I’m a baby writer, and I’m just finding a voice, and learning the skills. But I’m very excited to continue making posts.

When I first got to Philly from Miami one of the first things I set off to cross off of my to-do list was to write a little program that automates the creation of a new blog post, and sets up a little writing area on my computer.

The hope is that I’ll be able to more quickly put things up here on this blog, document my trip better, and become better at writing (because who doesn’t love skill acquisition? Most people probably. I dunno. I love skill acquisition, though.).

I’ve also been writing a more comprehensive recounting of this trip and its genesis. So much interesting shit has happened, it has been hard to cut things out. I’ll find a way to tell a good story, though. Or else someone will have the fortitude to muscle through my rantings and write a better version than I could. I wouldn’t protest!

A quick catch-up though: I just played twenty-two serenades between Miami and Philly. I’m setting off for California on Thursday, with many more serenades to do between here and there.

I’ve been sleeping in a little camper I built in my truck. It’s been nice. Also, I bought the truck while I was stranded in Florida. Also, I got stranded in Florida for three months because I hurt my hand while trying to build a camper from scratch. Suffice it to say that missteps were abundant.

And they’ll probably continue to be! I’ll have a lot of opportunities to misstep in the coming months…

This Thursday I’ll be pushing off for Los Angeles, California. I’ve got serenades booked along the way, but if I don’t make a bunch of bookings, I’ll be in dire straits.

The thing is… When I originally planned this trip, it was easy: make my way to the west coast; set up shop in LA for the winter; come back to Philly.

Serenades were to spread joy and pay the way.

Now the whole point is to spread joy and pay the way, and there’s no setting up shop. So margins have grown quite thin.

Still, I have a lot of serenades to do, and a lot of joy to spread, and a lot of growing up to do, and a lot of time to pass. So the plan persists. And also it’s morphed.

Now I’m just circumnavigating the country doing serenades. Then landing back in North Central Florida, where I’ve left a storage locker filled with stuff and an unfinished camper. I’ll finish building the camper this coming winter, and resume a more conventional lifestyle in the spring of 2022.

Now all I need to do is survive this cockamamie adventure. Wish us luck.

On a brighter note, the banner image for this post is a cake that my dear friend Hayley bought to celebrate the first in-person hang at her house since the pandemic started. Last night there were five of us around her dining room table eating so much garbage and playing board games. I will never forget how it felt to be surrounded by some of my favorite people after all this mess. ::gestures vaguely::

And with that, I’m off. ❤️

To book me for a serenade, head over to the Dottie's Serenade Service website and fill out the form . <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/u0bdwmkjmqld9l2/dbx-supporting-distributed-work.gif?dl=0” class="dropbox-embed”

Here are some of my upcoming serenade openings:

• Baltimore
  • June 4th, 4pm
• Washington DC
  • June 6th, 11a-12p
  • June 6th, 3-6p
  • June 7th, 11a-5p
• Asheville
  • Times TBA - two openings
• Knoxville
  • Times TBA - four openings
• Jackson, MS
  • Times TBA - two openings
• Austin, TX
  • Times TBA - one opening
• Phoenix, Tucson
  • Times TBA - four openings
• Albuquerque
  • Times TBA - two openings
• Las Vegas
  • Times TBA - four openings
• Los Angeles
  • Times TBA - Late June/early July
  • I’m gonna be here a couple weeks so: LOTS of openings!

Talk soon! ❤️