I was seated before a concert. I mentioned that I play the ukulele in small talk to the person seated next to me. He asked whether I knew about next week’s concert of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain a few towns over. I hadn’t.

He encouraged me to call about a ticket. It was free. He looked up the number on his telephone and handed it to me. He thought it might be sold out.  He mentioned that he would ask some friends if they had an extra ticket.

The concert was sold out, but I...

I didn’t know what to expect. I was to take a new interactive ukulele show on the road across the City of Bridgeport, CT to the Discovery Museum , The Beardsley Zoo and the Barnum Museum.

I made my best guess about what the audience would be like, gathered my songs, demo ukuleles and props.

When it was time to start. I introduced myself and that it was Make Music Day. I began to play the ukulele and sing. People began to come. Of all ages and musical experiences and they were curious and...

I was seated at a table ahead of a comedy show that featured Sinbad.  I shared with the woman seated at the next table, "I'm looking forward to this, I grew up with Sinbad."  She replied "Me too."

Over the course of the evening that simple exchange led to sharing she had been to the venue before, was an actress, did wardrobe consulting and one of her hobbies was kites.  

If I had not taken the initiative, I would have missed out getting to know my neighbor. 

I learned that she liked to...