George Bailey for a Day

it was my 46th birthday yesterday, and i got over 70 “happy birthday’s” on my facebook wall. i felt like george bailey at the end of it’s a wonderful life.

More Vacation Pics


i was told recently that i didn’t put enough vacation pics up… really? unless there is a celebrity standing next to someone’s uncle joe, i’m usually not interested in other family photos. i have to be in the right mood. ok, ok… the pics are from the dance at reunion saturday night (left) the old style tavern on the square in marengo (middle) and a family grave tour going back over a century (right)

here we have a sunset on lake michigan (left) another shot from the dance (middle) and a partial alligator sand sculpture (right)

Mojo the Cat

mojo used to be quiet all the time. he used an economy of meows. recently he started meowing in the morning when i’m on the computer. sometimes his meows are almost human, like he wants some attention. so i give him some attention, and he ignores me. cats are a mystery.

The Hundred Degree Beep


the heat index meant nothing at first fridays last night. mondo beep had the most participants since its debut in january when it didn’t even have a name. thanks to laura for making my sign, to sandy and mark for bringing water, to trista and rebekah for crowd control. thanks to tim for the CD’s (can’t wait to hear them!), and to anna and both zachs for hanging out and making noise.

Heat Schmeat

tomorrow night i’m throwing caution to the wind (even if it’s a hot one), and i’m going to the crossroads art district for first fridays. i’ll be on 18th street just east of 18th and wyandotte (a few doors down from YJ’s) from 6 to 7:30… maybe 8 if i can stand it. i’ll have two new gizmos in my arsenal: a drum looping t-shirt and a circuit bent v-tech toy. if my canteen runs out of water, i’m depending on a few good pedestrians for a refill.

Scenes From Our Trip

came back home sunday after going to the 40th herman family reunion and camping out on the dunes of lake michigan. these are just a few mental images to sum up the trip:

tim’s hundred dollar mohawk, the friendly goat known as boss, the spastic surf dog known as rufus, sunsets, dunes, and abandoned cars.

On Vacation

had a great time at the herman family reunion. the weekend ended on a high note with smokehouse playing awesome dance music. we drove to lake michigan sunday night and the weather is awesome. we’ll have some great stories and photos when we get back.

Bent on the Bends

after a few searches online, i’m pretty sure that no one has bent the circuits on the little smart driver toy– at least they haven’t made a video about it, and benders usually do. so this is new ground, uncharted territory, the road not taken… you get the idea. the first weird noise i got on this thing sounded like a melting ice cream truck followed by a crazy glitch.

Little Smart Driver

ever since i started circuit bending, i always look for old electronic toys at garage sales and thrift stores. it’s been awhile since i saw something good, but today i found this at savers. here are some of the normal sounds it currently makes:
the start up
VGES
humpty dumpty song
blue triangle yellow circle
accelerate decelerate

I Bring Sand…

…to one particular ocean of videos that other gadgeteers have made before. what? you don’t believe me? search for drum machine t-shirt videos and you’ll see what i mean, but first check out my grain: