Edinburgh, Scotland

It’s 2pm on a Monday, and I’m in Inverness Scotland, at a bar called Monty’s drinking Guinness and watching Snooker (it’s played on a Pool Table). Shaun Murphy and Wu Yize are having at it. It’s my day off—I plan to celebrate the occasion.

As far as Snooker is concerned—I have no idea what’s going on—because I don’t play snooker. However Loch Ness is beautiful, and Monty’s is right along the Ness River, in the Highlands of Scotland.

This is has nothing to do with the pictures I posted. Those are of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is righteous. Undoubtedly.

Drop everything you are doing and go take a vacation there. It’s cold in the Spring—and you feel you have a wand and are living in a Harry Potter novel.

Shaun Murphy is winning (Snooker match).

I have this feeling that is some sort of small way: I am too—and not in a Charlie-Sheen-Tiger-Blood-Kind-of way; it’s in a Shaun-Murphy-kind-of way. I feel happy and that is priceless. We’re on a United Kingdom tour this week, and we’ll be heading to Norway, afterwards.

The world is beautiful. I am writing a lot of music that I can’t wait to share with you. I am finding people on the Nieuw Statendam that love my music. I’m listening to Scottish folks curse in a bar and take digs at each other.

I’m learning how to speak Dutch and Spanish and I have plenty of good and kind people around me to practice speaking to.

Life is good.

I did the best I could on the photographs of Edinburgh. I hope you enjoy them. I sincerely mean what I say. Edinburgh, Scotland is incredible and worth your vacation.

Uh oh. Wu Yize is in the lead now. Wish I knew why… I appear to be the only person in the room who doesn’t know how this sport or game or what have you, works. Pardon me. I’m gonna chat these folks up and find out how Snooker is played.

Update: Red balls are one point and the color balls are worth more points and are drawn back out to the table repeatedly after each successful pocket.

Shaun Murphy came out on top, and everyone around me was thrilled.

WHO IS MIKE VITALE?

I am a storyteller, songwriter, singer, music producer, traveling musician, Jungian dream analyst, all-around curious fellow (Spiritual, Mathematical Historical, Scientific), Taoist, and much much more, based out of Los Angeles, California. I’m constantly releasing new music, in all sorts of different genres. You can listen to me below, on Spotify:

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Lisboa, Portugal

Lisbon, Portugal is magic. I am fairly certain this is the oldest city I have ever visited. It’s three thousand years of narrow passages between claustrophobic ancient architecture and people’s homes, dividing stone floor alleys, switchbacking narrow corridors, climbing the sides of coastal mountains and rolling hills.

A castle rests its fortitudes on the top of a plateau, as an overlook. Dozens of ancient cathedrals and arches and statues. A mile of fancy red restaurant tables along an ancient street, ready to serve steak and lobster and whatever other dishes one may desire to feast upon.

Designer stores on either side of large thoroughfare, divided by giant obelisks and marble statues that are far older than any Jaeger-LeCoultre or Prada or Hugo Boss or whatever-wealthy retail location is renting prime space on this ancient street peppered with luxury and museums and yet more cathedrals.

I nearly cracked my head open on Calçada Portuguesa sidewalks that are dangerously slippery, even in the absence of rain on a warm spring day in April. It’s cobbled by calceteiros, laying art on the ground with history and hand-made mosaics for people to walk all over. People like me. I did a lot of walking. 30,000 steps and I loved every second of it. I just admired the public transit—you know—for photographs. The train cars look pretty in pictures, from the mosaic I was standing on.

It’s a special place. Wow.

WHO IS MIKE VITALE?

I am a storyteller, songwriter, singer, music producer, traveling musician, Jungian dream analyst, all-around curious fellow (Spiritual, Mathematical Historical, Scientific), Taoist, and much much more, based out of Los Angeles, California. I’m constantly releasing new music, in all sorts of different genres. You can listen to me below, on Spotify:

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Stonehenge | Wiltshire, England

Greetings from Wiltshire, England! We arrived in the United Kingdom this morning, and a few new friends and I, from the Rolling Stone Band, took a quick trip out to Stonehenge. It’s the stoniest of the henges, me thinks.

England is beautiful and we’ll be coming here quite often over the course of the next several months.

Tomorrow, we’re heading across the English Channel to France. I’m giddy. Then. Back to Dover and London on Friday.

It’s cold, and beautiful and my nose is the brightest color of red, right now. Thanks to all the wonderful Mariners I’ve been meeting on the Nieuw Statendam and I deeply appreciate you listening to my music and for being so supportive and attentive.

It’s been fun crossing the Atlantic Ocean with you.

For those who follow along about my life on this blog, I am now performing on a new vessel called the Nieuw Statendam for Holland America Line. I boarded the vessel on April 4th, and we will be touring around Europe, Scandinavia, the Baltic, Greenland, Iceland, Africa (just Morocco and only in the initial bits of the cruise itinerary), and the Canary Islands (only for the first few weeks).

For any of the passengers happening upon this post, welcome! Thank you for being curious about me and my music and for reading this. I’m honored and have a vast wealth of my travels listed here on this website blog that call INSIDEmyHEAD.

Here is a link to find my original music and cover recordings online: https://linktr.ee/mikevitale

May this find you in good spirits and with the wind to your back, as it is mine.

WHO IS MIKE VITALE?

I am a storyteller, songwriter, singer, music producer, traveling musician, Jungian dream analyst, all-around curious fellow (Spiritual, Mathematical Historical, Scientific), Taoist, and much much more, based out of Los Angeles, California. I’m constantly releasing new music, in all sorts of different genres. You can listen to me below, on Spotify:

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Loreto, Mexico

We arrived in Loreto, Mexico this morning. We were in Cabo San Lucas the day before. In Cabo, it occurred to me how much I have let my Spanish go—and that I don’t just by osmosis, know the exchange rate between Pesos and Dollars.

I needed a few bars of soap—and to pepper my words with “Muy poquito,” when asked if I speak Spanish. ¿Como se dice …? My face disappeared into my phone looking for the answer to my query.

Jabón

The water feels like a warm blanket—full of puffer fish. Life is an adventure.

I’m teaching myself jazz (the music—and a way of living). Improvisation.

Moments aren’t a bog to be stuck in. They may sometimes put their elbows on the table during dinner, and have a tendency to become something more than a thing that already happened, but we all know what time it is. It’s now (and there it goes again).

While Zhuangzi is definitely the more humorous out of a lot that includes Lao Tzu, the later says: “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving, because every step is already the destination.” Speaking of which…

I made a walking bass line and comping arrangement for “Autumn Leaves” yesterday. I’ve been spending years trying to play a guitar like a piano, where I can have several congruent ideas happening in tandem. It’s fun. It makes me want to drink coffee and stay up late, and wake up early, and do it all over again.

Autumn Leaves is a gorgeous song. Johnny Mercer adapted the lyrics from a French poem. Thanks Wikipedia (living my best cyborg life).

All the places I am going don’t have Autumn, and I can be fine with that. It’s novel for me.

Speaking of which—I read my first Haruki Murakami novel. It’s called “Norwegian Wood.” It’s beautiful. It made me well up in tears quite a few times (I cared about the characters, a great deal). He has a gift and love for his craft that make him a powerful storyteller—he’s quickly becoming a new favorite of mine. I started “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” today. He’s looking for his cat (the protagonist I mean).

We’re heading somewhere else in Mexico tomorrow. I hope they have an ocean for me to swim in (winky face). *note to reader: I was actually in Loreto, Mexico weeks ago, but I am trying to get caught up on all my social media posts across all platforms, which can be tedious when also trying to live life and see new places one has never been to before. This is from October 28th*

WHO IS MIKE VITALE?

I am a storyteller, songwriter, singer, music producer, traveling musician, Jungian dream analyst, all-around curious fellow (Spiritual, Mathematical Historical, Scientific), Taoist, and much much more, based out of Los Angeles, California. I’m constantly releasing new music, in all sorts of different genres. You can listen to me below, on Spotify:

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