Raggin' Piano Boogie

HIS SPIRIT LIVES ON! ... BONER, THE PIANO DOG ... November 27, 1994 ... February 20, 2010

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February 28, 2013

Traveling Piano on Neighborhood Street in Manayunk, Philly, PA

Some people are getting confused when I post a slide show. They think wherever the slide show is from that is where we are. Nope, I have been making slide shows over the past three months of the journeys last seven years. We visited with friends in 2011... the Traveling Piano on a neighborhood street in the Manayunk section Philadelphia, PA. Neighbors came out, piano players, an accordion, kids, Mo, the Piano Man...we had Fun! Presently, we are in West Virginia, this week we were in Ohio, next week who knows...

February 27, 2013

West Virginia

My god, did yesterday really happen? It feels like I came off a long journey jaunt and it was only two nights. The drive back, thats what did it... harrowing to say the least. Iv'e been listening over and over to Arabesques, The Beautiful Blue Danube piano playing on my computer... for some reason it has caught my attention today. The rain stopped so I took the truck to the local park even though it is cold... to see if the piano would work after yesterday. I took special care to cover the speaker which was worthless. The wood, the plastic, the metal... everything in the truck is soaked and will be for a while. I turned over the speaker... it had two inches of water inside and thats not going to come out for awhile. This happened in Glacier Park, Montana several years ago but there was sun and dry air, the water evaporated in a week. That is not the case here in wet, cold, dank West Virginia in the winter. I tried the piano and almost unbelievably it worked. The speaker is hissing and gurgling but... hey, its working. Really, more than finding out whats going on... I wanted to create music if only for a few minutes... freezing, wet or not and I sure as hell am not going to take the piano apart and bring it indoors after all the hassle I had putting it back out together over the last few days. Mo... I believe a dog is a mirror of its owner and Mo has completely returned to his normal behavior of pure joy. It took about three minutes of being on the recliner with me last night and then he could not wait to jump onto the piano outside in familiar surroundings today. I forgot to bring his coat, he could have cared less he just was happy to be in a familiar routine. Two thoughts I want to share for whatever they are worth and I am not sure why I want to share them. One, it has been crazy trying to keep this place where we are staying in... clean. Every time I come in from outside I track dirt and leaves wherever I go. You would think that I would have thought to take off my shoes at the door? How many years have I used this place and that idea just now dawned on me? Another... how many time have I mentioned how confused I am as to how many years I have been on this journey... you would have thunk I might have looked to the left of this page and the menu and see how many friggin' years are listed???

February 26, 2013

In The Rain

The blog picture is from yesterday in Eaton, Ohio. Today... I need a place to call home. Do I? Nine hours we drove today from the Western side of Ohio to West Virginia. It was raining when we started. After a few hours the rain turned into a torrential downpour... for hours, then as we began to climb mountains I noticed the tree tops were white. I thought there must have been a wet snow that blew through. I was was wrong. The trees were white with ice. We entered an ice storm while traversing over the eastern continental divide. Driving on ice... Then thick fog mixed with the ice. Darkness came upon is with the ice and fog and my bad night vision. That was when I began to run out of gas. Up and down the hills we crept until Frostburg, Maryland appeared. That was a place I would like to visit under better circumstances. It looked like it had a lot of character. All the street Christmas decorations were still up with wreaths and lights and they were all on! So after driving in all that for seven hours, the rain came back. The only other time I drove with that much water around was while going through Newfoundland with sideways rain. That was horrific. The truck was younger and we had a place for it to dry out at the end. Right now the truck bed has a layer of water in it, the tarp covering the piano and equipment is soaked (probably the equipment too) and there is another soaked covering... covering all that, while it continues to pour rain. So it is. I got into the cabin and could not stop moving until everything was unpacked and in its place, the heat was on, soft lights, candles, lounge clothes and now I am writing this so I can be done with it all for the rest of the night. The looking forward to returning to as temporary as it is... a newly developed sense of normalcy and routine was what got us through the drive. I was running to home base. What happened to the free spirited-ness of life concept, routine and lack of normalcy? Having been so diligent and in a hyper alert stage of being for so many hours... it will be interesting to find out when I crash. I'm sure it won't be until around six in the morning at least.

February 25, 2013

Eaton, Ohio

My friend Amy in Virginia has a small house in Eaton, Ohio that she must sell... now. My friend Cindy in Philadelphia has always had a dream to own a home of her own and has saved enough for a small down payment. They both want for me to have a place to settle into as a home base. Now in my eighth year (someone helped me figure that out today) I have enough money left from the sale of my original home to pay utilities on a place for awhile... if I decided to settle and and create a strategy for the future. (very doubtful that I'm ready to plan on stopping) I checked out the place and it is not in good shape. Afterwards, I went to a park to try and get the piano working. The amp went on but the power inverter would not work. Then the reverse happened on and on and on... then I said screw it and went to Burger King. My plan was to drive to Dayton, Ohio about an hour away to find a music store big enough where someone could help me figure out what was what. I pulled into an Ace Hardware store parking lot, took a deep breath and before going inside to see if there was anyone there who might help... climbed up and started to play around once again with the inputs and outputs. Low and behold... it worked. So this is how it goes for my life with this truck and piano... sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes there is a reason, other times not.

I checked out a new store I had never seen before called Meijers. It is another hypermarket chain cheaper than even Walmart and huge! They were selling water from a dispenser inside the store .29 a gallon, bring your own container. Water is a basic human necessity and people are being insidiously trained to pay for it. The purchase of water should be against the law. Mo needed to run, he was throwing up all day I think from nerves and he was driving me crazy not listening and whining every time he did not get his way. We happened onto the property of a the Good Samaritan hospital corporation near where we are staying. Never in my life did I see such a "Taj Mahal." I could not believe it was a hospital. There are people making a lot of money from health care. It is from those $4 band-aids they are charging. There are so many small neat and clean low income homes around here (englewood) and then this huge, huge beautiful monstrosity dominating everything and I am sure... everyone. It just did not feel right.

Today was sunny with the temperature in the thirties, low forties... the piano was working and it was the first time I had it out this year. I was driving around the streets saying out loud to myself that I was looking to create Fun... Friendship... Respect with Musical Empowerment and Inspiration. After giving up on finding a sunny end spot on any street I randomly pulled into a parking spot with no cars or people around... ha, and began to play. It still takes effort and guts to do such a random thing, every time. A thirteen year old girl named Abby came over from across the street. She had been in her grandmothers store. Then a couple in a car driving by looped around the block to stop. The journey went into full swing as in energy, passion, everything that it is, etc... I was about to stop and saw out of the corner of my eye a guy from across the street with a black bag. I just knew it was the newspaper guy so I decided to stay around to let him get his shot. I suggested he go get the girl across the street so she could be in the newspaper playing the piano and then as always happens more and more people began to appear... all in perfect timing... one group would finish up as another came by. I realize on some level I did not drive all the way from West Virginia to check out Amy's house as much as I needed a reason to get going again with the Traveling Piano! Always I need balance... hibernation, work, hibernation, work, more hibernation as time goes on but I sure did experience a lot of joy with people in Eaton, Ohio today!

February 24, 2013

Englewood, Ohio

Mo spent the better part of yesterday his third birthday running through woods fulfilling his insatiable desire to hunt for deer poop in West Virginia. On the way out of the park I waved down a car to have our picture taken. A conversation started with a young guy named Josh who plays guitar. Before coming outside today I had thought about bringing the piano. When I began to hibernate in January I had taken everything indoors. Damm, I missed the opportunity to share the Traveling Piano with Josh. As soon as I got back to my digs I pulled everything outside and spent two hours trying to hook it all up. Did I succeed? No. I can never remember how everything works and having dyslexia does not help! Eventually I'll get it all going, all in due time. The passion to share the Traveling Piano and everything about it... strong as ever. Last night Mo and I laid in bed under a goose down comforter. On one side of me Mo was stretched out with his head buried in my arm and on my other side I watched the movie Silver Linings Playbook on my computer. Just me and my dog and a good movie "being" without distraction and in total comfort... heaven. Today we drove to Englewood, Ohio. It took eight hours. I'll talk about this more tomorrow.

February 23, 2013

February 22, 2013

Lots of time was spent creating a slideshow from past Fourth of July Parades most all in Oreland, Pennsylvania. It is so interesting that I am using almost every picture I have and not only is it just enough, it tells a story. I used the three Boogie Woogie pieces that I would loop over and over and over and over, for twenty years I did that! There is no way I can play them anymore because I stopped playing them, lost all my technic. The slides are full of life long friends, family and old neighbors. There will be people who when they hear the music will say, "finally, he's playing something I know." Hahaha... The first is a Barrel House Boogie called Roll em Pete, next the Boogie Woogie Cocktail and then the Boogie Bumble. Every note was from sheet music. Now when creating music it is nothing anyone knows outside of their feelings. I simply ramble because I like to do that. It is not music for everyone because not everyone likes it but some people do. They like it very much! They love it! Ha.

February 21, 2013

I thought it was today that Piano Dog Boner died three years ago. It was yesterday. It is a good thing I missed the day. Maybe I am beginning to forget it. Do I want to commemorate his passing? Why would I do that? If anything I would want to remember his birthday but... really all I want to do is remember how much I was able to love him and how much love he brought to my life. The relationship we had together will always be great. I realized something from Piano Dog Mo today. Boner always turned my mushy, cutesy, smothering emotional love into play. With Mo, I am now realizing that dogs express their emotional love through play. It is so important for me to have "play together" in a relationship. Mo is everything Bo was and more. That is how life should be. Every generation, every new relationship getting better and better, growing more towards more love.

Someone emailed me for a booking back from my old neighborhood back east today. My first impulse was towards frustration. How could they visit the website and not "get" what I am doing still after all these years!!! But then I began to think of a thousand reasons. From experience in talking with people over the years I could actually recite at least a hundred off the top of my head and so I became grateful that someone is interested enough to reach out, and to engage. One more thing, the phone has not rung in weeks. I was beginning to get down on that fact by projecting and assuming all not good things about people I know. Ha, then I found out I can make calls out but the ringer has not been working for calls coming in. It is good for me to write these things down... not to remember what an idiot I can be but to help remember not to be an idiot in the future! The phone company had to come out once again to fix the line.

February 20, 2013

Someone created a subscription/contribution on the website link today for three bucks a month. A rare happening indeed. At first I balked, and then became rightly related. Effort, support, encouragement... why would I balk at that? It is the second subscription in all these years... since 2006 and that subscription lasted a year. I said this before, people must think I have an income or am rich... not! Secondly, why would I discount three bucks? I in fact say on the link, "if everyone who visits this page would contribute a few bucks..." yea, that is true. It is people like this that keep me going, their effort and sharing. But really... think about it... who does not have three bucks a month to contribute, especially if they enjoy my work? Anyone who has access to the internet has three bucks they can throw my way a month!!! LOL

February 19, 2013

Musical Male Bonding with the Traveling Piano

This is a slideshow of about 300 men of all ages, ethnic and social backgrounds... from all walks of life. Words that specifically come to mind are single, homeless, trusting, drifting, married with children, with mistresses, eccentric, those who have chosen to leave conventional lifestyles to live simply, wealthy, conventional, strange, smart, creative, stupid, intellectually intelligent, hardened, alcoholic, drug addicted, religious, hardy, sensitive, naive, caring, loving, interested, unique... I could write a year just about the men who have shared their friendship, their souls with me on deep levels of intimacy. I have come to know the brotherhood of man. Having never felt that before this journey... for that I am grateful. These guys are all from Arkansas, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. With six or seven years of journey (I can never figure that out)... these pictures are from a couple months in 2010. It was after Piano Dog Boner passed and before Piano Dog Mo came into my life.

I often think and feel that people are just no damm good! For periods of time I cannot stand to be around people but on the other hand... the greatest, most significant joys, wonders and satisfactions I have experienced in life come with and through people. People are my greatest gift in life even more than mountains, water, the sun or moon, music or my dog(s).

February 18, 2013

I cried a little when I woke up this morning. A mixture of angst, fear and excitement as I move closer to the next step with this life journey. I sent up a prayer, please God help me to transition smoothly. I have really needed this break from being on the road, it feels good, I have been enjoying life with it but the journey doesn't end here.

There has been a possibility of my having a home to work out of. I was thinking some security would be helpful but that idea is fading. It would take the rest of the money I now have from the sale of my original house for this journey. Also, I've owned a home and it is work to own and keep a home. I would need to start raising money to keep the home going so that would translate into working for the security of having money... for the security of having a home. And then there is the money to work and do the journey? So thats that fear I have... insecurity.

Next, my health is an issue. The original plan was while settled down, take advantage of this situation I am in now and get into shape so I can continue onward. That has not happened... yet. Lastly, my natural rhythm is to work through the night and get up in the afternoon. To accomplish anything really huge in collaboration with other people I have been telling myself I must get up early and work a full day like everyone else. Can we talk difficult? Ha, this has been an issue from the start. Still, I have accomplished quite a lot on my own time.

Fortune and fame always lurks around in my head even though I am sure I am not interested in it. I do have interest in selling, that has always been part of my makeup. Selling a book, television show, movie, other merchandise, the journey to raise money, my persona for the hell of it... but I cannot live the journey and also sell it or spend the time to find someone to help/work with to sell. I cannot do all three all by myself.

Ok, now for some good, amazing, interesting. I've been wanting to go down to Miami for a spell. There might be someone I can stay with for a few days. I was thinking that I could possibly ship the truck to Brazil from there because I have a facebook friend who wants me to come to Brazil and will travel with me the rest of the way to Argentina. Then I looked on the map... what was I thinking? That is not a short route. There is no short route. Then I got an email from someone in Paraguay just to say that they think I'm great. Stuff like that is always incentive, "yea I should really do the South America road trip". Then last night also I found a musical group online. They happen to be top world musicians from Mexico City, I mean out of the stratosphere music that effects the core of my spirit. I emailed them to tell them how much I enjoy their music. They emailed me back saying they saw from my website that I know Mario who is a good friend of theirs. Mario is the piano player guy I accidentally met and spent time with in Zacatecas, Mexico in 2007. Now that... is a small world. There is someone in Mexico City I could stay with. Then there is this guy Doton from New York who has his piano in his van and travels around with his dog on the piano and collects tips on the streets who just raised money on Kickstarter to travel the route I was planning to travel last year down into Mexico and Central America. He's doing it now. He's in Central America with his piano, dog and van. Why am I not there? Fear, I hooked onto someones fear of having trouble in Mexico when I was also worn out from travel last year. Is South America still calling me?

Next... I have not been to Los Angeles yet. It has been on my agenda since the start. Also, I do not feel finished with the Pacific Northwest. I'd like to see the Redwood forrest and have someone who has been bugging me to come visit for over a year. I feel a "must" to visit Washington State when the weather is the best (was there in December) because I know how beautiful it is and want to have a love affair with nature there. I also enjoy the people in Seattle and those areas very much. There is a special artist in Washington State that wants to paint a picture of Mo and I. The only considered possession I own is a watercolor painting of Bo and I from visit to the hurricane Katrina affected areas down south in the beginning. It was in my minds eye for fifteen years and then happened. To have a painting of Mo and I would be most special. A woman emailed me asking for us to visit Vancouver Island Canada in the summer which... wow so much nature to experience. There is potential to have the truck flown over to China from Washington State more than anywhere else I know of. Originally, I sold my house to take the Traveling Piano to China.

Even though I have very little money left considering the cost of these dreams... I know and have experienced since 2006 to use lack of or not having enough money as an excuse for anything is simply an illusion, a repressive tool that covers up possibilities. Still, the illusional security that comes with money is not worth snuffing out to me... There is always the choice to just sit where I am, use what moeny is left to pay for it, eat, have relationship with people only online, watch television from the internet, go crazy in my head and die as a result while doing it all. Thats always an option.

Choices... decisions... easy transition. I must say I have wonderful options that are attainable if I do what is needed whatever that is or means.

February 17, 2013

7 Minutes of Traveling Piano Life in Death Valley, California

Having just finished a long slideshow of a little over seven minutes, I was thinking about how yea, I know most of the imperfections, the mediocrity, lack of quality, mistakes, selfishness and over indulgence... the major quality and excellence of the slideshow too. I can do it over again and again for perfection if I need to use it as a presentation to impress. For now it is what it is. Mo looks so funny in these pics. There are fantastic photos images of driving through Death Valley sometimes simply from a picture taken while holding the camera out the window as I drove. The fun I had with people along the way was full of complete joy for everyone! The knowing memories of having had the experience alive, to have seen what exists on earth first hand and that I can share it with the world... The bottom line, I had so much fucking fun making this slideshow I could hardly contain myself in the doing! If nothing else for people... it can be an attention span exercise. I hope everyone enjoys it.

February 16, 2013

There is a contemporary artist named Maurizio Cattelan who created a famous sculpture in the 90's often called "Pope Struck by a Meteorite". His work is humorous with irony, poetic etc... Google him. It is amazing that the pope just quit his job and a meteorite just hit the earth. Of all things so rare... amazing. Maurizio considers his work product. That struck a chord for me as to why his work gets millions of dollars a piece. My work I think may be considerably more esoteric and am not sure I am comfortable with that. Ha, I just hit the core of myself in a way. (just one way here, there are many facets to my core person) Money, influence, power, material possessions (product) have never been top agendas for me. Maybe they need more attention. My focus in life has been more on getting attention for the purpose of getting others to give me what I want. (like a kid crying for his needs to mommy) Attention in of itself does not work for me. (an empty well) So... I have been using the spiritual approach to help get what I want. Wait... am I looking for "worldly" or "spiritual" with this journey? Relationship is the priority in what I am looking for both spiritual and physical as in with people, the earth, etc... These days I am slanting more towards the physical. Either way I have been working dilengently everyday and would like to have more clarity concerning why and what for.

February 15, 2013

Traveling Piano Friendship & Music in the State of Minnesota 2010 and 2011

I must be very careful. Why am I doing what I am doing? What am I doing? When this all started there was no interest in creating interest for anyone but myself. The only way to do that now... is to stay in the moment. Being in the present moment is not easy when your not doing anything, I mean out traveling, interacting with people, creating music in nature... etc. Ha, that is so messed up. Gotta do. I am "doing" with slideshows and music these days in bringing my body of work all together in a new way. This is something I am enjoying. Possible future agendas are constantly on my mind at the same time. That was not the case when this all began. Back then... I had my house to sell and fall back on if I was going to need money. Did that, done that and now... Also, I realize that not being on the road, people become less interested and there is no fuel to bring people to this website again and again. Damm, hate projecting like that and really do not want to be promoting the Traveling Piano to create lots of exposure but at the same time I want lots of exposure. What the hell for? What am I getting from all this work? I want to let go of all neediness. I've been worthwhile, there is no need for anymore validation Danny! There are other people, organizations, etc... who have created and are creating projects around the world inspired by the Traveling Piano ...imitating what I do, the agenda, cloning the mission statement, plagiarizing my words for profit, agenda, ego... One guy raised money online to do exactly what I do with his dog even. I consiously must choose to be ok and feel good about that. I mean after all... my mission statement does use the words "Inspire" and "Empower." If another entity uses my inspiration and empowerment for fame, fortune or both... its none of my business, right? Thats all relative I suppose. Did you know that piano players have been putting pianos on trucks and driving around creating music ever since trucks were first made? They used carts with horses before that. This is a fact. Will I become less important, less known than others doing the same thing... will business and money, advertising and marketing smother out all my work... all I have done, destroy whatever worth there is? I am most afraid of my ego in being protective, or wanting to be competitive and create credibility illusions. Being that way is too much work and takes away from my real work. This stuff comes up from time to time and then I have to get my head rightly related. Man, that is difficult sometimes. As long as I focus on caring for myself, stay true to everything about what I am, what I do and why, stay pure... nothing else matters, nothing. Please God, help me not to get sucked into competition or any money, fame game... not that there is anything wrong with competition, money or fame. For whatever it is worth, sometimes I go look at the website stats. Talk about dangerous territory, there are less than four years of stats that have been kept. Last year alone there were 2,900,014 server requests. (half probably bots or from me uploading, ha) There has been a total of 9,125,629 server requests recorded.Thats a low number missing several years. Are you impressed? For me... I just wonder what it means and would not know how to take credit if I wanted credit. I'm done with the desire for credit, credit cards too, ha. Just need to remember that and also that I want for my life to grow and transition smoothly... into something bigger would be nice, relating to everything I have been doing would be even nicer. Being content not with numbers or amount but simply with in of itself... Fun, Friendship, Respect, Nature, Music, Travel, Validation, Reassurance, Healthy Relationship...

February 14, 2013

It Valentines day. For over fifteen years my Valentine was Bo, my first dog ever! Ha. I'm posting a slideshow of six pictures... me and my object of affection, a dog named Boner! Today my object of affection is a Piano Dog named Mo with Bo intertwined in spirit. Mo is like that fifteen years with Bo... simply continued. The bond is intense to say the least. We are not only by each others side twenty four hours a day most of the time we are attached. He's either between my legs on the recliner or under the covers down at the bottom of my bed at night sleeping. During the day we play outside usually with a stick or go for walks and all day long I break from work for hug sessions. Mo is the most trusting cuddly, soft and warm experience that can be. He loves me. I have more gratitude for Mo then anything else in life. Mo is not an obedient dog, he is a good dog. There are slideshows of him on last months blog page.

February 13, 2013

My phone service and internet has been out for the last few days after my having been constantly connected for months. No one could get a hold of me and I had to drive a half hour to get hold of anyone if needed. This brings up how "too" connected to the internet I have become. I have been creating an illusion that I am connected to the world with the internet. Who's world, what world, the computer screens world? This just reminds me how important it is to keep balance with how I connect with people. Nothing can substitute for the fullness of engaging all my senses with another human being as in touch, feel, sight, smell, hearing. I have been working diligently in making slideshows and not sure why or if it is a waste of time but then again on another level I am doing it because I can, want to, enjoy it, and hopefully by sharing it all... you are finding from everything some enjoyment too. How that relates to making a living... it doesn't. It relates to making a life, in the moment and for now.

Traveling Piano in Roblito, Mexico a Small Fishing Village Part 3

February 12, 2013

Presently in my life I have been focusing on accepting the choices and decisions I make. They are all made constantly and in the moment.. Again, what is most difficult to do is to self "initiate" all of it. For as long as I can remember I have known this life of mine would be about "self." As a child I was taught to surrender to the nature of self, not to think of self in a glowing way. For me, I must embrace and accept my nature (self) and celebrate it in all ways possible, period. First, total and complete honesty must be initiated to know that my nature is as pure as the driven snow... as it is with every human being. The trick is to be responsible for myself and my connection to and with the world, be part of. I must be able to respond in this life to everything with self love. I must initiate the "ability." The ability comes through the world, people, my understanding of God in every way, on every level. How I am responsible with myself is really important. The world of my past, the people, the teachings serve to keep me on my present track. All communication coming through my mind is all things good, bad, right, wrong, progressive, regressive... and so it is with other people and the world too. Meditation and stillness the answer to living... do something while doing nothing. WTF? (as in, what the fuck)

Traveling Piano in Roblito, Mexico a Small Fishing Village Part 2

February 11, 2013

Learning to be a free spirit or to move and go with the flow of life ...is to accept what is and be unattached to any circumstances, projections, outcomes, what may have happened in the past, etc... As my favorite saying goes, it is what it is but I must initiate whatever is... and sometimes I do that without noticing or knowing on a conscious level. If I do nothing, I just die on every level of being in thought, words, action or otherwise. Most people initiate... or set up their lives to initiate their specific flow of life. They do it through perceived needs or through other people, loyalties, commitments, bonds, obligations, expectations etc... For some that is set up for them through circumstances, for many different reasons. Circumstance is not permanent state of being. What I am getting to with all this comes from my first thoughts this morning on how I have set my life up. It has been my journey since the beginning of my life to consciously "self initiate" without outside influence. What a pain in the ass that can be. I have been choosing this fact for my whole life with having never been given or taught the tools to do it through my early years. The only choices in life, and they were made by family, society and church, were set in stone. My teachings were that to make personal choices in life would result in failure, even death, most likely hell in the end and I was given many reasons for those illusional facts. Now in life I often choose to perceive the making my own choices as a pain in the ass. Thats... a pain in the ass. This choice/decision issue has been a recurring theme through the entire journey ha, for my entire life. It began in feeling alone even while having neighbors, friends, school, church, relatives, loving parents and family of four brothers and a sister.

Traveling Piano in Roblito, Mexico a Small Fishing Village Part 1

February 10, 2013

Traveling Piano - Drifting on an Ocean Ferry along the Coast of Alaska

I was going to give a detailed description of the creative process in these slideshows but... naaa. The process changes every time. This one, I just kept doing over and over... completely finishing it only to find it not acceptable for myself. I did it from scratch several times until I could accept it somewhat satisfied. I had to reprocess the photos, try different pieces of music, change the order, change the quality of the slideshow... the software does not create good quality I must run it through several different applications to garner something different from each for the finished piece. I cried when I saw these pictures. The fact that I accomplished this leg of the journey, saw this alive, the whole experieince, I was there! I hope this slideshow inspires at least one person to go out and love nature for themselves somewhere. It is all as beautiful everywhere as in these pictures... in unique ways.

February 09, 2013

Traveling Piano Players in Sitka, Ketchikan and on a Ferry in Alaska

February 08, 2013

It takes work for me to feel "worthy" and not "less than." I work to feel good as a person, equal with those of more means, influence and accomplishment. Being simply a person is the highest level of entitlement. Feelings tend to over ride facts. How I was raised through formative years has stayed with with me for life. My definitions of "authority" (I was taught they were specific types of people, institutions, the wealthy)... that was all everything... but me. I was taught to know my place and fear any other thought or feeling about that fact. Sort of like... "There's a God and You are Not Him." ...but add to that... "Your not even close compared to other people, you are less than so shut up, listen and do you are told to do. Most importantly, don't make an ass of yourself and think at all about trying to relate as an equal with someone on a higher level... unless you have to fake it. I used to challenge those falsehoods, then I outright fought and rebelled against them, then I began to simply stand up to them, then I came into living the truth and now... I must constantly stay conscious of the truth, my equality or fall back into the old mold. It takes work, but its fun work. I like a challenge... today at least.

February 07, 2013

I couldn't help myself. Laying in bed right before falling to sleep I began to create another slideshow. It was difficult, I have been holding back from looking at the Alaskan scenery pictures. First, the experience was much more than pictures can deliver. The vastness of the landscape and then with the pictures of Denali, I was there on the peak color, autumn day of the year. It had just rained in many spots and then amazing clouds and sunshine. I had my older camera and could cry about the pictures that could have been on a better camera but the ones I have are awesome, just twelve nature slides. They were totally difficult to choose because everyone is so beautiful. I'm just so grateful I lived to have had the experience of Alaska. I created music outside on the piano in this environment... wow. That is the music you hear in the slideshows.

February 06, 2013

It is time to take a break from working full time creating slideshows. It is now six in the morning ha, the earliest blog posting for a day ever! All my data needs to be backed up because the computer is dying and I... blah, blah, blah just need to do something different. Thirty three slide shows to date have been made. Todays... having driven into the bush of Southeastern Alaska in late 2011 near the town of McCarthy (population 28), the Traveling Piano found Kennicott Glacier also known as Root Glacier and that demanded a trek across the ice where wondrous nature was explored.

February 05, 2013

I want to find a place to live. Gotta have a place to settle down for now. Where and how to do that while staying free spirited and without income or funding... I could use the rest of my money from the house sale to do it... I have always known it would be necessary to invest one hundred percent of what I own into my journey... (including all my money) ...the trick is to be wise about it, not prudent or frugal, simply do what feels good. My whole life has been full of practice in feeling good. Settling down would take the rest of the money. Would settling down for a while help me to keep moving forward with the journey?

February 04, 2013

The more creative I become the more gratitude becomes tangible. I was thinking today that the people I consider personal friends or family are those who contribute to my journey and who would invite my into their homes to stay for awhile to live if needed. On the other hand I am also friends to people who contribute little or nothing. It is just that with personal friends or what I consider family I have a tendency to create obligation and expectation from myself. I like and want that especially because they do not consider thoughts of obligation or expectation towards me.

Mo and I went for a walk in the snow. I specifically waited for the snow to begin. As we were walking down the dirt roads (here in West Virginia where I have been staying they create huge amounts of dust everywhere when dry and are a grey, muddy, thick slim when wet) ...some people like to live on dirt and others on asphalt. I like living on asphalt with dirt at my disposal.

February 03, 2013

Traveling Piano Man Danny Kean and Piano Dog Boner From 2006 to 2010

This is such an interesting process, the creating of slideshows. When one gets finished, I can do nothing else but stop "doing" anything except watch a downloaded television show or something like that. Totally spent, I am. It feels wondrous, truly. There is a need to let go of everything and anything about what I do and just be other than anything Traveling Piano oriented. For whatever it is worth I feel completely creatively satisfied like never before. On some level I hope people interpret all of them as quality offerings. It is important when working to stay consciously aware that I am doing this for myself first and then let the results go into the universe to use at will. Sometimes I pray while making the slideshows to be able to shine my spirit as bright as possible. Also, I remind myself of what I am trying to accomplish like not to be boring, disconnected in a selfish way... to have the grace to stay involved with the work. Like today with this video I wanted it to be fun and almost popping and moving along... of course interesting. While creating them I work some, leave some, go back and work some more and repeat that process until its done. It took three full days of doing nothing but going between working and zoning out.

February 02, 2013

Ten Visual Nature Slides of West Virginia

It is important to be careful to not get lost in creating slideshows. I am conscious of that. They have been taking up all of my time well, at least eighty five percent of it. The work gives me a feeling of being creative unlike ever before. In the back of my head there is a little nag as to whether it is worthwhile concerning work, moving forward with my life or making money. (which is a joke because that is not what my life is about and I have not made any money for years) When it comes to money and respect... money has little value over respect for me... when it comes to respect... for what I respect and how much... that ebbs and flows... money is a utility and does represent influence for me. What influences me about people takes conscious work to always evaluate. I am more influenced by people with money than money itself and I know the influence is an illusion that is why I always need to check myself concerning it. I want my core value to remain relational with people through the value of respect more than money and the things money creates like things, fun and influence. (love those "things, fun influence")

February 01, 2013

From Mount Baker, Washington State

I am presently not in Washington State, I'm in West Virginia but the Video/Slideshow I am posting for today is from Washington State last year. Please do me a favor. Watch every friggin' slideshow I have made!!! Today I finished my 30th. I am so happy in making them. Click on the... Tour Log January ... link to the left of this page and you will see videos of different lengths from when I sold my house, took the Traveling Piano to the hurricane Katrina aftermath down south and then to Joplin Missouri after the tornado, Virginia Tech at the student governments request after their tragedy, recently in Sandy Hook Connecticut for the holidays, Rockaway Beach and Staten Island, New York after that recent hurricane, a short slideshow of Me and Mo and also just Mo... there's fun surfing on Las Vegas hotel rooftops with the Traveling Piano and riding through Alaska, Newfoundland, Zacatecas Mexico, Glacier Park Montana, Dallas Texas... and more videos are posted on the November and December links of last year. Whew! I have been a busy man. Thank God I can do this. I need your help to post these videos to social sites so the world can enjoy them. To think this all started at fifty years of age... creating my own music, being able to relate intimately with strangers (in a good way for me) view the beautiful nature of this world in real time, and express it all visually through slideshow videos. Gratitude.... big time!