I arrived at Las Tapas especially early to drop off my sound equipment and had a few hours to kill before showtime. Perhaps I should've stayed at home a little longer and worked on computer stuff, but with such beautiful weather, I couldn't make myself stay indoors. So I went window shopping in Old Town just as an excuse to walk outside and get some fresh air.

On the surface it does seem like I'm wasting time and enjoying it, but it's a necessary part of the creative process. I have to have my mind clear of extraneous distracting thoughts and my body has to feel relaxed. I have problems just like everyone else and I have my way of leaving these problems behind when it comes time for the show. Despite these mind-clearing skills I have developed as a performer, the stress from today's problem still creeped in but it actually added to the show.

At first it was disctracting me during my opening guitar solo. Was making stupid mistakes--not stuff that people would notice considering that most of them were busy eating and having loud conversations. This is why I almost always turn down background music gigs. Sometimes I'll just quote a ridiculously high price to scare off the clients and sometimes they'll still accept my quote! So there I was playing my solo and there was this girl with her cellphone ringing with some incredibly annoying ringtone and instead of quickly siliencing it she picks it up, looks at the caller ID and lets it's ring twice more before anwering. Ugh. I wanted to wring this girl's neck! No manners, no culture whatsoever. Apparently I don't even exist onstage until the dancers join me.

Finally, got through the guitar solo and Edwin and Anna joined me onstage for Sevillanas and as soon as Anna began her alegrias, I noticed that my tension was actually adding a little spice to my playing. I was thinking to myself, "Go away problem! Go away!" and each time I vigorously strummed on the strongest beat of the compas "and two THREE" my tension dissolved. I especially enjoyed crescendoing the triplets leading up to the resolution "SEVEN-and-uh-EIGHT-and-uh-NINE-and-uh-TEN!"

I started getting into the spirit of the alegrias, which means happiness by the way, and by the end of Anna's performance I was in a great mood. Thank you Anna!

It's 9:19am now and I can't be late for my gig so I'll continue this later. Ciao for now.