Ready To Roll

My plane's tires barked down onto the runway of Los Angeles International Airport yesterday evening as if to signal the start of some new adventure. The flight from Atlanta was bumpy, but enjoyable in part due to the young man in the adjacent seat. He was an ultra cool hip-hop hopeful who was more than a little afraid of flying. Cool goes out the window when terror knocks on the door.

I helped him settle down and then heard his story. He was on his way to LA to appear on the Judge Joe Brown show where he is being sued by his mother for $5000, and will of course receive a stern lecture from the judge. It was funny, but a little sad too and I had to remind myself that I was not his father and he didn't need a lecture from me too - ok, maybe a short lecture, but I was gentle. We had a pleasant conversation and after he put his headphones on, and started singing like he was the only person on the plane, I was able to respond to about 20 email messages.

Speaking of email, I remember how hard it was to keep up with correspondence during the last leg of the Yanni tour. That is one of the reasons why I put a guestbook on this site. I read every message, but sometimes the volume gets overwhelming, so please write, but don't be offended if I don't always respond quickly. Remember to post your message on the guestbook for all to see!

It was tough saying goodbye to my family again. I won't see Angie until we get to Louisville which is in three weeks. Our mobile phones allow us unlimited time when calling each other so we'll talk often. The free calling will also allow me to continue to teach Missy a web design class three days a week as part of her home school curriculum. She's learning Dreamweaver, Flash, and FreeHand, and will soon post her own web site, dedicated to horses of course.

Lobby call is 10am today for me, Charlie and Walter. The rest of the band and orchestra join us this afternoon. It's going to be a long day as I've been up since 5am and we won't get back to the hotel until after 10 tonight. The early start gave me plenty of time to exercise and get a little writing done this morning but I've got to force myself to switch to west coast time and not get up so early tomorrow. Thanks for reading, and spread the word that the tour journal is back in business. Later, Dan. ¶ 12:15 PM