Oh my, I did it! I finally embedded a YouTube video! WOW, I've been trying for years to do that!

I still take piano lessons and made my *debut* last year along with numerous five-year-olds, which was quite embarrassing. Probably for them too. I played a cute little number about rainbows. Despite my totally losing my bearings trying to play it on a shortened keyboard rather than the full-size, I managed to pull it off. The real trouble began when my instructor offered to sing it. Don't get me wrong, her singing actually moved me to tears once, so, I was honored. The problem was that her singing is what I would call 'classically trained'. The piece that I played was originally sung by Kermit the Frog.

That night I got to thinking about next years' performance. I'm talking about a food fair in a neighboring village. It always irks me when they have kids play incredibly long, classical pieces. There was a kid who is quite talented, but I don't think that the average person off the street is a lover of classical music, at least not here. II begin to think about what the perfect song for me to play would be. It would have to be something that either people have heard before or one that they would find catchy even if they hadn't heard it. What piece have would I play if I could play anything? "The Sting?" No, it's been done to death. "Music Box Dancer"....mayybeeee. Then I rememberd a song that my mother always loved because of the player's style. I never realized it was country, which is strange since my parents listened to nothing but country for awhile. I guess if it wasn't a banjo or a fiddle.... I now have the music and I'm almost through it. Maybe by next July it will be ready. It's only the easy version, but I think it sounds reasonably. Can't wait until I'll be able to play the real version. It's called, "The Last Date". While hunting around the 'net, I was startled to learn, after all these years, that there are lyrics. (They aren't on the sheet music either.) When I looked them, oh, could I tell that this is a country song. The typical tearful breaking up song, only this breakup came before marriage unlike so many country songs. Please don't tell my teacher that there are lyrics. Not that I wouldn't want her to sing it, but I think the lyrics ruin the song. Don't know why I like the video of the scrolling old record albums better than the one of him actually playing it. If you happen onto this page, please give it a listen. I think you'll enjoy it!