In My Mind’s Zen Garden

Last night, Big Daddy Orchestra performed at the U.S. Grant Hotel in the Celestial Ballroom on level B1. It was a big wedding reception and the wedding couple looked fairly young. The bride had a pretty large and prominent tattoo artwork on her back. And it looked like many of the couple’s young friends had tattoos and body piercings as well. I just wanted to make note of that because of all the wedding receptions I’d done in the current century, I hadn’t seen a wedding reception with so many tattoos and body piercings before. But I’m so out of touch with that world, so it was something that stuck out in my mind last night.

Also, there were a LOT of children at this wedding reception. Usually, children aren’t really a prominent feature of the wedding receptions I’ve been performing at. And there were many last night, and it was a joy to see all the children dancing to our music.

Anyway, we had some problems with the Valet Parking staff, who said that we had to pay for Valet Parking. In virtually all hotels we perform at Valet Parking for musicians is complimentary. After all, we are like employees of the hotel, so why should we have to pay $15.00 for valet parking? Anyway, the bride and groom were kind enough to straighten that problem out for us.

I overheard one lady say, “This was the best wedding reception I’ve ever been to.”

Well, I thought to myself, “Well then, I was honored to be a part of it.”

It was probably one of the better wedding receptions I had been a part of. Between the band and the wedding planners and the hotel staff, I’d say we all did our jobs extremely well last night. Maybe it was the wildfires raging still around San Diego County, that makes everyone appreciate the good things in life, and to not take anything for granted, and to really live life to the fullest.

Also, this past Friday, Flamenco Nova also performed at the Fairbanks Ranch Country Club. And I was quite surprised to find out that we would be performing there after all, after the devastion and the fires still raging around. One waiter said that he lives in Rancho Bernardo, the hardest hit of the commiunities in San Diego. He said his apartment complex was partly damaged from the fires, but his apartment seemed to be intact. Two of the managers said they had to evacuate, one was in Carmel Valley. The country club itself was unscathed by the fires, but some 50 palm trees were knocked down by the strong Santa Ana winds. That was how truly powerful these winds were… enough to carry the hot embers from the wildfires all throughout San Diego County.

At the country club, there was a big crowd dining and listening to our music. I was a bit surprised, but maybe the thought about the wildfires perhaps had an impact on that? Maybe people truly need to get out and enjoy life and take their minds away from the devastation?

So, it was a good weekend for gigs, and now I have Sunday off and have pretty much done nothing extremely physical today.

But I AM suddenly sorting through all my CDs and trying to organize them. These include a lot of homemade CDs of favorite song compilations. And many are blank with no titles whatsoever. I have to listen to them and see what’s on them. I’m finding CDs of favorite albums in which the actual CD was separated from the CD Jewel Case. That’s how disorganized my CD collection is.

So, that’s pretty much what I’m doing today…..