Up and At 'Em, Kids

Time to be productive again after the holidays, and transcripts need to get out of here. I'm not synesthetic, but as I headed out to the office this morning I could almost feel the flannel-soft quiet of no wind and the hush of not much traffic on 83, normally a constant running water sound outside our house. Then there was that mild depression that comes when Christmas lights are turned off, and in another flash of synesthesia I thought I could hear the gray blank landscape, the sound of something missing. As if in response to that, I did see some blinking colored lights, sitting behind some unfortunate commuter in Penbrook whose 2009 is not starting off well.

The holidays deserve more reportage than I'm going to give them in this post. I do want to thank the folks who joined Just Friends at the Sheraton Harrisburg-Hershey for our New Year's Eve party. Our attendance, like everyone's, was down but our spirits were up. We had a great time. Special thanks to Craig and Carrie (who's name I might be misspelling) and Mike and Karen (one of this blog's biggest fans -- hey girlfriend!) for their support and kind words. As I've said before, 2008 has been generally sucky, and it was good to bid good riddance to a bad year with such a good time. Stay tuned for next New Year's plans. Time marches on.

Also, a shout-out to my brother David who enjoyed only his third New Year's Eve off in 28 years. It was cool to watch him hit the cheese and veggies table, smiling like a guy on his day off. His band Leghorn did play at the casino New Year's Day night, with a new lineup. Chris Novak, one of the best keyboard players around, has joined Dave, Andy Alonso and Dave Brinkley. All killer, no filler. I'll try to give you a heads-up when they're at the Winners Circle next time. They sound better than ever. Don't go see them at the casino, though; it can cost you 20 bucks down the slot machine hole. It's not a bad venue for music: The stage is nice, the graphics on the ceiling are a guaranteed acid flashback if you're into such things, and the sound is pretty good and improving as Aaron the sound guy continues to fiddle with the levels. Just leave your wallet in the car.

Final serious point: This past year has left some real damage in its wake, and I'd ask you all to pray for each other and each other's families as they face the fallout and consequences of the last twelve months. Stay close to your people, and tell them you love them. It's important.

Apologies for the broken promise in the last post. Christmas was good in a lot of ways and I'll try to post about it later. In the meantime, here's one of my favorite images of the holiday:



I wonder how many Grateful Dead shows "Santa" saw.