We’re on dinner break from NYUkefest. We perform in an hour and a half. I just finished altering my dress, talk about close deadlines!!!

I am having SO much fun. So much. The other performers are such cool people. I talk too much which is sometimes a problem, but when it comes to meeting people I’ve only met once before, it’s really a benefit to just blurt out hellos before I wonder if I’m overstepping my boundaries. Friendly is the right side of things if I guess wrong, so that part is going just fine. Everyone is great, so friendly and wonderful, and everyone just gets along well, it’s as ideal as it could be.

Mom called, she and Fred made it to New York this afternoon but will come in to the East Village just in time for the show. They know people here so they have more than one thing to juggle in their short time in the city.

It will be SO good to have Mom in the audience. I always am glad that our relationship is so nice these days and how she really seems to be my best fan. I do always miss my father, who taught me to sing harmony and introduced me to the concept of syncopation, which is a very important part of the early jazz I prefer to sing (from the 1920s).

I’m grateful for this cafe. The name of the place is Chomp! and it’s at 196 Second Avenue near 12th Street, on the east side. It’s a new place, a very fresh-food, friendly place, all the sauces are made in house, and the owner is really enthusiastic. And we got connected to the internet relatively easily, which was really great given our difficulties elsewhere.

Off to sing. It will be a good evening.