June 4, 2011

One week until boarding.  I am excited, depressed, stressed, anxiously happy...a whole gamut of emotions is running through me right now.  I have been to the VA Clinic in Key West, which by the way is awesome, have taken all my tests, all the results have been great and I am in the peak of health.  

It used to be that when I was younger Autumn, specifically September, was the time of greatest change for me.  Nowadays it seems to be May/June.  It was this time period that I left Seattle in 2002.  It was this time period I parted ways with my ex and left to come to Florida for Naples Dinner Theatre Summerstock in 2003, and it is now that I am leaving Key West for....what?  A new beginning.  Another change.  Another suitcase or three. 

Right now it is evening, and the windows are open to the scent of jasmine and the sound of crickets.  I will miss that.

I still have a lot to do: my iTunes to configure, (I have to have my tracks since it is very possible I will be hosting karaoke onboard the ship), sheet music of the songs I sang at the Keys Piano Bar in case I have to do any singing with musicians, clothes to obtain, a cell phone to buy, load and organize all my pictures onto my iPad, load the books I may want onto my iPad, stock up on Claritin and protein shakes and powders, get more RAM for my computer, pack everything into boxes that I wish to keep and find a storage unit for it...and somehow to say goodbye to the island that I have lived on for the past 8 years.  

What do I hope to gain in the next six months?  Clarity, money, knowledge of whether or not I have finally found my career, physical health, and a sense of accomplishment.  I hope to rub out the damage to my self-esteem that has been afflicting me through being fired from  a hotel at which I thought I was doing a great job, to failing at my attempts to start a Cabaret here in Key West, to just trying to find SOMETHING that would enable me to participate financially with my partner.  Maybe this will be the new lease I need.  God, I hope so. 

My parents fly in tomorrow night for the week, and they will be driving me to Fort Lauderdale to pick up my ship.  I can't help but think that at every major change in my life, every time a door has closed, they were there to pack me up and take me away.  College graduation, my leaving my ex in Phoenix, and now this...is it an omen that my time in Key West is truly done?  

The crickets don't seem to be worried, and the jasmine still fills the warm night air.

It should be raining....

Introduction

here is nothing better than a Mid Life Crisis combined with a faltering economy and an inability to find fulfilling employment to really enable a person to put things in perspective.  Not being  a person who can do things by half, I spent 6 months making a list of what my talents were, what my limits were in regards to what I felt I could do without dying of boredom, and what would bring money into the bank and start laying the foundation for a savings and retirement fund.  The last was the most important since being a man in a relationship not respected or recognized by a Federal Government, there is some risk involved in living with someone, and off their benefits.  It can all be taken away in a second.

At the same time as I was beginning this period of introspection, from somewhere came the link to the Royal Caribbean website and their employment needs for a Cruise Staff position.  Let me explain that the majority of my life to date has been spent on stage and in front of people in some form or another.  I had spent two wonderful years singing in a piano bar in Key West and being asked to host various charity functions and fundraisers.  I loved it.  It combined everything that made me, me.

The job description for Cruise Staff was rather short, it basically asked for someone who was comfortable being in front of people, and who was comfortable with entertaining and mic work.  WELL!  I thought, there we go...and combined with my love of travel, this seemed like a perfect fit.  I applied and many months later received my job offer, and the assignment of my ship, The Oasis of the Seas...the largest cruise ship in the world!

I love to read, and one of my favorite genres of literature is travel and books on cultures.  After perusing my Barnes & Noble pages for cruise ship literature, I realized that while there are many books about living in Tuscany, the perils and joys of living in Morocco, Provence, Spain, even Afghanistan, there is nothing about ship board life.  So hence, the blog, The SeaWolfe.

On these pages you will find my thoughts and experiences of shipboard life, travel, links to what I am reading, doing, seeing, and feeling.  They will span quite a few different topics, but hopefully they will be interesting and enjoyable to read.  

Enjoy!

Michael McCabe