Wednesday July 10 2019

Waking up at 11 a.m. slowly but surely.

Date and Almond Breakfast Bar. English Breakfast Tea.

Catching up on business – making event pages.

Scrambled Eggs. Toast with Vegan Cream Cheese and Poppy Seeds. Coffee. Watermelon. Cucumbers.

Teaching lessons at Music Makers.

Back home. Dinner: Black Beans, Kale, Carrots, and Rice. Will drops by for a bit to say hi and for us to say happy birthday. Ana made little confetti cupcakes.

At ELO rehearsal. We’re preparing our sets for tomorrow’s show. Leon (drummer) and Jorge (violinist who wrote up all the strings charts) flew in to practice and perform for it. We come across a few minor blips and issues but overall we’re feeling prepared.

Back home. Chilling with Ana and the cat.

Sleep 4 a.m.

Tuesday July 9 2019

Waking up at 11:30 a.m.

Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Strawberries, Maple Syrup, and Almond Milk. Irish Breakfast Tea.

Catching up on business.

At the Great Neck Rec playing a few rounds of 4-on-4 basketball.

Scrambled Eggs. Bagel with Butter and Jam. Cucumbers. Coffee. Watermelon.

Teaching lessons at Music Makers.

Back home. Cooking with dinner: Tempeh with Onions, Peppers, Brussel Sprouts, Carrots, and Quinoa.

Enjoying meals with mom and Ana.

Afterwards, Ana and I drive over to Mamoona and Abdur’s house out to almost Sandbridge. Mainly, to help Abdur piece together the new drum set he bought from us. They just moved into a mansion of a house. There’s a lab dog named Cash. We have fun with the rabab instrument. I give Abdur a mini drum lesson to connect the dots for him.

Back home. We all cuddle up in the living room (mom’s room) to watch another episode of Stranger Things 3 (2019).

Sleep 3:30 a.m.

Monday July 8 2019

Waking up at 11:30 a.m.

Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Peaches, Maple Syrup, and Almond Milk. English Breakfast Tea.

Running errands – getting bagels – dropping off a UPS package – getting eggs.

Scrambled Eggs. Everything Bagel with Vegan Cream Cheese. Potato Chips. Cantaloupe.

Teaching lessons at Music Makers.

It’s a hectic day here at the studio. Mamoona, one of my Pakistani-born piano students, brings her husband along to buy a drum kit and get started on drum lessons. He brings in a Rubab, an Afghani guitar-like instrument, which intrigues us all.

Smoked Salmon with Broccoli and Vegetable Fried Rice.

ELO rehearsal.

Fruit.

Talking with Ana in her bedroom about how we can better train ourselves to get along. Being mindful and conscientious of what’s happening in the moment is important but also practicing how we’ll treat each other in unpleasant circumstances is even more important.

Sleep 4:30 a.m.

Sunday July 7 2019

Waking up around noon.

Date and Almond Breakfast Bar. Irish Breakfast Tea.

MMLIVE rehearsals all afternoon – just two bands. Everything goes smoothly.

PB&J. Black Tea. Cantaloupe.

Catching up on business and organizing the studio back to order.

Later on, Austin and I help mom lay down this new rug she got for her room.

Ordering Bangkok Garden for dinner: Chicken with Mixed Vegetables and Rice.

Watching Pet Sematary (2019).

Getting late night groceries. Prepping things in the kitchen.

At the studio organizing and playing piano.

It’s almost 4 a.m. Ana’s downstairs writing thoughts/lyrics in her big book.

Sleep at some point after talks with Ana about the possibility of aliens.

Saturday July 6 2019

Waking up at 11:30 a.m.

Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Peaches, Maple Syrup, and Almond Milk. English Breakfast Tea.

Teaching a few afternoon lessons.

Back home. Ana, mom, and I eat lunch over an episode of Stranger Things 3 (2019).

Scrambled Eggs. Toast with Vegan Cream Cheese. Popcorn. Coffee. Watermelon.

Then, it’s time to load up and drive out to Norfolk for the Musicplayer gig at The Barrel Room. After a couple hours of setting up we do our thing. The crowd morphs over the course of our 3.5 hour set. We always like to engage the crowd throughout offering someone to play drums or bongos. Ronnie Talman sits in on harmonica for a few of the folk songs. A lively wedding bunch sits right in front hooting and hollering but not ever being too rude. They request all kinds of songs, one that I give in to, “Old Town Road” – Two of the dressed up dudes sing on the mic. I’m always proud of what Ana and I do. As mom points out later, ever since we started doing this we’ve elevated our show and tightened up. It’s really becoming a solid thing.

Enjoying Fish n Chips with some Veggies and a Beer.

Afterwards, packing up and loading out. It’s quite a process every time but especially here cause our cars are out in the back alley.

Back home finally enjoying some snacks and fruit. While watching some of the videos I joke, “I’ve been working on that vibrato for 10 years now. I think I finally got it figured out.”

Sleep 4:30 a.m.