I've been so supremely busy lately I could cry! It's all closing in on me, gentle reader!! However I am about to go to California from the 17th of this month til the 4th of this month, and I feel free there. Lately, I've been busy with preparing for my gallery show, negotiating with AmbienCR about an ad campaign where they need life size fiber glass sheep painted up in dream like ways, and which they've approached me about doing, of course mad sales and a gig in SF I've got a week from tonight at Adobe Bookstore, for which I am writing a new song because there's another girl there in SF who's also a friend of my sister's from law school (but I only ever harvested two such pretty friends of hers via myspace, so don't judge) whom I told I'd write a song for, she's from St Louis so I called it St Louis, and I'm still wrapping it up, though I think it's pretty much done. And lo, writing that one I came up with another one just tonight. I had the idea first: a song about the Sunday night blues. That feeling you have, ever since you're a kid with school starting anew the next morning, on a Sunday night. So now I need to really practice up both tunes, and then from the 31 or so remaining originals and dozen or so covers I could do, cobble together a set list, and practice that puppy, so I don't stink!! I don't play gigs very often anymore and rarely ever play my own songs anymore. Especially none of the "old" classics which drone on an on about love lost!

So anyway, this week's a little tough because tonight's essentially over (I'm insanely tired from over indulging in a variety of bright lights big city substances lately, not to mention a whole lot of Jamesons and White Russians and white wine, chasers for aforementioned AmbienCR tablets, which incidentally are a pain in my tuchus because they don't hit you as hard, so you don't comedically stumble around the apartment like a village idiot half an hour after ingesting, and then sleeping potion lasts way too long (guess that's the idea of CR, it's slow release crap) so all day I end up feeling totally shattered and old and full of regret about what a wasted lifestyle I choose to lead!) and tomorrow night and Thu. night I am going swimming straight from work. Still, on those two nights I should be home by 8pm, maybe even done with some form or another of dinner by 8pm.... so let's see. Then tomorrow night I'll write the dang set list, and Thu. night I'll practice it. Wednesday is no good because my friend and new band mate Adam Greenburglar is playing a solo acoustic show at Pete's Candy Store - wait - that's tomorrow night and I can't go!! Time running out, walls closing in!! Wed. night he and I are having a little rehearsal unplugged at our drummers apartment on the extremely north side of Greenpoint Brooklyn, just over the Pulaski Bridge from Queens, where I live (Hello from Queens!!) - Friday night I have a sort of date with this girl at work who is both cute and cool, and too young, and seems to really love my music she drunkenly professed/confessed at the company Xmas party last week. So like a good salesman I axed her out the next day - in fact she said to me about some show I told her about going with another friend from work (all of us love the indie rock) and she said at the Xmas party that she didn't know if I was inviting her or just telling her about it, so I was like I'll invite you! So we're going to see the Lemonheads. But I dunno because I found out that my friend at work Jonny is emailing with her a lot and they're tight and stuff, and possibly quite like each other, but Jonny's such a DUMBASS that I wonder if maybe she's not so clever after all. But get this, while I am at the Lemonheads show with her, my parents are coming down and the poor things will let themselves in while I am off on my indie rock date. The next day we are going to see my gallery show (the main reason they're coming down) and then taking the show down and bringing it back, in their Toyota, to my place. The next day, Sunday, on their way back home to Boston, they're dropping me off at Kennedy Airport (or is it LaGuarida? I think it's LaGuaridia. I must check) where I'll catch a flight to SF to finally vacation with my sister from the 17th to the 27th. Only the gig is on the 18th, and I have frightfully little time to practice. I do not want to bomb. I do not want to bomb.

Then on the 27th she and I fly down to LA, and my parents are flying in right then as well, to LAX. We'll all meet our grandparents and aunt and cousin, and the next day all drive out to the desert (Palm Springs) for New Year's and my grandfather's eighty something birthday. Then on Jan 2 my parents and sister and I (and I guess her boyfriend, I keep forgetting he's coming because she's moving out from living with him shortly enough but I guess they're not breaking up) are driving up the PCH, or highway one, the famous job that runs all the way up the Pacific coast (ooooh!! goodbye yellow brick road by elton's just come up on ipod shuffle - thank you ipod shuffle gods), to bring her back home to SF. Then on Thu., Jan 4 my dad has to drop off the rental car at SFO (airport) and I'll then at that point fly away to Toronto, Toronto where I've never been. Yes another business trip. I'll have 3-4 meetings there on that Friday, and am staying at some swank landmark downtown hotel that is some old gem and a part of their skyline. I'll spend Sat and part of Sun being a tourist in downtown Toronto, and then fly to Pittsburgh Sunday night. A meeting there on Monday and another on Tuesday, but only one a day is not so hot. That's all there is so far though. Wed., the plan is to fly back to Canada for one meeting in Montreal with a company called Nakisa that I've been trying to close for a while now.

Then I am back and painting sheep - you know, for the Ambien ad campaign. In the meanwhile there was some romance with a really nice girl from Western Apapolopochusetts, but I acted wrongly and had in no way any intention for anything serious or lasting with the person at this time, and I guess hurt the person a little bit, or a lot - but still have no regrets about how I acted, because I acted like a gentleman. Oh boy! Now Oasis, a great power pop song - what the hell is it called? Thanks IPOD SHUFFLE - you know and love me!!!! It's called Stand By Me, from the album Be Here Now.

I felt weary and emotionally shattered and profoundly tired - then this soaring pop song came blasting out of my speakers randomly and again music saves me!