Hi. Hi hi hi. I'm here. I went to the Sacred Harp convention here in Northampton. There were 300 singers there, singing from 9:30 to 3:30 Saturday and Sunday (with an hour for potluck lunch). It was pretty frickin' great. I have had shape-note songs running through my head all day. Right now it's the good one that was in Cold Mountain (And am I born to die? To lay this body down?). I managed to make some small talk with people during the many breaks, though there were times I just kind of didn't talk to anyone. Which was fine. I'm adverse to small talk, what can I say. Anyway, if any of you readers out there are interested in this shape-note singing thing, there's going to be a singing lesson this Tuesday at the Hartsbrook School in Hadley, from 7 - 10 p.m. No experience neccessary. The first half will be the lesson, second half will be straight-up singin'. Talking like an impoverished Appalachian is optional.

In other news, a good friend of mine had to have mouth surgery recently, and as such can only eat soft, lukewarm or cold foods for two weeks. Anyone have a favorite Jello salad recipe? I want to throw a soft-foods party for my friend, but he may not want the attention. In fact, this post may be too much...