When I was a teenager, I bussed to Manhattan by myself to stand in Times Square for the dropping of the ball. I still think of it – kids are often blissfully crazy. It was freezing, and my big challenge was figuring out how to go to the bathroom. At 3 a.m., I boarded a bus back to Providence. At the time, I couldn’t quite figure out the ball’s meaning, and I still don’t know.

But now, it no longer matters. I just don’t want to give up any of my precious time to watch it against a background of various inane chatter from reliably drunken “hosts.”

Tonight, years and years later, I’m excited again about how I will spend New Year’s Eve with Maria. And I don’t need to go anywhere.

I am very happy to be a proud new subscriber to the Cafe Lena music streaming program. Tonight, and for free, Cafe Lena is giving us 22 of the best songs they hear in the cafe in 2022 for free, flowing right into our living room.

A dozen people from around the country messaged me last night to mention Cafe Lena’s streaming program and thank me for letting them know about it. The sound and picture were excellent, and I used Bluetooth to tap into our speaker. As you can probably tell, I loved the whole thing, especially the music. This, I realize, is the perfect way to celebrate New Year’s Eve. We have the popcorn and veggie chips all ready.

Music lifts me up, calms me, and inspires me. I lean toward folk and indie music and some rock and roll. Paul Simon is my musical hero. He’s definitely a writer’s musician.

The 22 songs will be shown at 8:30 p.m. EDT on YouTube; you can get the details here. The rest of the year, they are on the Cafe Lena app.

Maria and I both heard about live streaming, which came of age during the pandemic, but we didn’t get around to grasping the beautiful possibilities for hearing music – in person and streaming – for pennies, no matter where we were. I know some theater companies are already doing this or planning it. To me, this is not superior to being there, but when I stop working at 8 or 9 p.m., I’m glad I don’t try to drive to Saratoga Springs or anywhere else.

I’ll get there when I can.

It’s a wonderful way to bring in culture lovers everywhere and support ever-struggling musicians.

I became a subscriber to Cafe Lena just yesterday, and I’m proud of myself.

We spent a wonderful couple of hours listening to a very gifted group called the Honeys sing for two hours.

Maria and I both love music and are a bit starved for it. Living in New York City and Northern New Jersey spoiled me for life. I love where I live, but no life is perfect, and no place offers every single thing, not even New York City.

Cafe Lena is only 40 minutes away, but on snowy cold winter nights, it’s right here on the living room sofa. I wish I had subscribed during the big and awful storm.

Founded in 1960 by William and Lena Spencer, Cafe Lena is one of the oldest folk-oriented coffee houses in the U.S. It’s launched many successful musicians and schedules some of the very successful ones.

It’s a make-or-break stop for musicians who are just starting and can’t get attention in most of our world. The cafe also sponsors  monthly poetry nights – our young shearer/poetry friend Ian McRae is now a regular there.

Cafe Lena is known all over the music world for its acoustic concerts and cultural events that focus on folk and traditional l music, and feature singer-songwriters of all ages and styles, including Bob Dylan, who performed for two consecutive nights there way back then.

If you are living far from musical venues, it might be a godsend for you as it is for us. I’ve been proudly accused of being a man of many passions, and now, I have a new one.

I mention this here because anyone with a computer or smartphone can listen to wonderful music tonight for free and every night of the year for very little money. For me, it’s a glorious alternative to watching that balloon drop, not that this is an option for us. A Happy and nourishing New Year’s Eve. Thanks to new technology, no musician need be just local.

The cafe is a non-profit supporting independent music and a hundred different styles – jazz, classical, rock, and blues. This coming Monday will be open mike night for beginners.

I’ll be watching open mike night ($3). You can give non-corporate music a lift; check it out here. I’m in for life.