Hey,
We're back again. About to embark on three concerts with the Elgin Symphony. Rich Ridenour is the piano soloist. Concerto in F, Exodus, Warsaw Concerto and me, playing the piano os Concerto for Index Finger, done originally by Gracie Allen.
Then, beautiful Tahlequah, OK. awaits for a big band concert on the 22nd of Feb. Singer Brian Anthony will be doing the Sinatra songbook...and some very interesting choices on the program. Should be fun.
And then, the mighty Santa Rosa Pops on the 26/27 in a Tribute to the Music of Lenny and Steve. Bernstein and Sondheim, that is.
This Winter has been the worst in many a year. Today the temperatures reached 58 degrees so we are getting a bit of a thaw. Nice to get rid of this dirty snow and slickery ice.
The lovely Deirdre and I attended a Valentine's Concert yesterday. Two singers doing Opera love duets. In a local church. Very nice way to spend an hour or two.
And then we began to discuss the Nature of Friendship over a Pizza. Over the years, I have always marveled at people who are surrounded by friends. The phone never stops ringing, dinners with pals, vacations together, backyard cookouts in the Summer...I have spent my entire life trying to figure out how to get that to happen to me. i have almost 2000 friends on Facebook but they never call or write, although I get a nice response to my almost daily status updates. It seems that my entire life is pretty much about my Music and my Wife and our kids. My son has a large network of friends, some from college, many others not. I have been in NY for over 31 years and pretty much can count on one hand the people I feel I can call. Now, it's true, I have lost some very close friends over the years to illnesses and worse, and perhaps those people are impossible to replace. But still, I wonder what makes the gathering of many friends so easy for some, and seemingly so difficult for myself. Luckily, I am married to the greatest person in the World, and maybe having a relationship so close and so mutually fulfilling doesn't make room for a whole lot more.
So, if you have any answers or insights to the above, let me know. I'd love to hear your take on the matter.
See you in a week or two.
MB
