Everything/Nothing
Today was one of those days where you wake up too late, have too much to do and end up feeling rushed through your day. You blink, and all of a sudden it's eleven thirty at night. Be forewarned, I apologize if this entry is neither coherent or interesting and I know I usually post about stories, experiences, or things of that ilk but today is going to be a little more present tense.
I'm working on a tour that leaves on November 3rd and I've been swamped with preparing for that, then add in some home renovations I'm striving to finish (I'm building Nikki and I a new bedroom!) and also the amounts of socializing that occur on Halloween weekend and you've got a lot on the proverbial plate. I know I could probably forgo the socializing, but I won't get to see my friends until after Christmas. I return from this tour shortly before December 25th, and I can't honestly expect anyone to be available until after the usual familial obligations have settled down. I wouldn't want to impose on anyone's time during those days regardless.
I had originally thought that I would not get to be graced with Nikki's presence until a few days after Christmas- but she ended up booking a flight to come visit me next week on the road and this makes me more excited than I can possibly express with my clumsily written words. As I'm sure you can tell from my constant declamations, I am secure in the knowledge that there's so much to look forward to experiencing with her. I've already booked us a table for New Years Eve at the restaurant where we had our first official date in my city, and I have a few things planned for that day and night that I'm just bubbling with anticipation to do.
She's coming shortly after Christmas to stay for hopefully six weeks or more depending on our schedules, and if everything goes well during that time, she will be coming back after a contract in Europe to stay. Stay with me, in a house, where we will both live. This, as I'm sure you can imagine, makes me intensely happy. I am certain you'll be hearing all about how things are going!
But before any of that comes another six and a half weeks on the road. The feeling I get before leaving on tour is a bizarre combination of comfort, anticipation, and elation with a small dash of sadness. I don't know many people who understand the feeling of comfort when faced with being in a new city every two days, but I can honestly say that some of the times I find myself feeling most at home are the times when I'm figuring out a new surrounding, a new city. With that comfort comes the anticipation of arriving in a new place and feeling the air or cement pass underneath me on the way. I feel like I'm going somewhere in both a literal and a metaphorical sense, and there's a delicious harmony in that.
There's elation in excitement, and touring is always exciting although sometimes for the wrong reasons. I recall back to last March where I was stuck on an ice-locked ferry in the ocean for four long days during a winter storm on the East coast of Canada and we had to wait for an icebreaker to sail up from Quebec to free us. Shows were canceled, cards were played, and bad ferry food was eaten. Looking back on it, it's a ridiculous and hilarious story but I remember at the time my mood was absolutely beastly. (I'll probably post more about this experience later on. ;) )
Of course, there's always a little sadness though. I don't see my cat, my home, my bed, my family or my friends for the time that I catapult myself around the world. There's a very tiny part of me that wishes for more regularity once in awhile so that I could participate in the things that many people take for granted, like meeting my friends weekly for a night out, or never missing any of the scheduled hockey games my team plays. I realize that this small desire for normalcy is far outweighed by my love of performing and travel, and much to the chagrin of some of my friends I try to make them understand that it is worth it to me and I mean no disrespect by that. Sometimes, it can be very difficult to relay that concept to people who have yet to find something they themselves are truly passionate about and see me as someone who just flits around the world making money and seeing sights, which is an overly glamorous and completely untrue assessment of my job.
Today, I managed to finish off as much of my work as I could, mailing promotional materials to potential clients, making phone calls to promote myself, attending a meeting at a production company that hires me sometimes and getting a fairly large amount of work done for them. I then got back to my roost and immediately went to work on my home renovations, pausing only to take in a couple minutes of the Leafs and Devils game on television and devour dinner and my daily vitamin supplements.
Nine forty-five PM rolled around and I still hadn't done my conditioning for the day which takes about an hour or so. It was a fight to get motivated enough to lift my arms in the air but after much psyching myself up, I eventually turned the TV on, stretched out, and slogged my way through it. I suppose that I knew that at the true conclusion of the day's tasks, at that magical point when all the check boxes on the to do list are x-ed off that I would feel wonderful, and I did. Today was a day that reminds me that the back end of this work can be physically difficult, and I have a three-kilometer-run and conditioning day to look forward to tomorrow.
Regardless of that though, as I mentioned I leave on tour soon and will say good bye to my city and go back to my home in the unfamiliar and often unpredictable locales that I find myself in over seventy five percent of the average year. The excitement and anticipation is starting to simmer and come Monday, the earth will be purposefully passing beneath my feet. Nikki will be in my arms in a little over a week. Two countries, four provinces, six states, and a whole host of cities will lay claim to that which I refer to as home. It's going to be a fun and exciting ride, to say the least.
I suppose the real directive of this post was I just wanted to make the point that this is my first large tour since the blog was spotlighted and I've been honored and privileged to get so many wonderful new readers with so many wonderful things to say. Thank you for continuing to comment, email and read.
It's always exciting to head off into the horizon, and I'm looking forward to taking you all on the road with me..!
I'm working on a tour that leaves on November 3rd and I've been swamped with preparing for that, then add in some home renovations I'm striving to finish (I'm building Nikki and I a new bedroom!) and also the amounts of socializing that occur on Halloween weekend and you've got a lot on the proverbial plate. I know I could probably forgo the socializing, but I won't get to see my friends until after Christmas. I return from this tour shortly before December 25th, and I can't honestly expect anyone to be available until after the usual familial obligations have settled down. I wouldn't want to impose on anyone's time during those days regardless.
I had originally thought that I would not get to be graced with Nikki's presence until a few days after Christmas- but she ended up booking a flight to come visit me next week on the road and this makes me more excited than I can possibly express with my clumsily written words. As I'm sure you can tell from my constant declamations, I am secure in the knowledge that there's so much to look forward to experiencing with her. I've already booked us a table for New Years Eve at the restaurant where we had our first official date in my city, and I have a few things planned for that day and night that I'm just bubbling with anticipation to do.
She's coming shortly after Christmas to stay for hopefully six weeks or more depending on our schedules, and if everything goes well during that time, she will be coming back after a contract in Europe to stay. Stay with me, in a house, where we will both live. This, as I'm sure you can imagine, makes me intensely happy. I am certain you'll be hearing all about how things are going!
But before any of that comes another six and a half weeks on the road. The feeling I get before leaving on tour is a bizarre combination of comfort, anticipation, and elation with a small dash of sadness. I don't know many people who understand the feeling of comfort when faced with being in a new city every two days, but I can honestly say that some of the times I find myself feeling most at home are the times when I'm figuring out a new surrounding, a new city. With that comfort comes the anticipation of arriving in a new place and feeling the air or cement pass underneath me on the way. I feel like I'm going somewhere in both a literal and a metaphorical sense, and there's a delicious harmony in that.
There's elation in excitement, and touring is always exciting although sometimes for the wrong reasons. I recall back to last March where I was stuck on an ice-locked ferry in the ocean for four long days during a winter storm on the East coast of Canada and we had to wait for an icebreaker to sail up from Quebec to free us. Shows were canceled, cards were played, and bad ferry food was eaten. Looking back on it, it's a ridiculous and hilarious story but I remember at the time my mood was absolutely beastly. (I'll probably post more about this experience later on. ;) )
Of course, there's always a little sadness though. I don't see my cat, my home, my bed, my family or my friends for the time that I catapult myself around the world. There's a very tiny part of me that wishes for more regularity once in awhile so that I could participate in the things that many people take for granted, like meeting my friends weekly for a night out, or never missing any of the scheduled hockey games my team plays. I realize that this small desire for normalcy is far outweighed by my love of performing and travel, and much to the chagrin of some of my friends I try to make them understand that it is worth it to me and I mean no disrespect by that. Sometimes, it can be very difficult to relay that concept to people who have yet to find something they themselves are truly passionate about and see me as someone who just flits around the world making money and seeing sights, which is an overly glamorous and completely untrue assessment of my job.
Today, I managed to finish off as much of my work as I could, mailing promotional materials to potential clients, making phone calls to promote myself, attending a meeting at a production company that hires me sometimes and getting a fairly large amount of work done for them. I then got back to my roost and immediately went to work on my home renovations, pausing only to take in a couple minutes of the Leafs and Devils game on television and devour dinner and my daily vitamin supplements.
Nine forty-five PM rolled around and I still hadn't done my conditioning for the day which takes about an hour or so. It was a fight to get motivated enough to lift my arms in the air but after much psyching myself up, I eventually turned the TV on, stretched out, and slogged my way through it. I suppose that I knew that at the true conclusion of the day's tasks, at that magical point when all the check boxes on the to do list are x-ed off that I would feel wonderful, and I did. Today was a day that reminds me that the back end of this work can be physically difficult, and I have a three-kilometer-run and conditioning day to look forward to tomorrow.
Regardless of that though, as I mentioned I leave on tour soon and will say good bye to my city and go back to my home in the unfamiliar and often unpredictable locales that I find myself in over seventy five percent of the average year. The excitement and anticipation is starting to simmer and come Monday, the earth will be purposefully passing beneath my feet. Nikki will be in my arms in a little over a week. Two countries, four provinces, six states, and a whole host of cities will lay claim to that which I refer to as home. It's going to be a fun and exciting ride, to say the least.
I suppose the real directive of this post was I just wanted to make the point that this is my first large tour since the blog was spotlighted and I've been honored and privileged to get so many wonderful new readers with so many wonderful things to say. Thank you for continuing to comment, email and read.
It's always exciting to head off into the horizon, and I'm looking forward to taking you all on the road with me..!