The Optimist Has Returned

Despite the soggy, windy, waterlogged day, The Optimist has returned.

I just got in from rehearsing at Julia’s apartment on 2d Street and Avenue B. It’s a little lived-in place with odds and ends in every nook and cranny: masks from around the world, rubber flies and spiders, shelves and shelves of CDs (from Dumbhead to Dvorjak) and books (“Trainspotting” to “The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay”).

She had done her homework, so we banged out the set in no time. Her cello lends every song and extra dose of melancholy (as if they needed it), and grace. Tod’s percussion will balance everything out. And I can assure you that our set-closing cover will lift everyone’s spirits. It’s going to be a really cool show. I’m psyched.

But there’s more. ShellyBay Music’s Michelle Bayer is going to begin pitching my songs to television and film music supervisors for licensing. It may not be lucrative right away, but it sure would be cool to hear, say, Jennifer Aniston singing along to “Summer’s Gone” in the last episode of “Friends.” Or at least to watch those bratty “Real World” kids in some funk as “Maybe, Maggie” plays in the background.

We’ll see…