Hey everyone...

Sorry I've been incommunicado for a few days. Busy with day job work, and have been spending my evenings and a lot of my weekend working on the top secret, hush-hush gift for my parents that I already mentioned. I don't dare say what it is here, because it would be just my luck that my Mom would pop in here and read it. When I set out to do this for them, I don't think I realized how much work would have to go into it. My brother (who went in with me on the gift) got off easily -- he just wrote a check to me for his half of the present. I'm the one doing all of the work on it though! I should have charged him more since my time is valuable, right?

So, I have no freebies right now. But I have a some admin stuff to mention/talk about, so here we go:

1) My map: I love it that so many of you have added yourselves to the map at the bottom of my blog. At the risk of sounding VERY dorky, I will say that about once a week, I just sit and watch it to see where everyone is. Yeah, that sounds just as dorky written out as it did in my head. Oh well. If you haven't signed onto my map to share with me where you are, I would love it if you did.

2) Showing the love: I have a list of reader's blog on the left side of my blog. This is just a reminder that I'd love to swap links with your blog if we haven't done so already. Comment or email me and let me know and I'll add your blog to my list! Let's share some traffic and I love being able to give you guys a shout-out too!

3) My CT: the oh-so-talented Melinda made me cry with her latest creation using my designs... Check this out:

Credits are here. It's a tribute layout to her Dad, who passed away recently. When I read the credits about when she took the photo and that coupled with the lyrics -- I was totally bawling. I love that you used my designs to preserve such an emotional and important memory, Melinda! WOW!

4) Ok, this isn't an admin thing at all. But I feel like talking about it and can't BELIEVE I haven't mentioned it sooner! You guys all know how much I love Neil Finn if you've been reading my blog for some time now. I've made no secret about it. His old band, Crowded House, has reformed and they have a new album coming out in July and a tour to boot. Full tour dates were just announced earlier this week, and my pal Cathy Zielske and I devolved into squealing teenagers over this announcement via a series of emails. She even blogged about the tour and her desire for tickets in the link I just used to her blog in the last sentence. So yes, she and I are on the prowl for tickets. Excellent seats. Just different shows. I hope to go to both NYC shows, as well as Philly, while she is hitting Minneapolis and possibly Chicago. So, does anyone have any connections? I got so spoiled the last time I saw Neil on tour solo -- I scored front row seats via a fluke that I don't think I could repeat in a million years. I've been officially spoiled and I want to be spoiled again. My only hope is that my pal, who is doing PR for this record, can hook me up with after-show passes. That, my friends, would lead to hollering in addition to the squealing.

What's really funny is that the tour dates were announced the same day I'd just had a dream that Cathy met me for lunch in NYC and we ended up having lunch (in the dream) with Neil Finn and his publicist (who is a friend of mine IRL). And when I relayed said dream to Cathy, her response was three words: "best. dream. ever." I would have to agree, although some fairly hot dreams I've had in the past about Adrian Paul from Highlander: The Series might be in serious contention for "best dream ever" status. I have to think that going to see a show with Cathy would be one of the funnest things ever. And no, we've never met in person. We just obsess (errr... admire mightily) together via email. I love it that she gets it when I talk about Neil. {cyber hugs for Ms. Z}

What is really funny is that a writer I've known for a number of years because of my day job -- one who works at a major metropolitan daily newspaper (city and name shall not be spoken to protect her identity as I am happy to admit my dorky behavior but will protect her in this public arena) is also a HUGE fan and she emailed me and said:

"I think when they play NYC/{her city here} we might need to meet up and indulge our utter CH geekiness."

Unfortunately, their show in her city is the same night that I am going to see The Police here in NJ. Otherwise, I was seriously considering a little road trip to her city to behave in a manner befitting someone less than half my age with another person close to my age. I'll have to see if she'd consider coming to NYC instead. Poor Mike has already gotten to see me do the giddy teenager thing when I went to see Duran Duran a few years ago with Melissa and my friend Jenn. We were like 14 year olds or something. He's very tolerant, but I feel that goes both ways since I'll be accompanying him to THREE Rush shows this summer. (Although I do really like Rush, so it's not like I'm barely tolerating going in the least... they put on an amazing live show.)

I can't decide if the fact that I still have this totally geeky fan thing going on with some bands is:

a) a bad thing, since I'm a professional in the music business and shouldn't behave in such a manner, or b) a good thing, because I've been in the business for over 16 years and I've managed to not be so jaded by it all that I can still GET this excited about music.

So anyway, that's my very long-winded way of saying I'm pleased as punch that my boy Neil will not only have new music out very soon, but he'll also be playing at a venue near me very soon. That's simply brilliant.