Hector (playing guitar) and Samuel at Las Tapas Tuesday night. September 11, 2007 10:10pm

Tuesday night was fun. I performed at Las Tapas as usual but this time with dancers Pam de Ocampo and Emily Mazzotti. Afterwards we had the added treat of hanging out with our friends from Málaga and Salvador all of whom sing and play flamenco so we had a little juerga doing everything from bulerías to tangos to Sevillanas to fandango natural--even Emily sang a letra of bulerías. This went on until the manager turned up the lights and we had to end the party early.

View from stage at Guarapo on Tuesday night. September 12, 2007 8:50pm

[Editor's note: Ok...I'm starting to feel sleepy right now, so I'll just quickly finish up here and get to bed.]

Wednesday night I performed at Guarapo in Arlington--very close to my apartment in Rosslyn, yay! The dancers were Ginette Perea and Claudia. The stage sounds good in certain spots (for footwork) and since it's raised, we're visible to the audience members all the way to the back--nice! However, the large size of this room necessitated really cranking up the volume. So I had some minor technical difficulties with the floor microphones and eventually had to turn them off. Afterwards, I hung out with Ginette and her Mom and got some dinner here at Guarapo--the food was kinda pricey but was very good! I had Ceviche de Atún and Sopa de Choclo. Yum!

Jason Vera y Aragón and Claudia at La Tasca Rockville Thursday night. September 13, 2007 8:15pm

Thursday I went up to Rockville to practice taking pics of dancers at La Tasca. Jason and Claudia were the ones performing that night. I wasn't satisfied with the pics I took (although I learned a thing or two as I experimented with various camera settings), but it was a gorgeous night and since I wasn't "working," I just hung out with Jason and Claudia when they weren't dancing Sevillanas.

September 15, 2007 12:35am

Friday I pretty much stayed in bed all day catching up on sleep, crawling out every now and then to chat online with friends and login to MySpace etc. I was rummaging through my moving boxes and found a pack of blank business cards, so I went ahead and made a small supply and borrowed from my friend Gil the idea of printing my show schedule on the back. A simple but very good idea.

September 15, 2007

Friday night, I did my usual gig at Cabanas with dancers Ginette and Pam. We were "feeling it" artistically and the audience was very responsive. All in all a good night. Although towards the end, my body reminded me that I needed to get home soon so I can get some sleep. But here I am spending 40 minutes or so writing this blog when I really should be in bed.

Today (Saturday) I play for flamenco class at American Dance Institute in Rockville, then I have my gig at Tapeo with dancers Claudia and Isabel--it's been a while since I last worked with Isabel, so it should be fun. Sunday I have a rehearsal at noon with a dancer friend at the Pink Flamenco--afterwards we'll do a photo shoot so I can get some more practice using my camera and maybe we'll get some nice pics that she can use for her portfolio. Sunday night I'm doing a private gig at Las Tapas with Ginette and Pam. Then my flamenco work week begins all over again on Monday.

Am I going to try to catch up on sleep? I'll try. Am I going to be tired anyway? Most likely--the experts say you can't really "catch up" on sleep. I just need to make a commitment to myself to stick to a regular sleep schedule. Oh well. It's all good. I'm having fun making a living doing what I love. What more can I ask for?

So why am I staying up late anyway? Just realized a good reason for writing a blog: since it takes some effort to think about what to write about my daily life, writing a blog forces me to think about the good and bad parts of my day and what I can learn from them. Good for the mind and soul. OK now that I've written this blog and reflected on my day, now it's time for me to do some good for my body. Off to bed for real this time. Hehe. Night!