Block party, Edgewater Third Sat. and Edgewater Dinner Crawl were all tons of fun. The threatened storms on the 17th never materialized (a raindrop or two, and that was that), the weather was on the mild side--almost cool--and my voice and fingers held up for four sets/four and a half hours. Two hours in front of Pause Coffee flew by! Thanks to the Murphys for feeding me so well and providing electricity for the PA and a de facto green room for the block party gig. The Dinner Crawl was punctuated by storms, but not spoiled by them: Steve Rich & I performed inside Anna Held Florist & Ice Cream Parlor rather than outdoors--but the crowds were good and steady, the acoustics marvelous and the hospitality gracious (with wonderful coffee & cookies). We got to enjoy the last 45 min. of the Dinner Crawl and stuffed ourselves silly with pasta, sushi, Indian food, gumbo, and trifle. Heaven knows how people managed to get through more than a dozen eateries, albeit over three hours. Can't wait till the next one! Meanwhile, I will be seeing you along the same stretch of Bryn Mawr (bet. B'way and Sheridan) for the next Edgewater Third Sat. on Aug. 15. Will post the exact location as soon as it's assigned. Prepare those request lists! Next Tues. Aug. 4 Steve and I will be playing live for the Madtoast Radio podcast at the Brink Lounge in Madison, WI (will let you know as soon as it's available for download), and we'll have some special guests sitting in on various instruments. Maybe some of the 'cast will end up as live tracks on our new CD--it will at least go into our Sonicbids EPK. The next day, we begin formal recording in Madison; a week later, it's down to Sparta to record the bulk of the project with Gary & Roberta Gordon. Normally, I anticipate recording (and photo shoots) with the same enthusiasm I have for root canal, but I have a REALLY good feeling about this. Had some rough patches this past week when Bob's dad was hospitalized twice, and his latest home-care is tricky and challenging. Hope it all works out. Finally, the tub bars are installed, the gutter project is finished, and I got my orthotics yesterday. Went to buy new running shoes (the concept of dedicated "walking" shoes has fallen out of favor since the last time I bought some in 199.... uh, TOO long ago). Amazing how something so lightweight and sculpted can provide cushioning and stability, but it can. Now own two pair of Adidas, which is ironic since my first running shoes 37 years ago were Adidas Viennas---no arch support (not even removable insoles), all leather, narrow toe box--which probably gave me the bunion in the first place. (I recall stopping a 3-mi. walk through the Capitol Hill section of Seattle because of the pain and being shocked to see a big throbbing red bunion at the ripe old age of 21). The game plan is to increase wearing my orthotics by an hour each day--tomorrow is Day 3--and to start slowly by walking a mile a day for the first week. Imagine my shock when I found only ONCE around my block is a mile! So I'd been handling longer distances than I'd thought before my foot went blooey. Hopefully, I can walk off enough of this weight to ease the burden on my arthritic foot and knees....and be able to walk some more. (Running will forever be a distant memory, alas--not enough soft tissue support to keep my knees from buckling on impact, alas. I still have dreams in which I skip downstairs and run to catch the bus....even occasionally find myself suddenly slim. Now you know why I love to sleep!).