Folk Fest, here we come ...
Hi! Nice to see you again. It's been a while, huh. Between everything and everything else, I keep forgetting that this blog exists.But I didn't pop back in to talk about how much I suck at blogging....
View ArticleBarry + Garry
Awww, belated congratulations to Barry Manilow. Last year he married his manager, Garry Kief.The article I linked to says that people started speculating on Manilow's marital status several months ago,...
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ME/CFS Awareness Day: Big data
"I really enjoy working on problems that others think are unsolvable."—Ronald W. DavisAnother year, another ME/CFS Awareness Day, and we STILL don't have a cure. What's up with that?(If you have no...
View ArticleHow to take a compliment
After a short performance tonight, an audience member came up to me and told me she'd enjoyed our set. The rest of the exchange went something like this.What she said: "You sounded like Alanis...
View ArticleOldies
It's not like years agoThe fear of getting caughtThe recklessness in waterThey cannot see me nakedThese things they go awayReplaced by every dayKitchen chores beckon. Some people love to cook. I'm not...
View ArticleOldies Lite
I'm out with a few friends from a professional association, and one of them asks me how things are going with the band. I tell her about our Fountains gig. I recount how they were playing oldies from...
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Adoptable animals
There was a bit of confusion today when we arrived at HOPE Animal Shelter. The area where we were supposed to play was taken up by tables with food, raffle stuff, and other goodies. After some...
View ArticlePretty soon now you're gonna get older
Listening to the radio on my way home from rehearsal tonight, I caught a few live David Bowie tunes, which KXCI played in honor of his 69th birthday. I thought about how there'd be an even bigger deal...
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ME/CFS Awareness Day 2016
Today is ME/CFS Awareness Day!If you're new to this band blog and you've never heard me sound off on ME/CFS, you may be thinking, "What is ME/CFS, and why should I be aware of it?" I'll answer that...
View ArticleThe last song you hear
Any moment that Gene Wilder died was going to feel like it came too soon. Still, I find this comforting:As our hands clutched and he performed one last breath the music speaker, which was set to...
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Dancing in the Bookmans, part 1
While playing at Bookmans on Speedway, a crowd of young people dance-walked past us along with the music. I couldn't tell if they were genuinely grooving or if they were making fun of us. The song, Ten...
View ArticleDancing in the Bookmans, part 2
Sometimes the best part of a performance is the goof you almost made but didn't.While playing our cover of "Miss You" by the Rolling Stones, I flashed back to a video I saw a day or two ago: Mick...
View ArticleLies, damn lies, and the PACE trial
At long last, the travesty known as the PACE trial has been debunked, and the ME community is in a celebratory mood.Don't have the slightest idea what I'm talking about? Lemme back up.Every now and...
View ArticleNormal
"This is not normal," said the Bookmans staffer.Or something to that effect.Bookmans had hired us to play a two-hour set. Ron the Drummer and I were talking to the staffer during our break when the...
View ArticleFrom the desk of 2016
Dear everybody,It's been a long year, and many of you will be glad to see my back come January. Which is understandable, I suppose. A lot of unpleasant things have happened in our time together. But...
View Article"Can I start again?"
I was seven the first time I ever performed in front of a live audience. My piano teacher had gathered his students and their parents together at his house for an annual piano recital, as piano...
View ArticleEric Hansen
Someone called me out on "Where's your gratitude?" it's there, it's just pissed off."—Eric Hansen, from a fundraiser updateIt seems like half of my scant posts lately have been about musicians who have...
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ME/CFS Awareness Day 2017
ME/CFS is a chronic disease that involves debilitating pain, cognitive impairment, crushing exhaustion, and a host of other nasty symptoms. Sufferers also experience post-exertional morbidity, which...
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Together We Act 2018: A #MillionsMissing Event
For many years now, May 12 has informally been designated as awareness day for myalgic encephalomyelitis, aka "chronic fatigue syndrome," a devastating neuroimmune disease that involves debilitating...
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Severe ME Day
May 12 was ME/CFS Awareness Day, which I failed to write about because I've been terrible about blogging this year. There were #MillionsMissing events all over the world to highlight how patients have...
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A temporary voyage in the same boat
2020 is shaping up to be an interesting year, huh.I haven't updated this blog since last August, mostly because blogging doesn't seem like much of a thing anymore, but lately because nothing is...
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Long covid and silver linings
ME/CFS has been in the news a lot this year.In case you're unfamiliar, ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome) is a chronic disease that involves debilitating pain, cognitive...
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ME Awareness Day 2022
It's that time again. I honestly wasn't sure if it was worthwhile to do another post about ME Awareness Day. It's hard to say anything new after writing these for 13 years, and nobody really reads...
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#MillionsMissing 2023
It's May 12, which means it's ME/CFS Awareness Day, #MillionsMissing Day, and time for my now-yearly blog post.(If you've somehow reached this page without knowing what ME/CFS is, go here.)The last...
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World ME Day
Today, in addition to being Mother's Day, is World ME Day, aka ME/CFS Awareness Day. I celebrated, if you can call it that, by donating to the Open Medicine Foundation. The OMF funds research on...
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