Indy For Sure, Germany Too

I went home a couple weekends ago to move from 220 Randall Street to 2242 Fillmore Street. Pacific Heights here I am! Come visit me at my new place!

Vegas was lots of fun. Much money was spent but it was still fun hanging out with my college buddies. Thanks for an awesome time, gentlemen (and random women). Here's a random question: What is your beer of choice?

Recent Locations:

4/5-9 - Washington, D.C. (Angie, Swan, Kelli, & Mersine)
4/20-23 - Las Vegas, NV (Tim, Kevin, Adam P, Adam V, Steve)
Weekdays - Los Angeles, CA (work)
San Francisco, CA (NEW HOME!)

Future Destinations:

5/5-7 - Indianapolis, IN (Family and IU, Ball State Graduation)
6/2-4 - Indianapolis, IN (Family and friends, Ashley Z's wedding, maybe see Drew)
6/15-25 - Augsburg, Germany (World Cup Game?)

Hello, Old Friend. I Missed You

That's me, playing the violin in an Irish pub called Fado in Washington D.C. I've never been to that bar. I've never seen nor heard of the band that was playing that night (Scythian). Still, I jammed like I've never jammed before. Ridiculous! Here's the story.

Swan, Mersine, Kelli, and I had a great dinner with my sister, Angie, and her boyfriend, Neil. With a few drinks in us, we headed over to Fado and had a few more drinks. We were all feeling very good and merrily clapped and bounced with the celtic music. Imagine loud, fun Irish jigs with a couple violins, a guitar, bass, awesome vocals, and a rockin' drummer.

Not to sound totally arrogant and cocky, but most of you know that I've played the violin pretty much my entire life. So, I leaned over and told Swan, "I think I could do that on the violin."

Swan responded, "You should go up there! I kinda know the guitar player."

I said, "No no. Don't worry about it. They don't want some chump going up there. They have their set list all written out and [normally] it'd be stupid for them to let some random guy up there."

Well, Swan somehow worked her magic and got me a mini "audition." All right. Pull my leg. I went up on stage and thanked them for even letting me up there and said, "You guys are awesome. Just lay down some chords and I'll just play whatever."

Guitar player: "Well wait. Do you know Hungarian Dance?"

I played Hungarian Dance for him. Then I played Irish Washer Woman, the only real Irish jig I could remember from my beginner days. They seemed convinced I could play, so it was on. They mic'd me and verified my name one more time before introducing me to the bar. "Hey everyone! This is Eric and he's gonna play a couple songs with us."

I hadn't seriously played the violin since my recital last April. It was kinda sloppy, but I managed to play through the rust and hold my own. Great times just improvising my fingers off. I forgot how much fun it is to play the violin, even if it was just some fiddlin'.

Here are pics with the lovely ladies who were INCREDIBLE hosts. Thanks so much for the fantastic weekend!

Eat, drink, and be merry.

Maybe I should call this blog, "Always A Violinist."

I'm Platinum

Recent Locations:

3/8-11 - Scottsdale, AZ (Drew, Sara, Charles, Stumpf, Robert, FTS Crew)
3/11-23 - Las Vegas, NV (Drew, Sara, Charles, Stumpf, & Robert)
3/18-29 - New York City, CA (Sangeeta, Mersine, Sim, & Parmita and friends)
Weekdays - Los Angeles, CA (work)
San Francisco, CA (home)

Future Destinations:

4/4-9 - Washington, D.C. (Angie, Swan, Kelli, & Mersine)
4/20-23 - Las Vegas, NV (Tim, Kevin, Adam P, Adam V, Steve)
6/2-4 - Indianapolis, IN (Family and friends, Ashley Z's wedding, maybe see Drew)
June? - Augsburg, Germany (Philip, Moritz, Kimberly)

Since I've stayed at Starwood Properties for 50 nights this year already, I've achieved Platinum status. (www.spg.com) - Westin, Sheraton, St. Regis, Four Points, Le Meridien, and W Hotels) I get free upgrades to preferred deluxe rooms when available, a little gift each time I check in, free breakfasts and internet, and faster accumulation of hotel points to use towards free nights anywhere Starwood has hotels.

While it may be crazy to think about being away from home as much as I have been, I'm enjoying the traveling. It just sucks to pay rent in San Francisco when I'm never there. So, Platinum status is a nice reward even though the reality is that I probably achieved that status way too fast. (50 nights in a hotel in less than 3 months!)

No end in sight for the Tourist in Los Angeles. It's cool for now. Pictures soon to come.