I need a vacation.

I really, really need a vacation. Fortunately, I'll soon be taking something for that: a vacation. This Saturday, I'm flying to Fort Lauderdale, and spending half a week with my cousins and half a week with my friends. It will be great to see them all, and it will be wonderful to feel Florida weather. I think I'll be dragging the Traveler guitar along, too.

Not that I haven't been keeping busy as the New Jersey winter lingered on and on this March... I saw Tania Stavreva and some of her piano students play at Steinway Hall; enjoyed Stephanie's last performance with the Dessoff Choirs at Symphony Space; laughed and reminisced as Serious Pilgrim's Martin Rivas, Pete Bavaro, and Tom McGivney performed together in public for the first time in nearly two decades at Rockwood Music Hall; watched the off-Broadway show "Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe" with Laryssa; and did a bit of birdwatching in the Meadowlands with Barbara.

I've also been working on some music. While Greta's Unmentionables has yet to get to Hellhound Studios this year, Jon and I did start piecing together a new Not An Exit song, "No Looking Back," and I've recorded about half of my own tune, "I'll Live," written in 2006 but only just coming to life now.

I've been preparing to overhaul the Web site, too. The last major renovation to AndersenSilva.com left it only slightly clunky, but also partially broken, and there was some content (like all the old Vitriol columns and the Frequently Asked Questions) that was left by the wayside; I plan to restore that. I'm bringing back a cleaner, simpler interface, trimming some fat, adding a few old short stories and poems I've recently rediscovered, and slowly but surely getting thousands more pictures added (though that process won't be done anytime soon).

I've also found two stories I'd started writing years ago, that I would like to complete, and then there's my unfinished NaNoWriMo novels, and ideas for a new short story and a new poem I came up with last month... A light bulb went off over my head this morning. I'd thought the left bulb above the medicine cabinet had burned out two weeks ago, and I just haven't gotten around to replacing it, but it seems to be OK again now.

Hopefully, the new site will be up by the end of the month, but for now you can get a taste at http://www.andersensilva.com/music.html; only the Gallery... of Death! menu links are live for the moment. Please let me know what you think, and I'll see you after I've absorbed some Florida sun! That reminds me, I need to start packing...

Words and Guitar

I got to see Sleater-Kinney in New York this past Thursday and Friday, and although my calves and shins are still protesting, they were both terrific shows!

Carrie Brownstein, Janet Weiss, and Corin Tucker: Sleater-Kinney!

Corin, Carrie, and Janet put out a lot of energy rockin' Terminal 5 (not NYC's best venue, but I really don't understand all the hate people have for it), and the new material holds its own against the old. Personally, I was thrilled to get to hear them do "Good Things" and "Little Babies" and "One Beat" again, but I was just as excited about "Bury Our Friends" and "Price Tag." I was even inspired to pogo to a few songs the second night, in spite of myself; the crowds on both nights were pumped up and movin' around regardless of how tightly packed we were. In fact, I conceived a new song (and hopefully nothing else) Friday night, to be called "Inadvertently Intimate." Yes, that tightly packed.

I still have a few other ideas to write up, such as a more electronic-sounding tune I'm going to call "O Povo na Rua" ("The People in the Streets"), but this morning I found myself suddenly wanting- no, needing to work on a song I wrote nine years ago. I always had a rough idea in my head of how "I'll Live" would sound. The lyrics were inspired by the Who's John Entwistle and the dark humor behind some of his songs, like "My Wife" and "I Feel Better." Somehow, though, I never got around to recording anything for it, not even a demo... but today while the snow came down again, I got about half the song done, and using an alternate guitar tuning (DAFCGD, a whole step down) on my old Strat knockoff for the first time. I'm liking the way the song is turning out. Maybe you will, too.

I really can't wait for this winter to be over. I'm trying not to let the weather and my fluctuating moods keep me locked up indoors for too long, however. Next weekend, I'll be checking out Tania Stavreva in another piano performance. The weekend after that, Greta's Unmentionables will finally get our asses back in the studio to rock out "The Bite." The weekend after that will find me taking in Stephanie's final concert with the Dessoff Choirs, and a few days later I'll be at Rockwood Music Hall to witness a 75% Serious Pilgrim reunion! I'm also going to see "Nevermore - The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe" off Broadway with Laryssa, and I'm planning on catching up with High Teen Boogie in Williamsburg, too. I'm still working on the Gallery... of Death! as well, and recently added 2002 to the mix, and of course there are a lot of S-K pics in the 2015 gallery now. And then there's all that running...

Busy March, now that I think about it. It's better that way, though. Hopefully, I'll be too occupied to pay too much attention to the weather, and it'll start to warm up before I notice. Of course, I do have a trip to warmer climes scheduled for next month... Woo-hoo!

And now, back to words and guitar...