Monday: Physically she may be all woman, but in spirit, transgender singer-songwriter and harpist Baby Dee occupies a place halfway between Rufus Wainwright and Joanna Newsom. Her pillow-soft falsetto may strike you as comical at first, but then the emotion of her delivery begins to stick and the brilliance of her songwriting becomes readily apparent. Tonight, she visits the Triple Door, a perfect venue for her affecting cabaret ballads. The fine local folksinger David Karsten Daniels shares the bill.

Tuesday: In Russia, circus runs away to join you. Forgive me the Smirnoff reversal, comrade, but in this case it seemed appropriate: The Moscow Circus performs at the Kirkland Performance Center through Wednesday, and as far as I know Kirkland is at least 25 miles from Russia, so technically they did have to run away to be here. Anyway, it looks like a fun, family-friendly production -- no animals, just acrobats, jugglers and puppeteers, presented on a proscenium stage. Wrap the kids for a Siberian winter and trek across the frozen tundra of the Eastside to meet your Russian neighbors.

Wednesday: You may delight in the too-easy pastime of blasting holes in Bono or go to lengths to deny the band's influence ("I see Snow Patrol as more of an upbeat Velvet Underground"), but I know the truth: You'll probably check out U2's 3-D concert film at the Pacific Science Center's IMAX Theater sometime this week. Maybe you'll even go tonight, in a disguise of Bono-style shades and fake mullet wig. As the man said, I will follow.

Thursday: The Three Imaginary Girls have gone too far this time. Once again, those electric Barbarellas have coaxed dozens of local musicians into "Dancing on the Valentine." Formerly a notorious Duran Duran covers night, this year the program expands to include music by other bands -- songs one might have heard at a "Valentine's Day dance, circa 1985!" Yikes. That pastel-colored umbrella is big enough to include not only Duran Duran but the Thompson Twins, Dead or Alive, Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy... I have to admit that I find the whole idea kind of terrifying, but I'm sure that Central Services, C'mon C'mon, The Femurs, Hotels, Bre Loughlin, Ms. Led, Peter Parker, DJ Danger Nun and the top-secret guest stars will have little difficulty finding treasure in the dark.

Friday: Now in its sixth year, the Seattle Festival of Improv Theater brings together formidable improv troupes from all over the country. Although every troupe has a different schtick -- a mock Presidential campaign, a Hope and Crosby "road movie," a Frank Miller-style noir -- they all have one thing in common: Virtually none of the parties involved have a definite idea of what they're actually going to do onstage this evening. The potential for belly laughs and train wrecks is just mind-blowingly high.

Saturday: The Drive-By Truckers crash into Showbox at the Market tonight. There are three reasons you should park your own rig in the joint for the evening: One, the band made "Southern Rock Opera," which as far as I know is the only two-disc alt-country concept album in all creation; the band's last record, "A Blessing and a Curse," was one of the best albums of 2006; and their new record, "Brighter Than Creation's Dark," is already in the Swedish top 40. Ja!

Sunday: The Varsity Theatre presents two feature-length packages of this year's Academy Award Nominated Short Films. This is an excellent chance (and probably your only chance) to see some terrific animated and live-action films by up-and-coming talents.

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