Well, well, well, if it isn't faithful reader. I've been missing you. What's been going on, kids? Lettuce see;

The bee (the wee man, miracle child of the universe) is doing great and is just magnificent. I can't think of anyone whose Daddy i'd rather be. He had his 2 year checkup today and everything is perfect. In fact, his pediatrician says he's very verbally advanced. Well, naturally. Still, that's a great thing to hear. He is learning so many new words and he'll get a riff going for a few days. he said tur-tul 6,000 times 2 weeks ago. He's way obsessed with Curious George and that's A-OK with me. And, oh yeah, he's a normal 2 year old who flushed a whole roll of TP down the toilet the other day and breaks whatever he can, and throws my CDs all over the place, but that's all just part of the deal. AND his hair looks like Robert Plant and we ain't cutting it any time soon.

Work is good. I know all the chicken littles say the economy is right down the shitter, but it hasn't dramatically impacted our little entertainment agency. Tons of people are still booking events, we had the busiest January ever for fresh clients, and I've got 65 gigs booked personally for 2008 so far, so I've got a good head start if things are going to go south. Also, i was at the Apple store a few weeks ago to buy the sexybeast new iMac with 20" screen that's like 7 zillion times faster than my G4- and those cats are doing a brisk trade. They'll sell you a lifestyle in about 6 seconds and still have a line out the door.

I've been writing some new songs for the first time in months. I wouldn't call it writers block (because I never say that phrase out loud anyway), just a long, long period of gathering ideas and not being able to mold them into anything cohesive. I've had the first verse and a chorus of about 7 songs in my red book for 8 months and finally finished 5 songs in the last few months. Lots of trouble with lyrics- which I blame on me not reading anything decent in ages. Guitar magazines really don't count as literature. I haven't been to the movies in about a year (except Harrison and I saw half of the Bee Movie in an otherwise empty theatre- he spent most of the time watching it upside down and running up by the projector)- so, I've got a lot of inspiration and emotions, but have been unable to get things out.

it's such a wonderful feeling when you finally get something written. I just can't tell you, it's like you're all backed up and there's pressure and tension inside you and you just burst and finally break through to what you've been trying to get at. And then it's as if the song is already written and you just have to find the clues and put it together. Anyway, I've been working hard because I think that for my upcoming 40th birthday (shudder), I may be doing some recording in a well known recording studio in St. John's Wood in London. I'm not gonna jinx it by saying it, but it's well known as the place where Freddy & the Dreamers laid down their most significant tracks. And I've got a wonderful new sample collection of Beatle instruments- all the best ones- called Fab 4. I've got, like, 10 Ringo kits with the right mics and right compressors that I can trigger from a keyboard. It's been a lot of fun (though I've been spending a bit too much time messing with the sitar samples). So, if anyone needs any really good harmonium tracks, I'm yer man.

I've also been getting back into going to the gym for the first time in almost 3 years. When the wife and I were trying to get preggers, the futility DR. advised that it might help if i lost some weight (you know, so as to be able to catch wife when chasing her around the bedroom- that's how we get it done in Pennsylvania where I'm from, you see). Anyway, I did this super restrictive diet, stopped drinking completely and really went mental at the gym and lost 75 pounds. It took a lot of effort but it worked and we had the wee one. Of course, I haven't been to the gym since he came (in his little space craft) and have gained all that back. Other parents will understand how incredibly hard it is to go to the gym with a baby in the house- it's so wonderful but it completely turns your whole tweak upside down.

Vanity aside, I either need to lose some weight or get some bigger guitars. So I've been going and, let me assure you, I am really paying for not attending to this part of my life for so long. I feel like I'm in a boxing match with myself. Rough stuff, but only 3 weeks into it and I'm starting to feel the familiar buzz when I get cranking on the cardio machines. There's a tremendous amount of huffing and puffing going on, but I'm surprised at how strong i still am. Also sore, very sore.

I even had to reprogram my workout mix on the iPoop. I find that what works for me is total hesher rock such as was playing on my stereo when I was 14 (coincidentally, the last time I recall my jeans staying up on their own accord- one of the major curses of my life, my jeans slipping down). I've got all the major food groups: Van Halen, Zeppelin,Cheap Trick, Rush, AC/DC, Rainbow- friggin' Deep Purple, bro. Give me "Space Trucking" and an elliptical machine and I'm quite something to behold. I've also got a penchant for "Rosalita" when I'm really hitting my stride. And there is simply no better song than "Fox On the Run" by Sweet.

What else? Ummm, put up a new birdfeeder yesterday- a great victory as far as I'm concerned. Listening to Kelley Stoltz (awesome songwriter from San Francisco), new Martin Carr songs that are very different for the Boos or Brave Captain, Spoon, Panda Bear, Parthenon Huxley, Ed Harcourt, Mike Viola's new album (that talented bastard) and a bootleg of Neil Finn, Roddy Frame and Graham Gouldman playing each other's songs.

Certainly, any reasonable humans stopped reading several paragraphs ago, so i sign off with the optimism that the next election may actually not turn my stomach.