On the non-technical side...

Okay, the word is out. I can karaoke, and you don't have to get me drunk to do it.

I was at an industry conference for work, and the closing-night party was at a local micro-brewery. The bar had a nice selection of yummy beers, and they did a stand-up job in the kitchen. The half-dozen pool tables were busy with attendees, but the big draw for the private party, however, was the karaoke machine. While I was late to that part of the party—the weather outside was uncommonly nice for early August—I jumped right in to support the fun of the other attendees.

If you've never done karaoke, you should give it a try. If you have, you know that it's most fun when you get a whole group of folks—like a chorus—to perform songs that everyone will join in for.

But once you get warmed up, it's also energizing and exhilarating to find a song you know fairly well and can perform by yourself. I found She Caught the Katy by the Blues Brothers in the catalog, and did that one solo; I had a couple of dropped phrases—it's been a while since I listened to that song with any regularity—but on the whole, it was well-received.

And that kicked off a spate of other group songs where I was drafted to lead the chorus.

It was a lot of fun, and my previous theatre and voice training meant that I didn't lose my voice the next day even though most of the stuff we sang was a bit high for my natural range. I had my ego stroked a bit by all the compliments—which were very gratifying—but I also know that I'm gifted more with courage than musicality, so there won't be any "American Idol" auditions in the works.