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tuesday i saw a van across the street from homer’s that gave me flashbacks. it looked just like the one i drove in the late 1980′s. back then i delivered donuts before the sun came up. chris mull would join me when he couldn’t sleep. we would ride around industrial parks from 5 – 8 in the morning eating donuts, drinking coffee, and rocking out to the classic rock hits of 101.1 FM. flash forward to the present: it’s 30 years later & now i work on mondays making coffee before sunrise with chloé… chris’ daughter.

i stood on my head ’til my ears were turning red– but i finally sold the jeep! it only took 4 months, 6 test drives, and half the original asking price (i walked away with 40 $20 bills… you can do the math). breathe in. breathe out. sigh.

jenny & i heard jeremy messersmith sing monday you’re not so bad when he came through kansas city last october. he was doing a potluck / house concert tour, so we got to see him in someone’s living room. a music video for that same song went online in april & i’ve been meaning to post it for the last two weeks.

this is an entry about my time near the corner of 18th & wyandotte. i started making electronic noises 6 years ago in the crossroads art district. one night tom geeding and his daughter michele showed up, and asked “what the heck is going on here?” so i gave them each a gadget and we made crazy robotic sounds for the next two hours. this took place before i found out i could play vegetables like a keyboard. before beep goes the weasel there was mondo beep. it wasn’t music– but it sure was fun.

a quick sketch drawing of yours truly was unearthed about a month ago. ok, well, it wasn’t actually IN the earth, it was stowed away in the mull house. apparently a music fan drew it when chris & i were playing at homer’s years ago. one of our neighbors (barb) saw it and said, “you’ve put on a few pounds!” i wanted to say, “yeah my right arm is longer than it used to be too.”

last sunday josh fairman & i set up beep goes the weasel for day of creativity at the spencer museum of art in lawrence, ks. folks who attended were encouraged to “explore the intertwined relationships of art, science, people, and the plant world”
- from the field guide brochure
our table had carrots, bananas, spinach leaves, and a theremin. it got noisy from time to time, but every once in awhile a melody would break out. there was also an interactive display of plant molecules (pic above) just a few feet away.

the following is an exchange between president bartlet and his daughter after her college graduation. it’s from one of my favorite tv shows, the west wing: “Would you consider… instead of living in France with your boyfriend for 3 months… uhhh… staying here, living in your room and working as a candy striper? or surfing?”“a candy striper???”“or surfing! You could spend the summer working at a pet shop, we could play yahtzee, and watch movies at night–”“Dad, what fantasy is it that’s going through your head right now?” “what daughters would do their whole lives if I had my way.”

came across a photo from the white haven lobby. esther and sheila white were interviewed for a story about the white haven in 2010. by that time they had sold the business, but it stayed in operation for two more years. it’s still hard for me to believe this cool retro motor lodge is gone. walking into a room was like going back in time. esther credited her brother-in-law gene as “the creative one” when it came to decorating rooms. in that same interview she said, “He’s a shopaholic. If he saw something that he thought would look good in one of the rooms, he bought it.”

this is just a quick note to let readers know that i’m working on at least 3 blog posts that are guaranteed to make you go “huh?” and maybe “wow.” subject matter includes: the white haven, beeping at the spencer museum, beeping on 18th street, and a lost caricature.

these lockwood teenagers sang their hearts out on the MU campus in columbia friday morning. we were proud of all of them– especially my niece, marylynn. the crowd congestion that goes along with a statewide music festival almost kept me from hearing her solo– but i made it. afterward i found out that my mom cried the first time she heard marylynn sing this particular song.