Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike

Just got onto the NJ Turnpike, and the words of Paul Simon immediately popped into my head.

Brought a little bit of work with me to do on the road since I have all this free time aboard the bus. I'm calling up the op-ed editors at several regional newspapers across the country to see if they got the piece I e-mailed them yesterday with hopes they will consider running it. Making a little progress with that list.

Looks like I may see some family in New Jersey on Sunday. My sister-in-law's birthday was Thursday, and some folks are going to her place early Sunday afternoon. I might end up showing up there too. She and my brother have two daughters under age 3, and they and their older sister can be seen at www.TheSauerGirls.com. I haven't held the youngest one yet. In fact, I have met her only once, on Christmas.

It was a bummer I didn't get to play that gig in Virginia last night, but at least I'm scheduled to play again at the end of the month. I'll have to write some songs between now and then so I can at least impress myself. I brought my guitar with me on this bus and will have it this weekend while I'm relaxing. Playing an instrument other than my first, keyboard, forces me to approach music differently. Maybe it will result in some songwriting!

Last night instead of the gig, I played my acoustic guitar while my roommate Duncan narrated some true stories about his life I had never heard before. I was accompanying him at his request. That was fun.

I boarded this bus today about two minutes before it took off. I was lucky to get on and get going at 1 p.m. I'll be in the Big Apple soon, and when I am, I will be hungry. Haven't had anything to eat today. When it plants me down in Chinatown, I'll be ready for just about anything!