Tokyo Nights
Life In Tokyo - Neil Stalnaker
Thursday, January 19, 2006
1/19/06 Never Give Up.......
Someone was talking to me the other day. Saying they don't know if they would fight to stay alive like I did with cancer or some other situation like that. I don't know any other way to be. I remember going to karate class in high school. Maybe 30 people in the first class. 2 weeks later, maybe 15 people in the class. 3 months later maybe 10 people in the class....maybe 5 of those really serious about being there. It was the same when I played other sports. When I was at West Virginia University, there were about 300 music majors. When school finished in May, I went to Washington, D.C. to the U.S. Navy Band. Maybe 3-4 other people had playing jobs to go to. I came to Tokyo after having cancer...going through a painful divorce...severe depression...no money...I knew one musician in Tokyo before I got here. I couldn't speak, read or write Japanese. Didn't have a place to live. I had sold most of my equipment in New York (piece by piece each month) to pay rent and buy food. I had to buy a flugelhorn (on the way!!!) to my first recording session in Tokyo (King Records). Moving into a new city is always difficult for musicians because there are already circles of players living there and trying to survive. It's tough to "get in". Japan is especially difficult to enter for business just because of some of the history of being closed to foreigners and "other" factors. I've had "ups and downs" with my health these past 7 years in Japan. In the past 2 years, I've started to have a lot of trouble with my teeth because of the intense radiation treatment I went through in Baltimore 14 years ago. Doctors told me back then I might lose all of my teeth.

Anyway, I could go on and on but, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how high the obstacles get piled up in front of me, I NEVER GIVE UP. Never means never. It doesn't mean not to give when things are going great or so so or ok..it means never give up....no matter how difficult the situation...no matter what.
Apple Store Written at 1/19/2006 02:28:00 AM by neil stalnaker.