OK, so tonight was interesting. Village Underground as usual. Some good friends came down with me and stuck around till 1:30 cause I got bumped to the second set. Good people, good people.

I sang Purple Rain, and I got the smoke machine and everything. A little slow for my tastes, but I felt like I did a better job than the past two weeks. Had to leave pretty soon after though, cause it was late as hell...

I rediscovered an old friend this week: jazz piano. A certain young lady (I haven't decided yet whether it's appropriate to blow up the spots of non-public persons) reminded me recently that when we were living together back in New Haven, I practiced piano for three-four hours every day. EVERY DAY! If I get that much in a week these days, I feel like I'm something special! But I'm getting back to it - trying to play every day and whatnot.

I also discovered something new: for my birthday, I got a set of plastic tambourines, and it turns out that if I clip to the side of my conga drum, and use the sounds on the skin, the tambourines, and the sound of the wood, I've got a virtual one-man percussion orchestra right in my apartment. Dope. Fun and dope.

Finally, I've started reading The Artist's Way. This book seems like it's helped a lot of people get through creative blocks, which my incredible slowness in getting out lyrics and new material could easily be described as. I like it because it focuses on creativity and actively using your creative energy. We'll see where it leads me....

All in all, fairly uneventful but inspiring week. Slow and steady....