I'll be performing a new song as part of a literary event called "The Underdog."

It's part of a larger "Rec Room Series," and is hosted by my friend and fellow author Gretchen Kalwinski.

Basically, it's Cinco de Mayo. and Chicago is the second city. So Gretchen invited a bunch of writers, actors and musicians to perform an original underdog-inspired piece.

TIME: 8 p.m., May 5, 2010

PLACE: Black Rock Bar, 3614 N. Damen Ave., Chicago, Ill.

ALSO PERFORMING: Jessica McCloud, Cynthia Castiglione, James Kennedy, Fred Sasaki, Jacob S. Knabb, Steve Heisler, Scott Judd and Jennifer Brandel.

By the way, my song is tentatively titled, "Pop Song for Woody Guthrie to Sing."

My second set of stories is online and can be found here.

It includes a detail of the corruption that, along with the infrastructure, is being rebuilt in post-earthquake Port-au-Prince. It's particularly sad because supplies aren't getting to aid groups.

I also have a story about the United Sikhs, the humanitarian group in Haiti that makes and distributes up to 2,000 meals a day to the capital city's neediest people. The Sikhs were kind enough to supply me and my photographer a tent while we were on assignment there.

In case you're curious what that looks like in a country with no electricity or running water, check out this short video I made of their system.

I am happy to report the first week of my Haiti coverage is now online.

The main story is about Chicago-area doctors volunteering in Port-au-Prince with the post-earthquake medical relief effort. The second is an in-depth piece at a temporary hospital established in four tents in the corner of the airport. The medicine they're doing there is primitive, but it's better than what existed before.

I also wrote a first-person essay I wrote about my experience in Haiti, where I toured tent cities, displaced orphanages and marketplaces.

Next Thursday will bring another set of stories and photos, which I will gladly share with you.

My brief trip to Haiti generated tons of notes, photos and video for me to sift through and edit. The package of stories is scheduled to run in two parts, April 15 and 22. I will post the links here once everything is published.

In the meantime, I thought I'd post this video I made.

Tomorrow I leave for Haiti, to cover a group of local doctors from Evanston who are traveling to help in the earthquake relief effort. It's my first bit of international journalism, and I couldn't be more excited.

I'll be there for five days, returning late Saturday night. It's still pretty rough conditions there, obviously. I'll be sleeping in a tent in one of the medical base camps. I bought a special bug-proof sleeping bag for the occasion. And the lack of electricity means taking lots of batteries. (No laptop on this trip. I'll be taking notes the old fashioned way -- pen and paper.)

It's rainy season there, and in the mid-90s every day. That means lots of mosquitos, which transmit malaria. Since the trip was so short-notice, I wasn't eligible for the anti-malaria vaccine. Instead, I'm taking pills every day.

But other than that, I'm pretty excited. I'll be powered up on power bars and ready for anything.

And once I return and the stories are published, I'll link to them here.