Well... I'm back.

Thanks for stopping by here today.

Would you do me a favor?

If you're one of the people who stop by here on a regular basis, would you pass this site on to a couple of friends who might enjoy coming here as well. We're gonna have some stuff coming up that will need a little help from all of you to, y'know, spread the word. Might as well start now. Also... if you're new here... WELCOME!

The trip to Washington DC on Monday was a great success if you ask me. We met a couple of wonderful people who seem truly enthusiastic about the concert we're planning for January to help the the families of those ordinary, non-military people who've been killed in Iraq and the civilians, especially the children, who are being so horribly injured in the war.

Our meeting at CIVIC (the organization that was started by Marla Ruzicka) was great! This is a small but committed group of people who are making a real difference in this world. April Pedersen, who is a long time friend of Marla, has picked up the ball since Marla was killed and is running with it.

April Pedersen of CIVIC

We are going to help her do the work that Marla started. She's cool... and, a real person who "gets it". We're also gonna try to put her in touch with Elissa Montanti, who I've been writing about in recent weeks. This concert in January will be helping Elissa's Global Medical Relief Fund, too. (Hey! Both April and Elissa might actually head out to "the Hill" one of these weekends. I'll let you know more about that, soon.)

Anyway, back to the trip yesterday...

Later in the afternoon we were at the Hart Sentate Office building to meet with Tim Rieser in Senator Pat Leahy's office. He's one of the "good guys"... y'can just tell. (Well I can, anyway.) We kicked around some ideas for this concert, and really got into exactly what we are trying to accomplish with it. We even discussed the concept of setting it up a little like the songwriter's circle I do in the Village every month... talked about a couple of "name" artists he might approach about being a part of it.

It's all good.

So, then I walked around the capitol until I found a grassy lawn where I could set up with my guitar and play a few tunes before heading back to New York City. Didn't gather much of a crowd, though... couple of guys with automatic weapons. (And, they didn't seem to dig Cat Stevens lyrics.) So, I decided to pack up and just head home.

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If you wanna know what all the talk around this benefit concert is about... or, if you wanna get your heart around the spirit of the thing, here's a link to a recent update from this website.

Click here to get a general idea of what we're planning and why.

Y'know, there are alot of people who read this website in different parts of the country and different parts of the world. You're all welcome to jump in the "Forum" (message board) and kick things around with each other. Actually, you're welcome in there all the time. If you're new here, you might wanna look through the "Archives" at some of the past updates to see what goes on around here.

Y'know, you might wanna read the homepage updates from the past week or so. There are a couple thoughts and feelings in there that... well, I might be interested to read some of your reactions and feeling about.

Um... okay.

I've got a little music to kick around and a lot of phone calls to make and emails to respond to.

I'll be around here at the website this week... probably take a peek in the "Forum" over there. (Oh listen, I'm not doing "The Joey Reynolds Show" on the radio tonight. I'll do it another night, soon.)

If I don't see you at "Don't Tell Mama" tonight, I'll see you guys Friday night at the "Sunset Concert Series" on Pier 45 or at "The Hill" in Central Park on Saturday.

Thanks again.