davidcedillo.com

i was 17 when i read my first book by hunter s. thompson. i was browsing through some paperbacks in a joplin bookstore, and had no idea that a raw new style of literature and art were about to do a one two punch to my senses. that’s when i saw the ink splattered cover of the curse of lono. as i read thompson’s words, metaphors, and flashbacks it was like a familiar wolf howl, and it made me want to do write and howl like him. since that fateful day in the mall 34 years ago i’ve read many more stories by the man who invented gonzo journalism: doomed love at the taco stand, fear and loathing on the campaign trail ’72, and hell’s angels. most recently i checked out conversations with hunter s. thompson (above) from the library.

it’s been 5 years since i made a post about nicki bluhm and the gramblers. they recorded a series of songs while driving down the road back in 2012, and numbered each van session they posted on youtube. i love their version of hall & oates’ i can’t go for that, especially the kazoo solo.

i can make these picture panels that attempt to resemble still shots from a 1970′s TV commercial, but i am not sure how to market The Memory Horse. the amount of shampoo and conditioner that you might save would NOT offset the emotional trauma of a stalker horse that willingly walks in on you as you take a shower.

most branches of jenny’s family have been converging on marengo, iowa for 45 years like a biker gang going back to their favorite watering hole. the locals are used to it now, and they don’t bat an eye when a trailer full of kids rolls through the town square chanting WE ARE HERMANS, COULDN’T BE PROUDER IF YOU CAN’T HEAR US WE’LL YELL A LITTLE LOUDER. 1972 was the first year of the herman family reunion. this year there was a smaller turnout (86) but the ones that showed up said “so what?” and still had a good time.

mom used to sing this song to wake me (and my sister) up. it was usually when we had to be somewhere like school or church. when she finally broke through our unconsciousness barriers, we felt like the morning was ANYTHING but beautiful, and we both would moan “aw, c’mon mom!” but god bless her, my mother kept singing, kept at it, kept chiselling away at our rocky resistance because she knew that something beautiful was underneath. something that could be coaxed out by a song. thanks mom.

VBS is not an independent tv station, it stands for vacation bible school! and when i found out about the Maker Fun Factory VBS program last week, i volunteered beep goes the weasel to be a part of it. in five nights i played (and let the kids play) on celery sticks, carrot sticks, bell peppers, silverware, electric paint, and aluminum foil.

i met with the makerspace guys & signed a contract this week that says i will be the maker-in-residence at the library starting in september! one of them had a camera to take photos and said “i’m really not a photographer,” and i said “that’s ok, i’m really not a subject!” i’ll have access to a laser cutter, a 3-D printer, and a bunch of other tools and equipment i know practically NOTHING about!

i subscribe to a youtube channel called this is dan bell. one of dan’s playlists is the dead mall series. so far he has posted 39 videos of dead and dying malls in the US. his fascination with this bygone era surpasses my own. despite the sad decay, one of the cooler elements of his video collection are the songs played in the background, as if they are coming through the speakers IN the mall. it’s a music genre known as vaporwave, and these songs have just the kind of sound you would expect from a place trapped in the past: 1980′s-ish electronic synthesized mutant off pitch tunes that should be on a mixtape.

…that’s the question i asked myself when i was playing poker with robots one night. i looked at my watch and realized that 2 weeks had gone by. seriously, where did the time go? i guess i could list the actual events that have kept me from blogging, but i don’t want to put the serious ones next to the mundane. so in the meantime i’ll see your blue chip and raise you three white ones.

we cabin-camped at lake wedington again this year– even got the same cabin! here’s a little video to see what the inside looks like.