Raggin' Piano Boogie

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

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August 31, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

The Traveling Piano has been in the auto shop all week and I am being very patient with the guy. At first he said it would get done in a day which I knew was not possible and then it was three days and then by the end of the week and so it continues. It is getting a lot of needed work and I am trying to stay sane with... whatever. Thank God the money is there as it needs tires, a tuneup, new intricate parts, oil change on and on and on... I've been thinking about the most used phrase people have said to me over the years and that I have heard in general over my life time to inspire this journey or maybe the phrase that has stuck out the most... Keep Going. It has never made sense to me but it is the phrase that has mattered most I suppose because it has been the most prominent that comes to mind when I am feeling the most needy. There is absolutely always a part of me that exists that says... give up, end it, quit, kill it. And then there is "Let it Go" which has an entire different meaning. Knowing when to use Let it Go and Keep Going and how to use them especially when feeling emotional can be tricky.

August 30, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

A huge mistake in trusting a few wrong people where I live and well, thank God my life path is to get honest with myself concerning what I interpret as defects of character and wanting to grow away from them when discovered. I had talked behind someone's back and it has come back to bite me! I have found that I cannot trust most people where I am living. My first inclination is always to extend trust but I also have learned that you cannot trust everyone in life. It is what it is. There is an old saying a friend once told me that I hold close to my heart, "thank God you don't have to live with them." Unfortunately, that does not apply to here where I am living. So now... I'm thinking about what someone else said to me, "Just let them live their lives." As in, don't interfere with their actions, look for trouble, assume, project, have fear over them, etc... A part of me wants to take control of the situation but really it is to take control of them specifically, which of course would be impossible because they are not sane people, dangerous and that is not what I want to do anyway. Also, I'm way out numbered. Until I can get out of here I'll just lay as low as possible and hope for the best.

August 29, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

There is a lot of fear and uncertainty happening in my life. This is the case with many people, eh? Whereas I am very good in dealing with dysfunctional people on the streets in passing, living with them is another story. I've been living in the thick of dysfunction which knows no rationalization and only chaos both in my living space as well as out on the streets in my neighborhood. I've been discovering that living with "crazy" right outside my front door has no compromise, limits or boundaries in being out numbered by people who have mental issues, drug and alcoholic addiction... eighty to one. Most of the people do not have the experience of respect and any that exists is illusional and motivated through fear. They all now know I am not one of them and with the numbers not in my favor, this is not good. I'll need to move on which will be a challenge especially with my limited funding. So I've been working on rightly relating. I embedded a thought into one of my pictures to focus on. It is from the Traveling Piano while passing through Chenega Bay, Alaska 2011. "Wonderful Things Are About to Happen."

August 28, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

Just as I thought would be, I'm weak in breathing today from yesterdays work in the heat. I'll bounce back. The Traveling Piano truck went into the auto shop today. The money from the fundraiser back a month ago will now come into play. I don't know how much it will cost but it will be allot. It has not had a tuneup in years, needs brakes, tires and lots more. The hurricane down in Texas is calling me with the Traveling Piano but it would be a three day drive and I have no money. That sucks big time. I cooked for most of the day, did computer work and took a long walk with Mo once the sun went down to meet up with friends for an hour.

This place where I am living... it was feeling like I could have a sense of community here but everyone is either bonafide crazy, an active alcoholic, on drugs or a mix of it all. The sane one's keep to themselves. It is unfortunate. I can never know where anyone is coming from at any given time and who they will be as a person at any given moment. It is all psychologically chaos, dangerous for me so I've been pulling back from relating all around. Its sad not to be able to trust people but sometimes absolutely necessary.

August 27, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

It is the last Sunday of the month and I have made a commitment to share the Traveling Piano at a neighborhood food bank. Its on the Las Vegas Strip at an apartment complex called Veterans Village. It is the first place where I created music when I got to Las Vegas at the end of last year. I was staying at a motel across the street. When the guy who runs it offered whatever I wanted from the kitchen in appreciation well, now its a thing. People appreciate me, I appreciate them and I get goodies to take home. It is an unconditional sharing situation on both sides. Today the temperature went up a hundred eighteen degrees. I quit at a hundred twelve, lol.

When people find us they don't mind and neither do I because we are all preoccupied in connecting through Musical Fun, Friendship and Respect. Afterwards is when it get serious for me as the heat, dryness and my constant talking affects my ability to breath. Tomorrow I'm not going to feel so good but it is all worth it for me. In the late afternoon I drove over to the Asian Cultural Center to lend support for a health fair they were having and met a guy who engaged me in conversation for about a half hour. I also talked more with Kevin the director. I like what people are doing at this place, their thinking and approach to participating in life and community. The operative word is "service" verses "what can I get."

August 26, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

I basically took today off. Mo is really holding me together. His constant companionship means everything, literally everything to me. He is my inspiration for life. What comforts me most about him is that I can see, I know his one hundred precent bond to me, he totally likes and respects me. Sometimes... since I live often in a fundamentally fearful state of mind, through the process of accomplishing anything... it is not about how good, successful, bad or if I fail... the process of accomplishment is in getting through the fear to the other side. It is what it is. The biggest burden I have in life is pushing through the fear and then next comes the results whatever they may be... the embarrassment of failure or the elation, responsibility of success...

August 25, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

Is this what I want? What I am doing these days, the going back to an old life in many ways? Questioning myself in general, I don't know what to think about that. On some level I know the answer is yes because I am forgetting anything else. That probably doesn't make much sense for most people, it barely makes sense to me. Most of the time life is like a dream where I do not know what I am doing. Sometimes I have to stop and it takes about thirty seconds to get a grip on my thoughts. I am consciously flowing with life and that takes staying in the moment, aware of what I am doing in the moment which is all I am capable of anyway, so it seems. I was thinking today how compassion for others helps me to feel safe and how people sometimes confuse compassion with pity or worry. True compassion comes from a feeling of security. You must have a sense of fulfillment for yourself in order to have compassion for others. Compassion breeds life through gratitude.

August 24, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

I spent most of the day at the Asian Cultural Center here in Las Vegas. When communicating in Chinese I am realizing most of my "ways" the expertise I have in what I say, how, why I say whatever... will not work with most Asian people as they think culturally in different ways and approach understanding and learning in different ways. Trust in general develops differently. It is exhausting and eye opening and I am up to the challenge. Asian Cultural Television tapes a television show here every Thursday and with the energy of everyone around, the interacting necessary for me to do... I was thinking how there is a reason you don't see thousands of sixty and seventy year olds like party animals in public venues lol, it takes a lot of energy! I've been taking a shower everyday, wearing shirts and long pants. As I acclimate back into the conventional world, appearance matters for better or worse. It was nice for so many years not to care about fitting in, living casually, having total control of what, who, when, where I interact with people. No more. I am now going into other people's worlds and it is like that saying, "when in rome...".

August 23, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

It is so very interesting how people enter in and out of my life throughout this journey. One particular spot where I play downtown seems to draw one specific person for a therapeutic encounter through music. It has happened four times now, like four out of six times. The person, always homeless, my music touches their soul and they feel nothing but gratitude with my desire to allow a connection. They open up and talk as they so desperately need to do with someone who cares, will allow, not question or judge and there is always an immediate crises situation they are having some relief from through the Traveling Piano. The experiences validate and reassure all around that we are one in spirit, equal as humans and that most people just want to get along with each other.

Along with that today... a guy named Jose who found the Traveling Piano about a half year ago in Calico Basin outside of Las Vegas found us again. He happens to work in the building next to where we have been playing. Also, in Zion National Park back a few years ago I ran into some of the notorious Nevada Cliven Bundy clan that was also involved with trouble up in Oregon. Again, I ran into more of them today with the Traveling Piano. One of the big trials about whatever is still going on has been happening directly across the street from Mo and I. The Asian Cultural Center where I have been home basing from with the Traveling Piano is in one of the city courthouses.

August 22, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

Fear! The idea of giving up total control concerning content for a television segment and how it will be shown does not sit well because I know nothing about the creators and what I have seen does not show they would have a grasp on what I want to achieve. Also, they have no reason to respect my ideas seeing as they have just met me and... I'm not getting anything personally from the situation. I must write what I want down on paper and you would think that would be easy to do with all the writing I have done. It is not. With the trouble here where I live cnconcerning cohabiting in an apartment complex, that just brings up my insecurities in relating with other people ongoing with work or any other way. When working with the Traveling Piano, relating with people has never been a problem as the time is short and it is a one time experience only. I tired to pitch some ideas to the television producer and immediately began to project rejection all around. Writing everything down is the way to go. Before dark I drove out to redrock to create some music on the overlook. The entire time even though it was short, felt the way life should be for me. The scenery, nature, interactions with people... the joy of the Traveling Piano.

Earlier in the day I was talking with my friend John and he reminded me of thirty five years ago when I was a society pianist back in Philadelphia. He and another friend where with me for what was the biggest job of my life to date. I was petrified with fear. It was for the banquet dinner dedication of the Eugene Ormandy ballroom in the Philadelphia Academy of Music. The place was full of the top echelon classical society contributors from around the world. I'll never forget standing in the wing during a break and hearing someone say to the woman who hired me, "He's not very good" and her reply of "But he looks great, doesn't he." LOL... Riccardo Muti who had just taken over directorship for the orchestra came in to sit and have dinner with his guests at the table next to my platform in the center of the ballroom. I heard him say, "No music!" As someone assured him it was necessary and when I was finished he acknowledged me. Bottom line... I could never be as afraid as I was at that time, so I must remember that. The only way to go is up.

August 21, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

I've agreed to create Traveling Piano segments for a television show. The material will be presented on ACTV, The Las Vegas Community Television Channel. There is a downloadable app to distribute the programing internationally for billions of people worldwide. Along with anxiety over a specific neighbor in the complex where I live who has threatened me because he's nothing but trouble... there is a pit of fear in my stomach. I am supposed to be feeling ecstatically wonderful, eh? Nope. It is more about putting one foot in front of the other towards the future at this point. With the heat always being at least a hundred degrees, my lack of immediate gratification in sharing the Traveling Piano as I have been used to doing, not creating as much music for myself, the lack of being able to spend time in nature well, the bottom line is that I know I am moving in the right direction. That gives me comfort. I have a friend watching my back with support. Not knowing how and when, whether it will be fun, easy, difficult... it is all about staying in the moment. I must stimulate myself into the future with reality. Fun... Friendship... Respect... Musical Empowerment and Inspiration... the love of nature and relationship.

August 20, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

Well, many posts may now be about the Asian Cultural Center here in Las Vegas. I was there today and Taekwondo classes were being held. There were a few words in Chinese that I actually understood when hearing the instructor. There are usually kids hanging around doing nothing while waiting with parents. How perfect is that for the Traveling Piano. Of course, I will always need the parents to be present with the children. Later on there was a Salsa party happening and lots of people were there! It was a mix of many ethnic groups. Having Mo acceptable with some Asian women may be a challenge. Some people claim "allergy," that is the first excuse when really saying, I don't like dogs, get it away from me. Then, there is the "that dog smells" which is totally untrue and then the issues of my being a stranger, an old single man with a "dirty" dog type profiling. One woman walked by with her fingers to her nose like there was a stench from him. When I got up from the couch three woman went to sit down and wiped down the entire couch to clean it for five minutes like a homeless person who had not bathed for a month had been sitting there. Lol, new challenges. If I was a hot young guy they probably would have licked the couch clean.

August 19, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

I created a four minute video of what happened yesterday. It is the first time in about two years that I was able to just make three video cuts and put them together. I used to be able to do it but forgot how. It happened by luck. Staying focused is a challenge. Keeping fear away... well, thank god I do know what to do about that, I have emotional tools to use. Resources appeared for the truck to get it running and the auto mechanic from around the corner appeared, jiggled the battery terminals and it worked. The contacts are dirty. Mo and I took a walk to meet with some friends. I feel some creative juices flowing and the idea of creating a segment for a local television show is manifesting. For a show in of itself no, just a small segment to start.

August 18, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

First thing this morning I had to deal with community dynamics. It is time for me to pull back from my neighbors in order to keep a perspective of who I am and who I want to be. There is a lot of dysfunction here on just about every level. I know I talked years ago about my fear of becoming the nature of the animal in Los Angeles with people talking behind each others back and smiling to their face, etc... well thats everywhere on every level and being where I am I to am guilty of it also. For me, that kind of behavior leads to chaos and lots of trouble. A definite perk of living on the road for so many years was not having to deal with the same people for any length of time. I never got to see how messed up they were and they never got to see my issues. Well, everything in life can be seen as a negotiation. I'm going to negotiate staying low for awhile.

It is important for me to remember that I must take the good with the bad. Nothing will ever be a perfect scenerio when dealing in the conventional world with people. Do I want this now for my life, a sense of the conventional again? I went to start the truck to drive to my Chinese class and... its dead. A jump would not work, no electricity, nothing. Back in my room I fell to sleep for about fifteen minutes, emotionally exhaustion. Always, I know I am being taken care of from sources outside of myself and remembered how I just need to take footsteps to get the care. I walked down the block to a mechanic even though it was 5pm. The owner was still there and he's going to come look at the truck tomorrow. Then my phone went dead. After about three hours I had a mindful urge through spirit to look up on the internet "my iPhone won't work" and... the first thing that came up was that somehow I must have put it to sleep. The article told me to hold the home button down along with the sleep button for fifteen seconds. It worked. Then I reached out to a friend, took Mo for a walk... the day went on.

August 17, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

My getting involved with the Asian Cultural Center here in Las Vegas is confusing. Its not easy because I don't know what I am doing but at the same time I do. It feels like the right thing but I know that feelings are not always facts. So, it is more about trust than anything else. I'm trusting in my process. Why not at my age, this point of the journey and there have been no signs not to? A promotional picture is needed for my involvement. What that involvement is I am feeling my way into. A classical pianist I met name Alex Lee came to play on the piano for a short video and to play while everyone was coming outside. She's a Yamaha artist and, has a non-profit for teaching and has created a Wine and Piano Music Festival here in Las Vega. Tonight was a television taping for the Asian music hour and it was full of all kinds of music. There was some R&B, Sinatra, Cuba, Filipino music and more. Everyone got onto the truck and it was a good time. My creative juices got going and I feel more than possibility of creating some television. Onward...

August 16, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

I drove around and saw some new areas of Las Vegas namely in Summerlin and Centennial Hills. Talk about isolated! There was a couple mile neighborhood with absolutely nothing but asphalt road and cement driveways not even sidewalks. A driveway would be shared not only with the next door neighbor it would lead behind the houses to other houses and there driveway. Some fronts had a 12'x6' yard area or a back deck area of the same size. So that tells you how close everything was. No people outside, why would there be? There's nothing to do no place to hang out. The word erie came to mind. Of course there were high end houses too. Safely locked behind gates with a bit of greenery around them, still it was a very isolated feeling. No stores or gas stations anywhere, they all had there place on the main roads. Nice place to escape to, wouldn't want to live there simply to live or without a specific purpose.

August 15, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

I'm trying to figure out how not to be on camera while advancing my agendas, lol. I've hooked into what seems like a hot bed of opportunity with the Asian Cultural Center in Las Vegas and some video is needed to promote my spending time there with the community. I've been one lucky guy to have found a way to contribute to the world in a way that I enjoy... with the Traveling Piano and my Pup Mo. No fees, tips, commercial affiliation, twelve years and running... all Musical Fun, Friendship and Respect. The temperature at one in the morning last night went almost down to 80 degrees... feels strange after having been at least a 100 degrees every night for the last month! I came out this morning and it was 98... I didn't like the change. My mind has been getting used to the brutal uncomfortability. Its usually at least 105. Crazy!

August 14, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

With the hell that is happening in the USA politically as a result of warped minds void of true spirit, I want to say to all good people, say stay aware of hate for yourself. It is through hate that white nationalists and nazis, trump like people can rationalize a lack of respect for human spirit. The mind can be warped of all thought except for hate with hate. There is a huge difference between passionate anger and hate. Having had so much personal experience throughout the country in literally at least a thousand different, diverse communities throughout the years... well, the moronic hate thought and behavior seeping out to expose itself like vomit, makes me about as angry as I can get and... I am very angry!

Other than that, a guy came up to me at a gas station asking for the .85 he needed to get some milk and then he saw the Traveling Piano, said he could play and asked if I would let him. Of course! Then his friend came over and wanted to busk for tips. I said as long as the two of them equally split the profit. After 5 minutes they both left with seven bucks each. Another woman came running over to us to say hi. We had met while she was living on the streets in January. She wanted to tell me that she now has an apartment and is saving for a car to get out of Dodge. Does anyone remember the phrase "get out of dodge"? Lol... My speaker is back from the repair guy and now I have a spare for the first time. Nice, very, very nice.

August 13, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

For the last week I have been getting up in the afternoon because I don't get to bed until five or after in the morning. Its really too hot anyway to do anything. What is happening in the world politically is challenging. Especially as I sift through what I am willing to deal with and negotiate as I move forward with my life. I stopped at a Chinese restaurant to get some food and one of the owners came out for a few moments. While waiting for the food I wanted to see if the piano would work because it was seriously sending some mixed signals of sound two days ago. Once again, it fixed itself thank god, maybe it just needed to not be played for a while, maybe I was getting a signal to stop playing for the night, maybe... maybe... maybe whatever. Bottom line, I did not get all drama ridden about it and as a result everything worked out. Danny's missing nature and so is Mo! It will cool down next month and then... back to hiking to see more petroglyphs on rocks.

August 12, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

It is a constant struggle to know whether I want to do what I have to do to fulfill the rest of the dreams I've had for all these years. If I could just make the decision then it would happen. Feeling joy and anticipation about the idea of taking the Traveling Piano to China gets stopped by the idea of the work involved. It becomes too much in my head because I am not totally committed, yet. But... it must happen now if its going to happen at all. This I know. Maybe I'll start praying for the inspiration because it sure as hell is not coming from myself consciously these days. I do feel really good about where I am living even though it can be very, very difficult here in the pit of the Arts District on the strip. The idea of it is just so awesome. I'm living on the Las Vegas strip! The reality ain't that pretty. Lol I wanted to get out to the desert tonight but it was just too hot.

August 11, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

I went to the Asian cultural center today as I do every Friday and also met with friends for a Traveling Piano session there. I'm working to create some structure for a session with a family and as I speak the dad repeats everything I say in Chinese. There was a downpour of rain which is always good but the humidity that results in temperatures over a hundred degrees, brutal. After it got dark I took the piano out into where I walk at nights and homeless people are laying around everywhere. Knowing the area good, I felt safe about that but the humidity was so oppressive the playing did not last long. That along with the piano not working and making strange sound so much it became impossible to play which I am now going to stick my head in the sand so to speak so I don't have to think about it anymore tonight. Experience has shown the problem might just disappear. Lets hope for the best no, lets not even think about it, period. Thats the way to go in getting out of the way with thought.

August 10, 2017

Summerlin, Nevada

A guy who booked a performance fifteen years ago called. "My family enjoyed you so much when we all got together to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday and he has passed. We want to get together again and am hoping you can make it." Of course his being back on the east coast prohibits that unless he has the couple grand it would cost to get cross country which is not going to happen but... how amazing and wonder the compliment that without any contact, or seeing me in any media or advertising they would remember so strongly. I began performing in 1987 from the truck as a Ragtime, Boogie Woogie Piano Man. The truck was called Raggin' Piano Boogie. In 2006 the transition into the Traveling Piano was made with all Improvisational music and the sharing of the piano with people, no money or commercial association involved... all musical Fun, Friendship and Respect with the idea of strangers becoming less afraid of each other... usually one at a time! I have nothing but gratitude in knowing I have made such an (good) impression on peoples lives.

August 9, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

I've been doing something that seems strange, surreal, has purpose and it seems necessary whether I want to do it or not. Every night in the early morning I have been taking Mo for a walk. I always have my backpack because I must have water with me at all times, especially for Mo. I've begun to carry 32oz bottles of Gatorade with me for people we comes across that need some liquid. I purchase them when I see they are on sale and cost like .58 cents each. People are laying in the streets, on the sidewalks, in the middle of vacant lots and in parking lots everywhere, every night. They look like dead bodies strewn everywhere. You would not believe how many wheel chairs there are where people just fall out and onto the ground to sleep on the cement. Many do not even have anything to cushion their heads. They sleep in the middle of parking lots because they feel safer out in the open. It is not rare for me to kick someone on a sidewalk and then ask if they are alive and tell them to crawl over to the curb or the other side so someone does not step on them. Then I ask if they want anything to drink. Sometimes I have to drag people off the sidewalk and get some nourishment in them until they have enough strength to stand up. I like the appreciation when I ask people their name and they put their hands out to shake mine or say thank you.

Its just like being a friend with a stranger doing what friends should do. Some are mental, some drugged out of their minds or drunk. Then there are people who just have no place to go and every situation is individual. Some choose to be on the street because they think they have no other option. I never approach someone who is sleeping no matter how sick they look or if I see they have water, a bike, a phone they are talking on or cigarettes to smoke. I try not to look for people but sometimes I do when its in little corners or in holes or alley ways. I must objectify the situation as there can be no worry, concern, pity, empathy or compassion shown. It is all about simply passing by, hanging out, friendship, a stranger caring for another human being as we all should do. There must be a constant conscious awareness to not get into a who looks like they need it, who doesn't need, who deserves, does not, etc... the basics I found that I already said works. I like doing it. I like it allot. It balances out my impulses of anger with what is going on in the world on every level in not good ways. When I get angry at something politicians are doing or some moron says in the media... I just jump on it in order to give to life in a positive way with a counter action.

August 8, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

There is a lot of graphitti where we are living here in the Arts District of Las Vegas. Some of it is awesome, most of it not and it fades. These pictures were taken while the paintings were fresh. If I could ever get up early enough in the morning I could get even better photos but my mornings are usually the middle of the night. If the streets and buildings were all clean and kept they would also look better. In anycase, I've captured some awesome pics of them.

August 7, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

One day at a time is the only option in living life for me. Of course I have future goals but my focus must be in the moment. Angry thoughts often impulsively enter my mind but only when it is not active in the pursuit of happiness or tired from positive activity. Gratitude keeps me alive, desire to participate and give to life, validation and reassurance of that fact. Processing pictures and posted them, they are a huge tool in helping me to remember to remember what I am doing and why. Traveling Piano dog Mo's presence in every moment of my life gives me reason for joy. Knowing I am respected and appreciated reminds me to stay responsible so I can attain higher levels of responsibility because I enjoy that. (on my terms of course through a power greater than myself) I am conscious to negate people who do not serve my life by making them disappear. Usually I have to push them away or just drop them when simply letting them go would be preferable. Maybe a part of me wants to hang onto the negations so I can hang on to my anger. This being human... it is what it is. Basically today, I have a roof over my head, food, people in my life, Mo, my work and dreams for the future which I must keep with a sense of fun so... all is good.

August 6, 2017

Summerlin, Nevada

I drove with a neighbor to meet with some friends in Summerlin. We met in a shopping area where I had been a few weeks ago. The manager of one of the stores had given us free coffee before just because he's a nice guy and that stayed on my mind ever since because I wanted to reciprocate with a little Traveling Piano for him. Today was the day. Once the sun went down I spent some time back in my apartment complex pool with a float that I found online for twelve bucks! What a treat it was to float in a pool with the moonlight and clouds passing, all alone just Mo and myself. Of course it was not quiet with all the apartment air conditioners going and the constant stream of twelve tourist helicopters flying up and down the Las Vegas strip above me but hey... these little things like the float, the pool, not having to think about where I am going to go next, how, when, etc... what a relief from the last two years.

August 5, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

It rained heavy last night for the first time in over a half year and that was both good and bad. The bad part is that all the dirt, garbage, dog poop, etc... on the ground is now soaked and it has all come to life with the scent of... ugh! My apartment complex water pipe broke so everyone is using the pool to wash off and using the water to fill the toilets in order to flush them. My neighbor gave me one of his five gallon containers to use for drinking, mo, the humidifier etc... We went to the Asian Cultural Center to get a picture with members to use with the Traveling Piano. The timing was wrong but the Director Cavin showed up and we spent some time with his son on the Traveling Piano.

To watch the two of them connect with through simply banging on the keys together was magical. This process of becoming involved with the center is very interesting. I'm just doing the footsteps and observing as I move along and into it. At night I hung out at the pool again with some neighbors in the dark and it felt really, really, really good to be in community and with the same people that I am getting to know. Remember, having been on the road for so many years I've missed having go to friends to hang out with.

August 4, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

After going to my Chinese language class I parked on the street corner where I live to create some music as the Arts District First Friday event was up the street a few blocks away. I'm not interested in the hoopla of being up there although it might be fun some day. Did that, done those events thirty years ago. They began as community events, a vehicle for neighbors to come together. Now they exsist for the sake of entertainment, to make money, network and sell stuff. Not me... Mo and I created nothing but Fun, Friendship and Respect with neighbors outside of where I live. One girl came up to us and we ahd a talk while creating music. I knew she was homeless so I asked, where do you hang out at nights? She told me, "well for a few months I lived under that tree over there... for about a year I was over behind that wall... I stayed in the empty building over there for awhile..." She was very thin and wearing heels and a black dress. You know what that was about, eh?

So then another neighbor came over and they hooked up to go over to his apartment. As we were talking I asked how life was going for her. She talked about how she likes making her own choices and decisions and how living the way she does without anyone is much better than living in a dysfunctional relationship with someone else and then... she began to cry as she told me how difficult it all is. Another guy got on the truck and as he was creating music kept asking me if I smoke pot. It took about ten minutes and for another person to walk by as he asked them before I realized he was trying to deal his drugs while having fun at the same time with the Traveling Piano! Ahh... life in my neighborhood, lol. Then there was the couple with the monkey and a guy who I met with the truck while in Arizona years ago.

August 3, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

At noon I had a meeting with the community police liaison and a neighborhood officer to talk about some problems with a huge abandoned motel next to where I live and also about the drug dealing in the neighborhood. The accessibility concerning police department here feels very good. Knock on a football field size piece of hard wood, the police here have been respectful, responsive, professional and are not looking for trouble, simply aware to possibilities in order to respond if needed. I have become prejudice concerning police throughout the years because of first hand, bad attitude, behavior and unacceptable events I have personally experience throughout the country while traveling.

There have been only a few encounters with good police. Here in Las Vegas... it has been all good! I feel thankful for that. In the afternoon we drove to the Chinese center for a meeting about how to translate a description of what the Traveling Piano is about into the Chinese language. For example the Chinese do not say "play the piano." They have a different way of interpreting that. Mo and I sat outside while waiting to create some music and of course we shared the piano with people who came by. A guy living on the street came up to me, we began to talk and he left with, "man I was feeling like in a rage, like I wanted to tear something up and your music chilled me out, thank you for that."

August 2, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

I'm having appointments, commitments and need to schedule everyday now. That is very disorienting, not used to it... not sure I want it, but know its necessary in order to transition into whatever I'm transitioning into. There was a community meeting that I attended tonight. The feeling of being connected here is becoming stronger and stronger. The homeless people especially are connecting to me and I must stay objective about that. Many of them trust my intent and what I am about. Sometimes they seek me out for whatever reason. While walking Mo on the streets at night I get comments with smiles, "Hey, I saw you playing the other day." Then there are those who have not seen me for a few months and the familiarity of seeing Mo and I gives them comfort. A guy who got evicted from my apartment complex came back yesterday and we talked about his alcoholism (which is why he got evicted) and how he just got out of detox and then today our paths crossed again as he was camped out in the alley behind me. As I was returning from the meeting tonight I drove by him on a stretcher being lifted into an ambulance. He turned his head to see me and waved, bye, bye.

August 1, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

New "students" sort of... we connected again for the fourth time today to create some structure with what I do. We pick out a Traveling Piano Chinese phrase to use for each session, today it was "I love the piano." Everyone individually improvises one minute each, I improvise for five minutes, I encourage with life coach "speak," etc... I parked under a building overhang for shade with the temperature over a hundred degrees. Later, I went to a community meeting at the local police station to establish some relationship with local law enforcement. That felt right and good, the desire to be part of a community. When I owned a house back east I did town watch. With the town itself back when, I could not stand the politics of it. Also, I made a commitment today to involve myself with the Las Vegas Asian Cultural Center concerning the Traveling Piano. One step at a time.