I loved that album!

I was relieved when the temperature soared to a relatively balmy -2 degrees and singing in the subway didn't seem quite so ridiculous.

We awoke this morning to snow falling in thick, dense flakes. By afternoon, the snow had tapered off and it was warmer, but still chilly and damp, and my boots were soaked because of all the slush. As usual, Pape Station was cold and windy when I arrived around 2 o'clock.

Although I didn't have to get out to the subway today, I knew I'd feel better if I did. I had the feeling that even a few of those little connections that happen in the subway corridors would make the trip worthwhile. Sure enough, one woman made a donation and deliberately hung around to hear Where Do You Call Home?, making a point of giving me an especially encouraging smile before she headed up the escalator to street level.

But I noticed my energy fading as the damp chill got to me, and I've decided that there's not much point in being a bad (that is, shivering and stiff-fingered) busker, so I decided to call it quits after about twenty minutes. (After all, the last thing I want is to have people taking note of my name on the CDs in my guitar case and thinking, "too bad she can't fingerpick worth a damn".)

As I was packing up, a man stopped and asked me about my Taylor guitar. He asked if he could take a closer look, and something told me it'd be okay for me to let him try it. It turned out he was a professional guitar player who had done quite a bit of session work. He told me that back in the 70's he'd played on Steely Dan's album Aja . (Wow!)

He said nice things about my guitar and hinted that he'd like to hear a song, so I stopped packing up. Then he bought a chocolate bar from the lady at the Gateway Newstand and ate it while I played Room To Love . (Maybe it's a far cry from "Peg", but he seemed to really like it.)

Three people donated during that song--perhaps because I was putting special energy into my performance? The man said many complimentary things when I finished and praised my playing, which meant a lot to me because (I confess) I'm still pretty insecure about my abilities as a guitar player. I've noticed, however, that all of the sudden I'm a lot better than I used to be.

It makes me think about that old joke, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" Answer: "Practice, practice, practice!" Come to think of it, you can also take the subway.

+++

I have experienced a blogging milestone! ("Blogstone"? "Mileblog?"). A woman who heard one of my songs on the radio in Winnipeg posted a message to my blog. I looked up her website and--voila!--discovered HER blog. She had already linked to my website. So I posted BACK to her blog and will now introduce you to children's book author Anita Daher!

Never mind six degrees of separation--it's now six keystrokes.