Soggy Sound-boards and Dreams of Flying

Every day I return to my Taipei home, I am greeted by the sight of Soggy Shubert, the piano. It brings back memories of piano and ballet lessons where I received the same criticism... if only you could learn to count! I CAN count and I could then, too! However, I remember how fun it was to just play without thinking/counting, dance without memorizing steps... it felt like flying!

When I see Shubert, I remember how I could lose myself and my stress in the music and think I should start playing again... but every time I sit down with Shubert, he laughs at me. His former owner, my landlady, left him several humid summers with no air conditioner, no dehumidifier and his sound-board got wet. Now, even after tuning, it is only a matter of weeks before the pegs loosen and... well you can imagine. It is less like flying and more like crawling through...

Anyway, instead of playing the piano, I go dancing at salsa clubs. Well, unfortunately, the Taiwanese way is to take lessons, memorize steps and count in my ear. I'd rather feel the music have "sweet nothings" whispered in my ear (even if I dance badly), but whatever... at least I can leave the counting /memorizing to someone else.