I’m having some down time.

That’s not as in “I’m down about , ya know, life and my choices and my place in the universe”.

Nope, I’m good on that count. Where I am and what I’m doing is a direct result of decisions and actions on my part, so whining about it would be a special level of hypocritical. And what would I whine about anyway?

“Waaa, I didn’t win the lottery”

“Waaa, I didn’t get that cute apartment up the street that I wanted”

Waaa, women.”

…but I digress…

No, my down time is as in , I’m not currently doing a show or any side gig that keeps me busy 40+ hours a week. I’m probably off til May 1, when I drive off to start rehearsals for a new show. Til then, except for helping out with a local High School ( my alma mater, Elder H.S. in Cincinnati, “Altiora, baby!”) production of “Shrek” , I’ve got some time on my hands. I’m not always very good at having down time. It sounds great, especially when you’re crazy busy. But after a week, stir crazy starts to set in. I start thinking of things like ” I should drive to Miami and jump on a cruise ship”, or ” isn’t there a half marathon in Phuket this month”?

Actually, that’s not true. The half marathon in Phuket is on Sunday June 9th, so I can’t do it this year, which is not all bad. When I did it in 2018 it damn near killed me and I was 6 years younger. But I did check it out. You know, what doesn’t kill me & all that…

…2nd digression…

So how am I handling the down time, this time?

Maintenance & repair, people. M & R….

Took a quick trip to L.A. to see friends, true, but now I’m kinda working on me. I got turned on to Alexander technique by a good friend ( thank you Holly!) which is, to greatly oversimplify, a way to be aware of your body and relax during, I think, any physical activity. But it was created by someone who wanted to enhance their vocal performance. So I’m trying to take that and integrate it into my vocal practice, both singing and spoken.

You know, old dogs / new tricks. It’s possible…

I got a new (er) car. I loved my Mini, and it got me from L.A. to Cincinnati and then several trips to Pennsylvania & Florida, etc, etc. But the years and the miles were catching up so a bought a newer version of pretty much the same car, except slightly smaller. And no , I don’t think that me getting out of it looks like a circus car / clown thing. And it’s a stick. God I love that in a world that loves electric cars, I don’t even want an automatic transmission. And keep your damn kids off my lawn…

I got my foot fixed. About a dozen years ago my left foot started aching when I wore formal shoes. The Ortho at that point told me that if I didn’t need to have surgery, I shouldn’t. I should get some orthotics ( expensive orthotics, btw..) and see if I could live with that. Kinda like glasses for my vision. Except for pain. In my foot. And it worked for a long time. Running doesn’t affect it, so I just kinda lived with it. Til lately. It’s been flaring up lately. And when it does, it really freaking does.

Really.

So, during this down time, I went to an Ortho here in Cincinnati. I told him I wanted it fixed, not mitigated. He was very cool about it. Told me it’s a 5-10 min procedure. They go in, “release the affected nerve” And no, I don’t know what “release” means exactly, but he assured me that there’s a very high degree of success and very little chance of issues. So we did it. I got sedated, which was a fun new, experience, got a walking boot, which I’ve more or less discarded 6 days in, and have a cool pic of my left foot with stitches in it, which you probably don’t need to see.

Oh, and I did my taxes. Don’t ask

And I still have 5 weeks til I start rehearsals.

Cool.

The point? I think that down time is good time. Time to recalibrate, gather yourself. Figure out what’s working and what needs work. Fixing what needs fixing; body, mind & soul. And for me, to let myself relax. Not try to fill the time with stuff. I get into enough “stuff”. And I love it. But I think I’ll sit back, enjoy my postage stamp of an apartment, my hometown, my coffee shop ( where I sit right now writing this) and getting ready for the next one.

Talk Later,

Bob