Less than two years ago, I performed solo in public for the first time in my life. This year, I performed at 19 different venues in 10 different cities. Not the stuff of world records, to be sure, but not bad for "Austin's oldest newbie musician."

Not counting the forty or so times I played at or hosted BB Rover's open mic nights, I played more than twice at seven of the aforementioned 19 venues and exactly twice at two of them.

With the help of Tommy Byrd at Byrd House Studio, I started the process of making my own CD. I also played cuatro on "Lady Lovely" for Paul Teneyuque's upcoming CD, North of the River.

Additionally, I managed to get back into songwriting with a dozen or so new songs, some of which are still cooking. I'm especially proud of "Eulogy" (formerly titled "Too Young to Quit Singing") and "Grandma's Star," both of which I plan to include on my upcoming CD.

Finally, the past year has really solidified my standing in the Austin Ukulele Society and the smaller Tuesday Uke Group. I've made a lot of new "four-string friends" in both groups. and I continue to marvel at how much I enjoy the uke and its Venezuelan cousin, my cuatro.

Looking forward to next year.

David Patrick Dunn accompanied Paul Teneyuque and me to our gig at The Watercrest in Bryan today. David played washtub bass for the first half of the show, and then he borrowed Paul's guitar to perform some of his own songs.

We ended the show with an acoustic version of my new tune, The Happy Christmas Song and a short holiday music medley. The crowd loved us.

After waving goodbye to David, Paul and me, my mother apparently lingered outside The Watercrest to admire the Christmas lights. We hadn't gone two miles before we got a call from her: She had tripped on a curb, fell down, and hit her face on the pavement!

We rushed back--just beating the EMS arrival--to find her on her back with a small, but actively bleeding cut above her right eyebrow. The area above her eye was already starting to bruise and swell.

After the EMS looked her over, she decided she was okay. Nothing seemed broken, and she didn't appear to have a concussion, so she went back upstairs and put an icepack on her eye. Once we were sure she was okay, we said goodbye again, and headed back to Austin.

I now refer to the incident as the moment when my mother "became unbalanced." --Smiley face with a wink.