Autumn in Quebec City

Now I understand why people love it here so much.

There was a couple brief hours yesterday that were so beautiful. The air was crisp, but not too cold. The wind was pleasant, and not too strong. The sun was shining, but not too bright. The leaves had started falling, but many still remained on the trees. It was like walking through a post card world. There were cobblestone streets like in Europe that wind their way through small neighborhoods; people ice skating in an outdoor square, buskers with hats and scarves singing away under the archways, the wind slightly whispering through the brightly colored leaves, and the clip clop of people's shoes as they briskly move about their day all bundled in their cold weather gear, seemingly oblivious to the beauty surrounding them.

And then it started to rain...

Thankfully I had thought ahead (didn't take much thinking since it rains in every single port for the majority, if not entirety, of the day) and brought and umbrella. It was awkward to carry for a while, but definitely was worth it after the rain started pouring down and I could barely keep any part of me dry. So then it was back to the ship for a nice hot shower and cup of hot cocoa before going to work.

Only four more days of work left. We'll be on the ship a total of 5 sort of, but the last day we'll leave sometime in the morning and the band replacing us will have to work that day.

Then it's off to a couple day rest and relaxation in Oklahoma City before heading off to Seattle for a week of dancing and a week of visiting. Can't wait! Keep it coming!

Time flies on the high seas

Time truly has been flying by. Yes, much of it has been super fun, but much of it has been work too.

A cruise ago (10 day cruises), our violist injured his wrist and was unable to play for several days. This brought about a panic of music hunting, music printing, music practicing, music researching, music rehearsing, and music performing. It was exhausting to understate my condition. I was so focused and worked so much that I lowered my immune system enough to not quite catch a cold. Now that I'm back to sleeping, eating, and normal playing schedule my body is fighting back slowly, but it's an uphill battle. The reason being...

I've just had outpatient surgery for a very early form of cancer. Now, I'm hoping that they got everything this last NY and that I'll be fine and dandy, but in the interum I'm a bit weak and my body is trying to decide whether to ward off the cold (which it's been mildly successful at for the last few days), or to quickly heal my surgically destroyed body part.  I'm very lucky that they found this early and I've been able to follow the preliminary steps in order for the cancer not to continue or spread (fingers crossed).  Now I just have to be patient for the next year and pray all the test results keep coming back negative and the job results come back positive!

Ah, yes...jobs....I still do not have another ship contract lined up yet. I've been trying to push for one, but so far there is nothing on the horizon, let alone in my lap. The good news though, is that when I get off this ship I won't be destitute as was the case last time I disembarked. I've got a few land concerts lined up over the following months. No, they won't pay rent or even food, but they will pay the bills that I'm still consistently paying down.

This contract really has been a bright ray of sunshine on my rather cloudy year.  The schedule has been good, the food has been good, the passengers have been good (our ratings have been good), our bosses have been good, no great :), our trio has been wonderful, and I feel pretty!...ok, couldn't help myself :)  The only thing that has sucked this contract is the weather, which has kind of surprised me, because no matter where I am in the world, the sun always shines. Seems Canada doesn't much care for me; or maybe this is it's bright side?.

This is our last cruise :( sob, sniff, sad face   
I'm trying to fit in very little now. Tomorrow and the next day are Quebec City so I'll be heading out into town both days (if it's not pouring rain), and also partying away the night at Largo Jazz Club. Otherwise, though, in order to heal my body and to save money (not looking forward to the out of pocket expenses of the following checkups since I have no insurance) I haven't been drinking at the crew bar, or partying at the nightclub, or buying snacks at the store, or shopping in town. I go to bed early for me (before 2 a.m.), and spend the day writing set lists, getting organized for the trip home, wandering around the ship, staring out the window (or lounging on the balcony if the wind dies down), or practicing. It's the most lackluster ship existance ever I think; for me that is. But I'm ok with it for now. Next ship...

Rocky Seas

Time is flying by!

Tonight the ship is rocking. I love it! It's fun to watch the passengers try so hard just to stay upright and it's fun to engage my abs and but and some serious leg muscles in order to walk fairly normal. This rocking also really puts me into a deep sleep. I missed this on land. Luckily I've never been sea sick, even through 100 foot waves! I enjoy the ride :)

There's a new set of passengers on board. They just arrived today. So far I've met two nice couple that I feel will be good listeners and friends for at least the length of the cruise and hopefully longer. That's one part of cruising I love; meeting new people I'd never have the chance to meet otherwise, and becoming life long friends.


The trio put on our first stage show a couple days ago. As a group we all were the least prepared for this show than any other in our lives. The sound check wasn't enough time, the lighting wasn't correctly done, and we didn't have enough time to thoroughly rehearse the music. Even so, it went surprisingly well, and I'm sure the audience was none the wiser. I'm guessing we'll put on more shows but since we've been through this one we'll be better prepared for the rest.

So far in the cruise I've only been off in Quebec City. I've been so busy with trainings, rehearsals, and research that I haven't had a chance to eat normal meals or sleep 8 hrs a night, let alone go out in port. I'm truly hoping that since much of the training is done that I'll be able to use those extra hours for some sight seeing, sleeping and eating :)

Working for NCL is really awesome. I'm so happy here. Here's to cruising the high seas for several more years to come!

Quebec City

The last two days we've been docked in Quebec City. The first day the trio went out and walked around a small part of the city, seeing sights like the Plains of Abraham and the Castle of Frontenac. It was a beautiful day and there were street artists in abundance as well as many art galleries in the open air and the restaurants all had their outdoor seating filled to abundance.

Today after yet more training, two of us took off again into a different part of the city. We browsed through a local grocery store, a couple music shops, and a beautiful Catholic cathedral. We also saw a couple parks and walked down several quaint neighborhood streets. It was another beautiful day in Quebec City, and we enjoyed it to the fullest.

We have been playing every night and it's been going quite well. I've been fortunate to sell several cd's already on this first cruise. If that continues than I'll sell out of what I brought which is my goal of course. I don't want to bring any cd's back with me. We have a consistent group of listeners and I've had the chance to speak with several of them and they're quite nice. The best part is that we only have to play 3 hrs a day; not 5! It makes an enormous difference. I feel like I can give my all on the stage instead of conserving energy to make it through the night. We've also been sight reading a lot. At least half of what we played tonight was sight reading and I feel lucky to have a group that can and will sight read on stage. We rehearse every sea day though (there are lots of sea days) and some port days.

We're still going through lots of training. I have two more trainings in the morning and there are more the following days. Because my schedule is upset I've only managed to go to the gym once. But the crew gym here is nice. It has 2 of nearly every thing and is open all the time. The only problem I have is that I usually make it through an hour on the eleptical by watching a tv show on my netbook. Unfortunately my battery won't last that long anymore and just a couple days ago the computers transmission/connection to the earport terminal crashed so I can't use headphoned now :(

But life is good; no life is great! I'm really having fun performing with this trio and I'm looking forward to exploring more new cities and countryside. There's lots to be done still. I have much research to do on the new music and we have lots of music yet to rehearse and add to our repetoire. There are plenty of trainings left and there are still a few kinks to work out but life is beautiful!