K&W at Yorba Linda -- 19Jan2008

Well, as badly as last week went, this week was terrific. We had a pretty fair amount of audience rapport going, pretty early on, 'cuz I somehow managed to start right out with an announcement. That's usually hard to do -- too hard, so I don't. I guess it's basically impossible if nobody is looking at me when it's time to start. If somebody, anybody, is, then I can talk right to them, and of course everybody hears me -- I'm the guy with the mic. I always tell myself that I'll just do the first song "cold", and then people will be looking at me so I'll make the startup announcement after that. It's a nice idea, but that hardly ever happens either.

Anyway, my cold isn't gone yet, but it was sufficiently out of the way that I could sing. I got pretty dry after an hour or so, but I had some cough medicine with me, so I took a small swig of that. Subsequently, I was singing like I've never sung before. Totally clear, and easier up to the high notes than, literally, ever. I hate to attribute it to the medicine, but it's hard not to.

Also, I was thinking clearer, or faster, than usual, too, so all the "hard parts" seemed not-so-hard. I seemed to have more bandwidth than usual, and I felt like I could really pay attention to the singing -- and could try, and get away with, anything I wanted to -- and still not lose track of the guitar parts. It was pretty magical, frankly. The neo-hippie/cyberpunks used to swear that pseudoephedrine (a decongestant) was also a synapse-aid that makes you think clearer, so it's hard not to attribute the mental clarity to the medicine, too.

Anyway, it was a great night -- lots of requests, and a (much better) run-through of the newest song; James Taylor's "Never Die Young". We barely made any tips, but would have done even worse if not for...

As we were packing up, a little 2-year-old blonde was staring at me from the back of the café. I waved at her, as I am wont to do, to see if she'd wave back. Her mom watched to see if she would, and they ended up coming closer. The amp was off and I had taken off my headset, but I still had my guitar strapped on. I walked over toward them, and was asking the little girl if she wanted to dance, and her mom was making encouraging noises at her, so I sat down on one of the comfy chairs to be down at her level and broke into my in-process "Twist and Shout / La Bamba" medley, just acoustic, with her kind of bumbling around and turning some circles out in front of me, clearly enjoying it. The mom must have thought that that was pretty fun too, 'cuz she dropped a fiver in the jar when the dance was over and we went back to packing up after some bye-byes.