sun does little to warm the bones. I managed to catch a movie, Adaptation. While the story was rather disjointed, I found myself identifying with the main characters, as the hidden thoughts of genius betray frequent insecurities, brought about by one's own unrealistic expectations.

It is Sunday morning, and I am going to Mass soon. Yesterday I survived on four hours of sleep, and I have yet to catch up. Some people who lose sleep get very grouchy; I merely get melancholy. So I'll spend the rest of the day catching up around the house, and practicing the wooden flute I recently acquired. While I'm at it, I'll get up to speed on my guitar work.

As long as I'm awake, I may as well enjoy it.