Been another week getting lost in the work (the last few days? A hugely successful development sprint for much-needed budget and planning data reporting tools) and trying to not think too hard about the larger world, at least when it’s not intruding into my work inbox.

I’ve been mostly successful, I think; the fact that I had forty hours logged before lunch on Thursday is evidence of that. Sure, Thursday felt way too much like Friday, and the prospect of facing at least a couple of hours on Friday dedicated to walking some folks through the week’s results so they can sell it to the right people isn’t the best feeling, but I’ll get there.

In the less-than-usual off hours, it’s been a lot of changing dressings and cleaning up some blood spatter, since the other morning, one of the eldest’s rats snagged the dog’s ear as she passed the cage and dog ears bleed like crazy. I think we’re mostly past the worst of it, although Tifa’s been very depressed about it, especially the old t-shirt sleeve she’s been wearing to protect the dressing that, among other things, makes her look like a pathetic canine babushka:

Still, she’s a good dog, and has been getting lots of special treats to offset the inconvenience.

The weather’s been uniformly unpleasant, with more rain than snow, so I’ve not gotten outside much. I have, however, filed my taxes, knocked out at least lyrics for seven of fourteen songs for FAWM, recorded what I think will probably be my last parts for the new Humdingers’ record, and managed to spend an hour or two playing Civ VII, which I pre-ordered a few months back before all this uncertainty about whether I’ll have a job in a year crap starting flowing out of the White House…

At least I’m heading into a long weekend and don’t have too many plans, apart from getting together with some friends on Saturday evening for a low-key hangout.

So, tunes. In any attempt to clear my head of a particular earworm I woke up with, I played that first one, and it mostly worked (I have no idea how I remembered every single lyric to a song I haven’t heard in decades). After that, I went down the usual Spotify “Discover Weekly” rabbit hole, and found a bunch really cool stuff I’d not heard before; seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever hit the plus sign icon so many times in succession. it’s all good (especially those guitar solos at #10 on the Bowie cover):

1. “All Out of Love” – Air Supply
2. “It’s Alright” – Cecilia Castleman
3. “All In My Head” – The Linda Lindas
4. “Apocalyptic Folk Song” – Rett Madison
5. “Back in Town” – Connor Bracken and the Mother Leeds Band
6. “So Sweet I Could Die” – Lucia & The Best Boys
7. “Stranger” – Cash & Skye
8. “Highway Forever” – Glitterfox
9. “Better Than Nothing” – Ray Bull
10. “Moonage Daydream” – Magenta Moon
11. “Love Will Probably Kill Me Before Cigarettes and Wine” – Luke Spiller
12. “Holy Roller” – Emily Wolfe
13. “Vanish” – Blueburst

Another particularly stressful week in the public sector, as one would certainly expect if you’re paying attention to the news at all (though the DeRP/”Fork” offer is being addressed only tangentially on a lot of mainstream media sources, especially the more right-of-center ones). Still, when uncleared, unelected Techbros and their minions start taking down whole agencies and scraping citizen’s PII from Federal payment systems, such stories are hard to ignore.

Even amongst all the crap, I’ve managed to get myself lost in the work enough to not break down too much these last few days, and I even kind of enjoyed the two day class I did about “Problem Solving and Decision Making in Changing Organizations” early in the week (scheduled months ago), where I got to meet some people in the organization from other areas and disciplines, and share stories, frustrations, and perspectives. I think I made a couple of friends, and we all kind of discovered we have the same issues with organizational culture and are all stressed as hell given the current waves hands around gesturing to, well…everything.

That whole Fork/Deferred Resignation Program/totally-not-a-“buyout” business, which is still so ridiculously vague and illegal as I understand the law (which as someone who spent more than a decade working contracts and finance, I understand more than most people, though IANAL), was supposed to close at 11:59pm on Thursday, though based on the union lawsuit temporarily blocking things, the deadline got pushed out to Monday, after they actually have the hearing.

That the unions and my Senator and all kinds of other reasonable people are challenging it is all good, though to be honest, I’m kind of disappointed it got pushed out, as now we have another weekend to agonize over what fresh hell is next, given that they aren’t getting nearly the level of acceptance of the “once-in-a-lifetime!” offer that they would’ve liked (last I saw was about 50,000 people, less than 3% of the federal workforce). It’s just going to get worse, with terms like RIF being tossed about, threats to summarily fire all the probationary employees, and of course, the current budget resolution expiring in five weeks, after which everyone is expecting a long, protracted shutdown, if for no other reason than to drive more nonpartisan professional public servants out.

If they’re really serious about gutting the public service sector (and like everything else, that goal’s spelled right out in the Project 2025 manifesto), I’d honestly rather they just yank the bandage off and get on with it so can start coming up with concrete plans about what my life’s going to look like going forward rather than all the theoretical scenarios I’m stuck spinning.

But, in the meantime, I’m going to sit here doing the good work fueled by spite, and hoping the outrage crowds out the sense of existential dread.

So that’s where my head’s at; it’s tough to think about anything else, honestly. I mean, I am doing fawm this year, as I always do, and am actually on track so far to finish (even if I haven’t recorded anything), though after knocking out one of the best things I’ve ever written right out of the gate, I’m doubting whether the rest of it’s going be worth pursuing further. I am letting off some steam writing protest songs which is not nothing.

…and speaking of tunes, here’s this week’s baker’s dozen that came out of the streaming algorithms this morning. Admittedly, I did feed it some different suggestions to build from when it kept spitting way too much 70s prog and butt rock (I honestly have no idea where that came from), but some neat stuff (like #3 – highly recommended!) came out of the experiment, and I think I’m going to be going down the rabbit hole on the artist at #13, because I’m really digging it:

1. “Love Is Only A Feeling” – The Darkness
2. “Big Love (live)” – Lindsey Buckingham
3. “Golden State (live)” – Eddie Vedder and Natalie Maines
4. “Showdown At Big Sky” – Robbie Robertson
5. “The Weight (live)” – Mavis Staples (and a ton of other scary talented people I like)
6. “Tuesday’s Gone” – Metallica
7. “Aqualung” – Jethro Tull
8. “Because The Night (live)” – 10,000 Maniacs
9. “Mother Mother” – Tracy Bonham
10. “Red Rain – Peter Gabriel
11. “Abacab” – Genesis
12. “Blue on Black” – Kenny Wayne Shepherd
13. “Sucker” – Chloe Slater

Yeah, ridiculously stressful week, that’s kept rolling straight through until close of business on Friday, with even more on the horizon already for next week. Who knows what the next bit of weirdness is going to be.

For the moment, I’m keeping on with the work that needs done, and keeping this in mind, and feeling thankful that this guy is my Senator right now.

Once again, this is going to be life for the next four years. But just so this isn’t all crazy, here’s my dog laying claim to the pile of her trash leavings (she loves to shred cardboard boxes and such) I was sweeping up, like a dragon guarding her treasure hoard:

And tunes…lots of 70s AM Gold soft rock for whatever reason:

1. “Summertime Thing” – Chuck Prophet
2. “Dancin’ in the Moonlight” – Thin Lizzy
3. “Little Silver Ring” – The Samples
4. “I Am Lost” – Gord Downie
5. “Ghost Riders in the Sky” – The Outlaws
6. “It’s All over Now, Baby Blue” – The Animals
7. “Strange Magic” – Electric Light Orchestra
8. “Miracles” – Jefferson Starship
9. “I’m Alright” – Kenny Loggins
10. “The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead” – Crash Test Dummies w Ellen Reid
11. “(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman” – The Kinks
12. “Just Breathe” – Willie Nelson, Lukas Nelson
13. “Train, Train” – Blackfoot

Like so many people this morning, after going to bed (way early, as I’m feeling rather awful, but not too awful, since my immune system basically works, unlike other parts of me, at fighting off elementary-school sourced respiratory virii) watching the new guy cave to Colombia’s hitting back at his bullying then claim victory, we woke up to more almost certainly illegal orders, in particular this one from OMB that freezes ” all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance” while the White House reviews everything to ensure that it is “dedicated to advancing Administration priorities” and doesn’t support any of that “woke” shit they’re all so afraid of.

What this seems to mean, by the way, is that Federal student aid (loans and grants that so much of this country depends on, regardless of your political leanings) is likely to be delayed or canceled right as the spring semester is starting for college students everywhere.

Including my lovely spouse, who’s going into her last semester to finish her degree.

This, along with things like the whole this whole business that very well might touch me directly, given that it’s also written as vaguely as to potentially refer to both everything and nothing, as well as all the other stuff I’m not going to get into right now, is, as stated previously, raising all kinds of anxiety.

About the only things helping me hold on to what’s left of my sanity are staying off of social media (two weeks and counting) or were prescribed by my doctor.

While I’m sure the Ninth Circuit will have a judgement out suspending that OMB memo before the sun’s up on the west coast, this thing’s still going mess things up for a huge segment of the population.

That said, I expect the people having their faces eaten right now will find a way to rationalize this even as it’s going to affect them and/or their children personally, because that’s the way cult-adjacent political movements supporting fascism work, this particular action, if any, might peel a few folks off, as it hits their pocketbooks as they have to decide whether to pay for those eggs or the kid’s college bill, or hit the bottom line of the broligarchs like Musk when they can’t find enough qualified employees to develop pointless AI tools or lawyers to apply loopholes to let them avoid paying taxes…

But, that might just be the last remaining vestiges of my optimism before the croc goes into the death roll on it talking.

Either way, this is going to hurt a hell of a lot more people, and probably help next to no one, since so many people don’t pay attention (or only pay attention to their bubble; even if my legislative crush Senator Elizabeth Warren managed to work her way behind the curtain last night), that it’s not going to matter and they’ll find some way to blame anyone but the monsters.

Only 207 weeks to go….

So, last weekend’s Marscon was a reasonably successful endeavor, with us playing a couple of good shows (even if the time slots could’ve been better), the band clicking with a great energy you really want for every show, but know really only hits occasionally. We also had a couple of nice official and unofficial circles, where fun was had playing music with friends, many of whom I only see a few times a year.

That said, the general vibe of the place just wasn’t the same as it used to be, in spite of the efforts of many of the “old guard” to try and recapture some of the, I guess, magic. I’m not saying I won’t ever go back (there have been some good management changes that show promise), but it just doesn’t feel like the home it used to.

Oh well, change and all that…

Speaking of, my nearly 30 year career in the public sector is also starting to feel the effects of the unfortunate changes in D.C.; quickly and furiously, due to a couple of Executive Orders that the White House issued shortly after the Inauguration, which are raising the tension level both for me personally and across the workforce.

In cases like this (especially this one), I’m very grateful for my management chain, who from my immediate supervisor up through the Chief Information Officer, which has been very conscientious of and attuned to workforce anxiety, being as transparent as non-partisan decorum allows regarding the direction our organization is getting, and specifically calling out and offering options and resources for dealing with “elevate(d) anxiety, stress, and uncertainty.” This regular communication is very letter of the law, as they should and must be, but the genuine feelings and attitudes are unmistakable to anyone listening, and are much appreciated.

Also appreciated is the annual appraisal I received this week, which said ridiculously nice things about my contribution and effort, and included some very tangible rewards, as such things do. Who knows what it’ll look like next year, given current shifting conditions, but being recognized and assured that my place is secure in the best work team I’ve ever been a part of is always nice, and helps alleviate some of the stress.

…and none of this bullshit (and certainly not this ridiculously tailored piece of bullshit designed to apply in only one case, unless you count Grover Cleveland) is going to lower the price of eggs.

But anyway, that’s the biggest part of where my mind is now, and yes, it kind of sucks, and will give me all kinds of things to chat with the therapist about this month. This coming weekend, however, I’m going to make some music with friends (ahead of ConVivial next month where we’re looking at getting the band back together for a one-off reunion) and probably go out for a beer sometime, because that’s one other thing to do to take your mind off of how the world’s burning down.

You can also listen to music, as I’m in the habit of doing, and this is what the algorithm spit out this week; it’s really 70s classic pop/rock this time around, though the appearance of a Harrisburg staple who had a big regional hit a few years back with #5 down here in old Virginnie is a very welcome addition:

1. “Something To Talk About” – Bonnie Raitt
2. “All the Way from Memphis” – Mott The Hoople
3. “And She Was” – Talking Heads
4. “Willin'” Little Feat
5. “In Your Eyes (live)” – Jeffrey Gaines
6. “Frankenstein” – The Edgar Winter Group
7. “Strung Out” – Steve Perry
8. “Anniversary Song” – Cowboy Junkies
9. “Strange Condition” – Pete Yorn
10. “Come Dancing” – The Kinks
11. “Beautiful Wreck” – Shawn Mullins
12. “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” – R.E.M.
13. “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves” – Cher

After a seriously hectic week full of navigating rhetorical scuffles between co-workers who ought to know better, stints at playing the boss, and fighting with reporting queries at work, and needy pets who don’t understand why their favorite person (i.e. my lovely spouse) aren’t around (she’s doing a substitute teaching stint for a couple of weeks and the dog just don’t [sic] understand) and kids plowing through groceries faster than I can buy them (seriously, it seems like 7000 calories a day or something) at home, and of course, the earthquake on the other side of town the other day, I’m heading out this afternoon for a gig playing Marscon with the Humdingers.

For reasons, mostly to do with shifting culture under new management, I wasn’t there last year, either as a guest or attendee. The drama inherent in that shift kicked up a big shitstorm back in Feb/Mar of 2023; you can look here or elsewhere for details if you’re unfamiliar. I was kind of bummed, because this event had been my home for years, and then it simply wasn’t (I even wrote a song about how I felt, but haven’t pushed it hard – it was more about therapy than anything else). The management has somewhat shifted again, but it looks like the new culture has largely stuck, at least according to what the overall programming looks like. That said, there are some good friends on the bill with us, so I’m looking forward, at least, to spending time with them and making music, even if the audience isn’t as compatible, which is always welcome. We’ll see how it goes…

In any case, here’s where I’ll be definitely performing/participating:

• Friday, 5pm, main programming room: Blibbering Humdingers concert
• Friday, 10pm, salon L: Jam Session, Open Mic, Filking
• Sunday, 1pm, main programming room: Blibbering Humdingers concert

Apart from those scheduled events, I’ll likely be found attending one of the several other musical events, and I kind of want to try to get a seat at the table for one of the sessions for the Votes For Women board game on the gaming schedule, which sounds like a really neat concept – a board game about the ratification of the 19ᵗʰ Amendment (I don’t think, given the aforementioned cultural shift, this will be a problem)….or, it could end up I just sit in the hotel bar with a drink in my hand people-watching.

After the con, I’ve got a couple of days off, thanks to MLK Day and a scheduled mental health day, given a very-recently rescheduled doc appointment which resisted timecard updates, so I kept the leave, especially given the other stuff going down on Monday, which I’m going to keep my distance from, for, again, reasons. The plan is to rest a bit, and hopefully keep working on my contributions to the new Humdingers record we’re aiming to have ready in time to release at ConVivial this year.

And if that all gets too frustrating, there’s always the Richmond Metro Zoo’s Poppy Cam.

And that’s that. Promo and bitching over. Here are a few tunes:

1. “Foolin’ It Up” – Ace Monroe
2. “Back on My Feet Again” – The Babys
3. “Battle of Evermore (live)” – The Lovemongers
4. “My Girl (Gone, Gone, Gone)” –
5. “Bad Things” – Jace Everett
6. “Hypnotic” – Zella Day
7. “The Feminine Urge” – The Last Dinner Party
8. “Weeds or Wildflowers” – Parsonfield
9. “Snowshoes” – Caamp
10. “Heartless”- Nathaniel Rateliff & The Nightsweats
11. “Loading Zone” – Kurt Vile
12. “The Balcony” – Fruit Bats
13. “Polar Onion” – Allah-Las
14. “Blood Red Sentimental Blues” – Cotton Jones

so the weather reports are showing that we’re in for another white weekend here in the metro, which I suppose is fine, apart from my neighbors to the north (including friends and so many of my favored places to while away an hour or three) are *still* under a boil advisory, and another storm’s going to continue to f**k things up in the city for the foreseeable future (or at least the next few days).

It’s also going to continue to make my dog nuts, as she manages to be afraid of every cracking noise the remaining frozen layer of snow in the yard makes and makes it really difficult to get her to just go out and take a sh*t like when the ground is just covered with grass and the occasional leaf.

Luckily there’s very little on my agenda for the next couple of days, though this business starting tonight is probably going to screw up my usual Saturday grocery run, as well as my efforts to keep the house clean, as we’re low on or out of some basic cleaning supplies, including the soap used to clean up all the dishes that everybody leaves lying around.

Reading back over that, I might not be in the best mood today. At least today is a light day in terms of social interactions at work, because the code problems we were running into on Wednesday afternoon still appear to be there this morning, and it looks like the person who wrote these queries is out, and knows more about the syntax in this particular case than either myself or the usual code gurus, and we just can’t make sense of the error messages, even with the wisdom of all the experts search engines can normally provide.

That is unless the phone starts ringing with program managers looking for guidance on how to prep their documentation, which is my usual lot in life on Fridays, and the emails I woke to suggest that’s likely to continue.

Yep, the mood’s already shot. Sorry folks.

So it’s probably best that I just stop while I’m only a couple of steps behind and keep my head down for now.

Anyway, tunes-wise, circumstances are better. I’ve been somewhat familiar with the artist at #1 through news stories in the crossover parts of the politics/entertainment Venn diagrams, though I’d never actually heard this tune. While I grew up adjacent at best to this badass drag queen spiritual-folk singer’s childhood religious tradition, I feel this one; I highly recommend taking a listen. The rest of the stuff is largely the usual indie and rock/metal stuff, which is…fine; and apparently obsessed with houses this week:

1. “Esther, Ruth, and Rahab” – Flamy Grant
2. “Distance” – Mammoth WVH
3. “(You’re A) Strange Animal” – Gowan
4. “Satisfaction Guaranteed” – The Firm
5. “One Day In Your Life” – 54-40
6. “Feel You Closer” – Skydiggers
7. “Sunny Days” – Lighthouse
8. “Lie To Me” –
9. “Shine” – Junkhouse
10. “Sick of Myself” – Matthew Sweeet
11. “Four Seasons in One Day” – Crowded House
12. “Baby Don’t Treat Me Bad” – Firehouse
13. “Too Bad” – Doug and the Slugs

As I start writing this piece in the middle of my first week back at work, I’m the *only* one in the house who’s back to work, because, for the first time in a couple of years, the RVA metro has been hit with what they call a “major” winter storm in these parts, which for those of us here just south of the city, meant not quite three inches since Sunday night (which my giant delicate flower of a dog, who’d never seen it before does not like at all), and thankfully did not involve the power outages and water boil advisories my neighbors ten miles north are dealing with. Those here in the house engaged with the education sector have been off for three days so far due to wintry conditions, and although the federal site where my organization is headquartered was closed Monday and Tuesday, and delayed in opening on Wednesday, as I’m on an official telework agreement, snow days just aren’t a thing for me anymore.

I kind of miss that childlike excitement of learning about an unexpected day off, but the fuel and time savings I get the rest of the year kind of make up for it.

Nonetheless, for entirely other reasons, I am getting an unexpected day off this week, though it’s got nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with the passing of an honored humanitarian, our thirty-ninth President, James Earl Carter, Jr. Thursday has been designated a National Day of Mourning to remember and celebrate his life.

Although his administration in the early days of my life wasn’t what he’d hoped, he worked hard to do right by this country and the world before, during, and especially after his time in the White House, all while retaining a humble presence and attitude of quiet service. As I said to several friends in the days after his death, we probably didn’t deserve him, and he certainly didn’t deserve to see how this country turned away from his values of progressive service and equal opportunity over the past forty years, but until the end, he served and did what he could for his neighbors.

We can all learn something from that. If you’re reading this, I ask you to take a moment on Thursday to remember him, and consider how much better off we’d all be if everyone tried to be a little more like him.

To quote Vice President Harris speaking at the Capitol on Tuesday:

He lived his faith. He served the people and he left the world better than he found it. And in the end, Jimmy Carter’s work, and those works, speak for him — louder than any tribute we can offer.

It was nice to see the adults in the room emulate his example, especially the Vice President presiding over events, by gettings us through the January 6th certification of electors as a matter of Constitutionally-required routine rather than a cacophonous spectacle of drama, disrespect, and violence four years ago. As we head into the next sure-to-be-tumultuous four years, let’s not forget (in spite of all the gaslighting leading up to Monday’s certification from certain corners) how fragile our democratic principles are right now, maintain our republic, “if [we] can keep it.”

After a couple of five-hundred years’ displaced pop culture references, here’s my “Happy New Year” post. So it’s 2025. The lovely spouse and I stayed up until midnight, barely, chilling with friends (virtually), as another friend did an online New Years’ Eve show via Twitch. We enjoyed ourselves, and that’s really what it was all about.

I’ve no idea what 2025 is going to bring, though I expect a bunch of political uncertainty and cultural and societal anxiety. At the very least. Things are kind of messed up, and I don’t expect them to settle out anytime soon. I remain thankful that I’m in a (relatively) secure place in life, though it’s likely to much less so for so many other people, and losing President Carter a couple of days ago put a bit of a spotlight on that, given that he’d spent so much of his life in public service working to bring security to so many.

It’s gonna get weird. Have that helmet ready.

Anyway, 2024 was a mixed bag. Life personally and within my household was (on the whole) good. People got jobs, achieved academically, and we welcomed a couple of beloved furry friends into the family. For me, I worked my tail off in the day job *and* in the side gig. I’m recognized as an authority and valued resource within my work group, made some positive organizational changes, and it looks like there’ll be more coming. I leveled up significantly in my musical community, and released some music I’m really proud of, and folks seem to like, and have a bunch of neat gigs lined up for the coming year with hopefully more on the horizon.

That said, we also lost a couple of beloved pets, faced significant health challenges we’re working to overcome, and hit a couple of financial challenges as you do, and it’s taking a bit build that safety net I’m lucky enough to be able to have at all (points back to the second paragraph…).

But, we’re still here and doing what we can.

I’ve been busy enough that I haven’t necessarily done record keeping as comprehensive as in past years for my usual “by the numbers” end-of-year list, though I can certainly do something more abbreviated:

• miles hiked or biked – 1672
• books read – 56
• shows played – a lot
• bars and breweries mourned – three
• net pounds lost – five
• records released – one
• records appeared on – two
• compilation records we didn’t get done – one
• number of times I had one of my songs covered by a Logan award nominee – one
• conventions attended – three
• conventions missed due to COVID – one
• hospital stays – one
• pets gained – two (plus a bunch of fish)
• pets lost – two (and a bunch of fish)
• flat tires – three bike, one car
• seat belts shredded – three
• times I actually went to the office – none
• times I had to go near the office to get my login card unlocked because my cat walked on the keyboard and typed the wrong thing in the password field too many times – one
• “big time” concerts attended – seven
• much smaller concerts hosted – two
• sense of existential dread – ongoing

Anyway, that’s the gist of it. Strap in, folks; who knows what’s coming up next.

Honestly, nothing’s changed since I posted yesterday about boxing day. I did exactly the kind of stuff I said I was going to do; played video games for an hour or two. Took a long walk in the park. Went to the grocery store bar and had a pleasant drink with my lovely spouse (for the record, I had one of these. It was *amazing*). I plan on doing more of the same for the next week or so.

The only thing I really want to talk about is the fact that this song has been a weird earworm for me for the last week or so. I have no idea why. I didn’t hear it anywhere. I haven’t even thought about this band for years. The only real associated memory I have of it was that there was some connection to Greenpeace because the MTV VJ mentioned it once introducing the video, and for some reason that little nugget stuck in a brain cell for the last 36 years or so.

But it’s got a killer hook, and they use that term for a reason, and it did knock Maria Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” out of there, so I call it a win.

Anyway, I fed that song into the streaming service algorithm to see about dislodging it, and ended up with this playlist that is pretty much exactly the soundtrack of my high school years, including the song my buddy Ethan (gonna have to look him up; last I heard, he was a working pro musician down in Texas) and I played at homecoming my senior year coming up at #3, the headliner of my first *real* concert closing things out, and what I still consider one of the best guitar solos of the 20th century in at #11, mostly because of those last. four. notes...

1. “Little Fighter” – White Lion
2. “When You Close Your Eyes” – Night Ranger
3. “Love Song” – Tesla
4. “Seventeen” – Winger
5. “Holy Water” – Bad Company
6. “Edge of a Broken Heart” – Vixen
7. “New Thing” – Enuff Z’Nuff
8. “Born To Be My Baby” – Bon Jovi
9. “Big City Nights”- Scorpions
10. “Face Down in the Gutter” – XYZ
11. “I Remember You” – Skid Row
12. “Why Can’t This Be Love” – Van Halen
13. “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection” – Nelson

Oh, and I updated my gigs page with a few more dates, as I received a few acceptances/confirmations in the last couple of weeks. Looks like it’s going to be a busy (for me, at least) first half of 2025!