Making a living as an entertainer/musical director/ composer [that last one is where my heart is!] can be a treacherous thing. No steady paycheck, no secure job ... yet monthly bills like everyone else. Add to that the normal show business sensation of rejection, and I can easily understand why some people can't handle it. I know a very successful disk jockey who quit the biz entirely and couldn't be happier. Well, I love my work: I love producing CDs, playing piano for singers, ironing out the kinks in a new musical, and especially writing. What I don't love is the aforementioned insecurity. But, every now and then, along comes a really great job. Atlantis Events is a gay vacation group that buys out either a cruise ship or a beach resort for a week and packs it with gay travelers, male and female. In 1996 a singer named Lee Lucas asked me to play for him on Atlantis' first cruise in the Mediteranian. I did, got paid by going on the trip and had a great time. An unseasonal strom blew the ship out of the port for San Trope. There were no special shows planned for onboard that night since everyone had expected to go ashore. The owner of Atlantis, Rich Campbell, came up to me and asked me if I could do some kind of piano bar act. Now, I had been making my living in piano bars for 15 years and had recently quit in disgust. But I said, OK. Picture this: The piano was under a shelter on the aft deck. The storm passed, the sky cleared and under the sparkling stars were some 500 bored queeens, sitting there with thier arms crossed, waiting for me to entertain them ... or else. I hit the ground running, so to speak, and did basically one first act closing number after another. By the time I had finished my first set, they loved me and Atlantis had hired me. In fact, Rich scheduled me again for the following night, but forgot to tell me! I went wine tasting through the south of France with some buddies all day and got on the ship stewed to the gills. I took a cold shower, drank a lot of black coffee and went to work. I don't remember anything about that show, but I musn't have messed up too badly: I was still hired. Over the years Atlantis has sent me literally around the world several times, to Tahiti, Greece, St. Thomas, Sidney ... all over the map. I get to travel, look at beautiful men by the pool all day, do my act for people who actually like it, and get paid for it. A great job! Why am I telling you all this? Next week is my birthday and Atlantis is sending me to work on a 13 day cruise in South America, from Buenos Ares to Rio. I've never been to that part of the world before! It's a perfect birthday gift. Work has been scarce for the last month and a half, but whenever I feel the pressure of bills unpaid, I remember that jobs like this still happen for me, and really, I wouldn't want to be in any other business. My father, until the day he died asked me, "When are you going to get a real job?" Never, Dad. Never.