Stand up, sit down

I've been silent for a bit. Quiet time. Have been putting the finishing touches on my second novel.
I'm experimenting with stand-up comedy. Did some 'gigs' (is that an impossibly wannabe young word, i wonder) here and there. Wondering what to name my act. Thought of Angina Monologues, given that I turned 50 recently.
Never a dearth of material for stand-up. A prime source of funny absurdity currently comes from my interactions with Indian publishers, especially those residing north of the Vindhyas. I've been on a hilarious roll with them from last May. More about them in my next gig.
Suffice it to say that when you encounter a Young Indian publisher (YIP) with your manuscript, you feel you should stop writing, and when you meet normal people with your writings - readers, bloggers, other writers, listeners - you feel that you should do nothing but write. The non sequitur conversations and emails that I have exchanged over the last some time with the YIP, as well as the sepulchral silences between me and the YIP would have been frustrating and joyless, if they were not so wildly absurd. Rich fodder for the stand-up.
My first stand-up I did sitting down. Yes. I felt that it was a bit much expecting people to watch you pacing like that hapless shark in the Tardeo aquarium tank. However, everyone was of the opinion later that I simply should have stood up. Which then gave me an opportunity to go check out nice soft-soled shoes that wouldnt go click-clack tok-tok while I stood up and shuffled around. I bought several pairs.
April 1 is my next gig (someone thought it was a good thing to do on All Fools Day).
This is not quite the right moment to say this, but I've been quiet on the blog a while because my brother passed away and a couple of months later my old Da too. The Reaper's cut quite a swathe through my family, and there's now just my sister and me. The oddest feeling. Tomorrow will be a month since my father's passing. Fortunately not in a hospital, but peacefully at home. My dad had a loud ringing laugh and the angel-voice of K.L. Saigal. It is barely bearable that we won't hear it again.