aw shucks, tanks a bundle. *blush* i have been out and about:

* campaigned for Greenie Matt Gonzalez in December, and we almost kept the machine out of office. Newsom was elected mayor, 52%-48%, but they had to call in Clinton, Gore, Pelosi, etc and spend nearly 7 million dollars to pull it off. damn.

* spent Xmas week w/me ma at her digs in Maui. tropical Xmases are fairly intrinsically incongruent, but getting baked and then going snorkeling fucking ROCKS. saw moray eels, green sea turtles, lionfish, etc. - and humpback whales breaching out in the channel. no sign of Nemo, tho'. probably for the best.

* played a gig at SF's venerable Avalon Ballroom on NYE. that was a treat.

* down in Pismo Beach w/some friends for a few days, hanging out, R&R, etc.

* then down in LA-LA for my fifth tour of duty in NAMM - North American Music Manufacturers, the biggest industry convention blah blah blah. lotsa new equipment all over the entire Anaheim Convention Center, rock stars, etc. my buddy and i procured some more endorsements (Fender, Drum Workshop, etc) and had a great ass time.

* then - The MUTAYTOR (http://www.mutaytor.com) played two shows up at Sundance and clobbered the poor bastards inside out. imagine two dozen drummers, dancers, fire-spinners, fruits, freaks, etc, going nucking futs all over the stage and into the crowd/up in the balcony, etc. rocked the kee-rap outta 'em, back next year. Hiatt played the day before i arrived and Fishbone was in town, unfortunately Angelo and i weren't able to hook up. but all in all, a damn good time.

and then, back at my day job today, i cleaned ferry boat bathrooms; so much for that wonderful Walter Mitty-esque dream i've had going for the last month. still, if i'm not careful, my life'll rock more often than not.

nice to be back, tho'. i hope everyone's doing well. :)