2003-04-06 - 6:54 p.m.

finally clear weather today, and from the seventh floor of 33 wythe ave it seemed like one could see forever, or at least take in the entire borough of brooklyn in a single glance. even the imposing sugar factory seemed a little puny from that lofty height.

s had arranged for our little musical outfit to have our debut at a local listening party. we have never played in front of anyone before, and it was a small and appreciative audience. i'm never nervous before a performance, but i was jittery and energised afterwards, i could have flown home! the release of performing is so intense i never realised how fulfilling it can be. we played two pieces we've been slowly working on, and there were technical difficulties with the laptop so it wasn't performed quite the way we intended, but i don't think anyone else realised that.

the sunset boulevard piece was the most succesful for me, even though s wasn't able to pick up and feed me back the plucked chord parts like she usually does. i'm finally able to move between two or more pentatonic scales on the neck so i felt like i could incorporate a little more variation into my playing. sitting on the concrete floor of the loft, facing s and her laptop while i propped my dearmond up on one knee, it felt very much like performing a raga.

the handful of people at this brunchtime event were so kind and interesting. the creation of the eggs benedict that formed the centerpiece of the meal became a huge group effort. who knew that making hollandaise was such a delicate operation? f's bacon stole the show. we are considering a repeat of the event over at our pad.