I am eagerly looking out of my study window waiting for the arrival of a new toy that ought to be delivered today.

Up until now I have used a keyboard to do my shows (a Roland E-09) but it is not a weighted keyboard and in alot of ways is more difficult to play expressively than a proper weighted piano keyboard.

Even though I don't have many gigs ( although I have a few booking in my calendar now..got fed up with being poorly and wanted to give it a try again) I decided to splash out on a proper piece of kit so I can take my performance up a notch. So it is a Yamaha P85 that I hope will turn up today. I have ordered one in black (they come in silver too but that a bit glitzy lol) which I understand is in short supply. Most online vendors don't it in stock. I ordered one from Digital Village and they took the money only for them to tell me it was out of stock a weeks later. That's a pretty good ploy for holding my funds for a week on something they can identify instantly is not available. I tried the usual supplier I use online which is Dolphin but they didn't have one. Eventually I found they had one at my local music shop in Bath; Duck, Son & Pinker. It should arrive today and I cannot wait!

So here I am to explain this cryptic reason why I have not been playing so much. This is no big deal actually and certainly no surprise to those who have been to one of my few shows since Christmas. I have had a bout of undertheweatherness that I just cannot seem to shake off. I had a throat and ear infection just into the new year and a month later I am still suffering the after affects. My throat isn't sore but there is certainly some discomfort remaining between my throat and ear in what must be some kind of internal canal between the two. Some days are better than others but I am finding at best I can only get through 45 mins of singing before my throat starts to close up and I lose my usual range.

This has scared me a little at times but I don't want to get too dramatic about it. Essentially I know what my problem is. I have spent too long burning the candle at both ends and the middle as well. I have a hectic personal and working life and the time (often late nights) I have spent playing shows in SL has caught up with me. I need to rest myself in order to have a chance to get back to 100%.

The result is alot less shows for now. I only did two in January and I expect to continue like that for the forseeable future until I know I am well again.

I am definitely not going anywhere though and I remain dedicated to playing in SL for as the long term. One good thing is that this reining in of the horses should allow me to complete my much neglected album.

You will still see me in world listening to other folks so be sure to say hi as that will probably cheer me up until I am able to get up there myself!