i attended rehersals last week and Jimi Bones my stand in is doing fine Paul will probably take most of my parts...deal is this: im grieved that im gonna miss shows for the first time ever, im not going to Australia and i would appreciate it if any of you down there who read this would explain to any and all others that you might know who are going to the shows... the "official" due date for the baby is July13 but i gather that 'due dates' are just rough guesses also that first babies frequently are a little on the late side... im told however that we will be back to down to Oz fairly soon with the new record, (i recall the last time we were there that a lot of people werent even aware of the concerts, im presuming that this short tour is better advertised) i really have always had a great time there which is why im so split up about the timing of the whole thing (i hope you all know that i am truthful in these writings, it would be easy to just not comment, or bother talking about how i feel, but believe me this is a REALLY tough one for me and it just doesnt have any way to resolve without some major distress) the band is part of my personal identity and make up, debbie and i have known each other for thirty years in sept. of this year, we met in sept.'73 right when i came back from my second trip to the UK, similarly the kid is also a part of me and (i felt bad about leaving geepies two kittens to tour four years ago) i cant be absent from its arrival and first few weeks on earth... i've been planning to go to Japan for the four-five days in the beginning of Aug. but im leaving it open, it'll depend on how comfortable Barb is at the time...im also not gonna be at the US warm-up dates;they are right around the time the baby is due... i sincerely hope all of you get this as i really do love all of the fans a lot, ... when i get e-mails that say the writer is a teenager who has discovered blondie all at once or that the music helped them survive highschool, family horrors etc it is really a payment more than money for doing all the work... i could keep going but...its just been really a drag for me having to choose between two things that are such heavy positive factors in my life after all the band is certainly not 'business', the music is similar to creating life...
Jimmy D will be back for this next bunch of shows and i will be back in sept-oct for Europe and all else, we're hoping Barb may be able to come out with Akira for a week or so at a time
    the babys name is Akira no matter what its gender is, i know that Akira Stein sounds a bit like the name of an eastern country but that's it...'we' had three sonograms and it just wouldnt let anyone see its sex though both of us are pretty sure what it'll be it still is gonna be a surprise...
    just before we saw a goddam black bear(!) down the hill from the house, we'd been hearing that there are one or more around here but havent seen em yet, pretty great, it wasnt too big, was just walking along peacefully through the woods
  to be continued
      love
        chris