Mom just called. My dad was riding down the Angeles Crest Hwy. with my brother and his tire started going flat. He skidded out and the bike rolled over him. Result? Fibula broken in two places and a fractured ankle. They have him scheduled for surgery tomorrow. My dad's more athletic than I am (I'm ashamed to say) so he's in pretty good shape for 64, but he's one of those stubborn guy types who doesn't listen to all his doctor's instructions. Sheez, he only got over pneumonia a couple weeks ago (which he got after being stoic for weeks about a cold that wouldn't go away). Anyway, I'd appreciate some health~ma and good sense~ma if you could send it his way.

Goldurn it. He was going to come up here to see my gig, too.

Some pictures of P-C's visit to Chicago: [link]

I love the instant gratification of the digital camera. Thanks again, Nicole! This is the picture of the nephews that I took tonight.

These are the pictures from the new apartment.

I'm headlining (for the first time in over a decade!) this Thursday in Berkeley. If any localistas are available and interested? I'm not one of those folks who believes in late being fashionable so I'll be trying hard to keep us on schedule, realizing that some people work and go to school. I'll be baking some refreshments and think I'll provide some mulled wine, too.

Thursday, April 13, 2006 8:00 PM

DaSilva Ukulele Co.

2547 8th St., Suite 28

Berkeley, California 94710

510-649-1548

FREE

Crooners & Songbirds is a monthly cabaret focusing on vocal jazz, blues and popular music from the '20s and '30s. Prepare to tap your toes and get runs in your hose as Megan Lynch scorches the torch songs and gets saucy, Tony Marcus caresses his archtop guitar into sweet submission, Kelly McCubbin shows you the dark side of ukulele, and Amy Z wrestles the saw even more melodically and provocatively than Marlene Dietrich did.

• Megan Lynch has crooned, warbled, belted, and yodeled at Crooners & Songbirds, Bijou, Mighty, Noe Valley Ministry and other establishments where they serve fine tarts.

• Tony Marcus has performed music from Dublin to Yokohama and from Alaska to Florida. Bands he has played with include R. Crumb & the Cheap Suit Serenaders, Cats & Jammers, Geoff Muldaur's Fountain of Youth, The Arkansas Sheiks, The Royal Society Jazz Orchestra, and The Frank Wakefield Band. He currently also performs with Patrice Haan as Leftover Dreams.

• Kelly McCubbin, The Uke of the Apocalypse - Uke with attitude and withoutborders. Kelly plays favorites from the 20s, 30s and other popular decades.If you've always wanted to hear Cliff Edwards segued into Billy Squire, this is the uke player for you!

• Amy Zing has always loved shiny and dangerous things, and on that fatefulday in the hardware store, when her eyes landed on Stella, funny ideas beganto bubble in her brain. Liberating each other from lives of mundane utility,they've both learned to appreciate the beauty hidden under the rust.

I live in New York now. Brooklyn, to be exact. Hi.

I got the job! It's a part-time position as the Young Adult Specialist at a local library, and I'll be there for at least the next 2 years while finishing up my degree.

This is really exciting for a number of reasons: it's excellent experience in exactly the field I want to work in; it pays decently (though it's only part-time, so I'll still be living partly on my financial aid) and has benefits; it's a new position, which means I have a lot of leeway in how I want to set up and run the programs; the library itself is a really cool place and I think I'm going to enjoy working there; and it gives structure to the next two years of my life, which is really as far ahead as I can ever think.

To sum up: yay!