And now presenting our special guest...

This is not the obligatory New Years' post. This is not a reflective post looking back at the year past -- mostly because I'd like to forget the first six months of it. I don't want to think about where I was a year ago, and I don't care to think how far I've come. I wake up every morning (well, it's morning somewhere when I wake up every day), I get out of bed willingly, and I do my thing. That's all I need to know...

This is a post about how great it is to be unexpected somewhere.

That's right; I'm human, and I'm a slight whore for attention. I don't do anything out of the ordinary to get it...most of the time. I mean, I am a performer by trade, but that isn't about attention.

So what do I do? I show up places unexpectedly. People who don't expect me are always happy to see me, with the notable exception of ex-girlfriends. (And even one of those was happy to unexpectedly see me once...)

Tonight, for example, I showed up at three different places where the people didn't expect me. I worked the crowd. And then I left and went on to the next. (Now, I hit Cancun after a 7:30 am flight...which means a 5 am wake-up...with a 2 am sleep, that means...hey! full night sleep!)

Even in my performance, I prefer to be a special guest to the headliner. (Okay -- it's been so long since I've been a headliner that I can't back that up...not even anecdotally.) But I have enjoyed my 'special guest' status as sitting in on one or two tunes here and there. I would like to play more often, and as a regular member of someone's band, but that's an entry for another day.

For now, I am going to enjoy the fact that I surprised people -- in a good way -- tonight, and now can get a few hours of sleep before I head off to a sunny and warm part of the world for a week...even if I'd secretly rather be back in New York.

Happy New Year. May you all find a 2008 calendar in your price range.