After the holiday break and all it’s adventures, Tuesday I logged back in to the work network get a fresh start on the year. It’s mostly gone okay; a lot of folks are still out, but thankfully the ones I needed to talk to to get things moved along were around, for the most part, and I got a respectable amount of work done and got ahead of a few deadlines. Sure, I saw a few more looming on the horizon, but they’re reasonable (so far), and accomplishing those will make a whole bunch of the other stuff go faster, so…I’ll take it.

Still, it’s taken me a while to find my rhythm; I was off just long enough to lose a step or two. I get done with my eight or nine hours, and I find myself just kind of drained. The cloudy, damp, and cold weather isn’t helping; my sinuses are protesting mightily, and I’m way below my average for physical activity, even if, honestly, the break probably won’t hurt.

In the scheme of things, it’s normal, but it’s bothering me, because I have stuff on the horizon I need to be ready for, like the inaugural edition of ConVivial next weekend, where I’ll be playing shows as both singer/songwriter and Humdinger, as well as sitting a bunch of panels about songwriting, creating, and general nerdery, AND the festivities I’m pulling together for the lovely spouse’s birthday next month (which is going to be *lit* as the kids say…).

But, I’ve got nothing in particular this weekend, so I’m hoping I can get past the hang-ups and find the groove. We’ll see. Wish me luck.

In any case, let’s keep the random playlist into the weekend tradition going into 2024. This is, as usual, off of my Spotify Discover Weekly list, which has clearly been fed by my youngest playing some of her tunes in the car, and the deep-dive into Jason Isbell’s output I’m working through, and quite enjoying:

1. “Seven-Mile Island” – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
2. “Run Devil Run” – Haunted Like Human
3. “Kiss” – Matthew Yee
4. “Cuz I Love You” – Joshua Ray Walker
5. “The Sound of Rock and Roll” – The Bourbon Brothers
6. “Unchained Melody” – The Unrighteous Brothers, Paul Cauthen, Orville Peck
7. “Folsom Prison Blues “Slow Folsom” (Acoustic Version) – Thomas Gabriel
8. “The Ballad of Ben Blank” – Sam Roberts Band
9. “Alien Party” – Sid Dorey
10. “Laid” – July Talk
11. “B or C For Effort” – Emily Kinney
12. “Puttin’ on the Ritz” – Taco
13. “The IPA Song” – The Brothers Comatose, Ronnie McCoury