If you’re all reading the news at all, you know what’s going on.

To answer all messages and calls from dear friends referenced in the title of this post…I’m managing.

This one feels like it’s going to last a while, what with the devolving of most serious political discourse into memes of dubious quality and metrosexual grooming TED talks. That said, I am, for the moment, okay. The budget’s going to be tight for a bit (I am much appreciative of friends who buy me beers, and if you absolutely feel the need to help, I have a bunch of music for sale), but I have savings and an impressive spouse who’s income helps fill the current gap. It’ll suck if this keeps going for months, but it goes months, there’s a non-zero chance I’ll end up involuntarily retired anyway, and there’s this law, signed by a relevant someone after this happened the last time, that says I’ll get backpay at the end of this, but, y’know, what are laws anyway anymore?

Anyway…that’s all I’m going to say about that, because this other law almost certainly applies to me, and after some other unrelated events the other week, we’ve all received official correspondence reminding us to watch what we say. So….

Over the last few days, and probably for at least the next week or so, I’ve been catching up on projects around the house; things like yard work, little fix-it things that’ve been left alone for lack of time, rehabbing the wonky bridge on the second-hand shop Stratocaster I bought on a lark years ago and turning it into a serious spanky blues machine, and pretty much anything to keep me busy and not think too hard about this whole huge reality that I don’t have a hell of a lot of control over.

I’ve also spent a little time organizing my backlog of not-yet-recorded songs that will almost certainly become a new record, since, at the moment, I have time and the house will be mostly quiet. The Shutdown Sessions seems like a solid working title to me.

So yes, I am managing, and hope to keep doing so. All we can do is hang in there and work on the stuff we can.

I hope you’re managing too.