I’m 10th in line at the talent show. For some reason they’ve decided I get to close the whole thing. I guess I should be flattered. Bon Jovi’s playing in the background as the announcer comes up, so things can’t go TOO poorly.
Hrm. Talent show was a complete disaster. Borrowed Scott’s new Mexican guitar with it’s untested electronics. I discovered that the cables they use are kind of crap… and that if I tap the guitar on the soundboard once, the pickup turns off. Of course, that’s not SO bad, as hitting it in the same place again turns it back on. The audience seems to appreciate the fact that I sort of take it in stride, but on top of everything else, I really should’ve played sitting down.
Boat rocking back and forth… I almost lost my balance once or twice. Unfortunately, losing the guitar like that made me lose my concentration pretty badly, and when people come up to me afterwards to remark upon my guitar playing, one of the most popular comments is that they couldn’t understand my words toward the middle of the song. I had to admit to them that I’d been making nonesense words up out of pretty much random syllables as I got my bearings again after the technical screwups.
Denni came up to me afterward and told me she could hear an intake of breath as I came onto stage. After a night of storytellers, women singing jazz tunes along with the house (boat?) piano player and such other entertainments – she said that me strutting out onto the stage with my guitar, hair flying and flaming boots catching the spotlight caused quite a stir.
Afterward I return to the water – it’s a full moon for our return to San Diego, and the silver light is just spectacular. A good night to have shared with a pirate. It’s a night to be appreciated with a flannel shirt or two – the wind is whistling through the ship as the hydraulic door closey thingies fail to fight the gusts. All the creakings and random groanings are certainly enough, aren’t they? But now a ghostly howling as well? Jeezoflip.
