New Year's Resolution #4

Resolutions:
1. Meditate
2. Eat Less Sugar
3. Write more stories
4. update blog after a five month slack-off

...so here we are. I am at home and everybody's sawin' logs but me. Even the cat (Sis). And it's 2:39 EST and I've got to get some shuteye soon as duty calls at work in a mere 6 hours.

A lot has happened. The intensely personal stuff I will shy away from in this posting (and perhaps in future ones as well), but I will give some highlights cribbed from the end-of-year letter that we send out, which I've beefed up. If you're interested, read on:

In June we drove to Rome, Georgia, to visit my Mom (my six-year-old son Jack's only grandparent). The road trip included a stop in Virginia at the Carter Family Fold, where we bumped into Uncle Joe Carter at a gas station. We drove home via Croton, New York, where I performed at the Hudson Clearwater Folk Festival - the most gorgeous gig I've ever played, at sunset on the Hudson River Stage. Did I care that a certain Righteous Babe was on the main stage during my set? I did not. I followed the great Dan Zanes.

And you can read about some July goings-on in the previous post (Dependents' Day).

Also in July, I made my way back to the theater after an eight-year absence. Cast in a production of Emma - a biographical play written by noted historian Howard Zinn about American anarchist Emma Goldman, I grew a mustache (much to Holly's and Jack's chagrin) and played Goldman's manager/lover Dr. Ben Reitman, a colorful radical in his own right. Produced at the historic Byrdcliffe Theater in Woodstock, the play was a big success, with Howard Zinn attending and being bowled over at our final performance. After the election I received a great essay of Zinn's called "The Optimism Of Uncertainty" which you can find if you do a search on that very title. Highly recommended, no matter what your politics.

My six-year-old son Jack started first grade in September, which he loves, and he became a Tiger Cub Scout.

Over the course of the year, our tabby cat Sis caught 2 white ermine weasels, brought them in the house and killed them before my very eyes. One of 'em stunk up the house pretty bad. The local taxidermist was amazed when he was told that she'd done it TWICE and that she'd escaped unscathed both times. They are ugly little varmints, those ermines. Holly was upset that I didn't have a hat or muff made out of them.

My much beloved and oldest friend Todd Butler committed suicide just shy of his 40th birthday in October. I cannot go into it here, but this has had a deep affect on me. It spawned a series of poems that I may or may not post tomorrow, when the cold (and I do mean cold) hard light of day shines in the window.

After returning from Todd's funeral in Atlanta, where I read a eulogy, I played an acoustic show in Woodstock where half of the audience was under the age of 7. I had been writing and performing songs for the kids - aged 2 to 6 - at my job at School of the New Moon, and after many requests, I recorded an adult-friendly kids' CD at home on my ancient (from the 80s!) cassette 4 track. Before I knew it, it was done, and I played my first gig as Uncle Rock last month. The CD is called Here We Go!, and a signed and numbered copy is available by emailing me (robertbwarren@aol.com) and/or by going to CDBaby in the not-too-distant future and/or to Books Of Wonder in Chelsea in NYC and the Golden Notebook in Woodstock. I'm actually playing a birthday party in a few weeks in NYC for a rock and roll kid who is turning six and requested me (I'm pals with him and his folks and they got an Uncle Rock CD for Christmas).

In addition to the kids songs I've been writing - and they are coming fast and furious - I've been learning covers for my Uncle Rock set, including Rockaway Beach (Ramones) I Am A Child (Neil Young) Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (Beatles, duh) I Want Candy (Strangeloves) and Pure Imagination (from Willy Wonka) among others. If anyone has requests and/or suggestions, feel free to post them.

And speaking of posting, I'll post some pics tomorrow, after I've drunk a pot of coffee.

Also in October I played Johnny Appleseed in Kids in the Kaatskills, where families walked a candlelit path through the woods and met characters from local folklore. It was a hoot.

In November, I taught a class called Song Fun at Phoenicia Elementary, Jack's school. One weekend we drove to NYC for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Jack thought the Rockettes were robots). There was a bomb threat at nearby St. Patrick's Cathedral that delayed our arrival to Radio City - yellow tape encircling an entire city block and nervous NY's Finest telling us to MOVE AWAY. Ever had to explain a bomb threat to a six-year-old? Couldn't wait to get home.

In the first three months of '05 I have more gigs than I had in all of '04, most as Uncle Rock, but a couple as just RBW (see calendar). The mother of a two-year-old that I teach has booked me gigs in her native New Hampshire, where Uncle Rock has been added to the jukebox at the Poor People's Pub.

And Christmas/Yuletide was jampacked with lots of food and friends and family and guests and as much as I like all the goodwill and reflection, I am eager to put it all to bed (as well as myself) and get on with 2005, which I have a hunch will be particularly interesting. In addition to Absolute World Domination by Uncle Rock (t-shirts that read "SAY UNCLE!" and "Uncle Rock says 'U ROCK!'") we are planning a cross-country trip in the summertime, National Lampoon's Family Vacation style, with a cowboy twist.

More to come. Watch this space. And if you are still reading, I appreciate your interest. I don't know what to say except thank you and good night.