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the leaves are finally falling & i’m almost halfway through my fall residency at the central resource library. the next thing on my agenda will be hosting a teeter totter workshop at the makerspace. some people have asked me “how are you gonna do that?” my answer is “i don’t know.” honestly, this will be a group effort. i’m gonna pick a few brains & get some direction… speaking of which, i’ve driven past this sign on antioch over 700 times in the last 10 years alone– yeah, i did the math. i never really noticed it until i started my teeter totter project.

jenny & i drove to westport tuesday night to be part of a supper club tour that jeremy messersmith played from omaha to eau claire this week. when i asked if we could have our picture taken w/him, he said “sure!” and held out his arms so we could be on either side. it was a potluck dinner/house concert so everyone that bought tickets also brought a couple of dishes to eat. here’s a few seconds that a friend recorded of our experience that night.

last saturday the library let loose with a big fundraiser. people got dressed up, and the talk and listen teeter totter was the first thing they saw at the main entrance. some attendees were curious and asked about it, but most of them were in a hurry to get inside when it started storming. ross and kitch were excellent teeter totter riders. they had wireless microphones & took turns asking weird questions and giving weirder answers. ross’ daughter grace even helped moderate with a bullhorn.there were many cool things to experience that night like drinking cold brew from an electric coffee car, and listening to great music, but the best part was sharing it all with jenny! she didn’t even mind that i sorta looked like art carney.

molly posted this on facebook last night. it was her birthday (happy belated!), so naturally she fed fernando a smoked salmon roll. when i commented on how funny this was, she replied “i mean, it’s not like he has opposable thumbs with which to use the chopsticks himself….” i love you molly.

tom geeding & i used to post on another blog years ago under assumed names. he was skeeter and i was carlo, we were basically the country mouse and the city mouse. here’s a peek into that past:
August 25, 2005
Naval beans started with a chill and a pan,
No one can cream a mushroom can,
I dodged a skillet, but I came out scathed
My reflexes weren’t fast so I stopped and I bathed.
- Carlo
I can see why Mrs. Carlo doesn’t let you cook much. Personally, I like to burn the remains of dead animals overall fiery hot coals until these remains are as charred as the coals themselves. Mrs. Skeeter does not let me cook much either.
- Skeeter
—-
August 17, 2005
I just killed four fat flies… is it autumn already?
- Carlo
I just saw four fat women in spaghetti straps and low rider jeans, blobs oozing everywhere … unfortunately, it is still summer.
- Skeeter
—-
August 09, 2005
…had this been an actual emergency you would have been instructed to seek shelter, loot stores, and pack heat.
- Carlo
Packing heat is cool unless someone else is packing heat while you’re packing heat which can really heat things up until one of you ends up cold.
- Skeeter

i did some shopping at westlake before going to the makerspace today. they had brackets and screws. the makerspace had screwdrivers and a glue gun so i could stick gauges and knobs on wood panels. i’m going to hang them on the side of a big teeter totter a week from saturday. more details can be found on days at the makerspace.

the pontiac is a short spoken track from a 3-CD set that tom waits released 11 years ago. it feels more familiar than a gas pedal under my right foot. so click here, close your eyes, and just like me you’ll be sitting with someone’s dad in a greasy spoon near a bus stop on memory lane.

on my way to the makerspace this morning i saw something that made me smile: a white 1964 falcon. for me, it was a sign that i was gonna have a good day. now it’s 7 hours later and i have learned how to do more things at the makerspace, made significant accomplishments on my teeter totter project, and i met some people that are going to help me make the big teeter totter look visually cool. that old falcon was right.

today’s post is a continuation of one i made back in march about saturday mornings. if you read yesterday’s entry & listened to the slow industrial mp3 i put on there, you probably need a “pick me up” here it is.

saturday we’d wake up at seven
wishin’ it was eight
that’s when we could watch cartoons
we were never late

overture
hit the lights
this is it the night of nights
we never wanted it to end

nobody waits today
everybody has a phone
i’ll build a time machine
on my saturdays at home

eatin’ cereal
in my pajamas
got a remote
in my right hand

don’t have to get up
until i shower
and that won’t be
til sometime after noon

scott thompson gave me a banjo last sunday. he paid $20 for it at a garage sale down in branson, but after the novelty wore off he asked “do you want it?” i took it before he could change his mind. now i’ve never played the banjo before, but i could still come up with a little riff to put on this song that needed something. the lyrics might be hard to make out in some places, so i’ll show them here:

he was swingin’ through the trees
with a rhythm that was far from human
but the little furry creatures ran for cover
when he hit the ground

he moved with purpose
like a new car still in the factory
you could hear him yodel like a train
on his way into town

he was the stuff of legend
but he was just a man
he didn’t need a reservation
he could sit wherever he wanted

he knows where the bodies are buried
because he put ‘em there
but they all had it coming
everybody makes a choice

don’t look him in the eye
unless you wanna die
you better count to ten
before you do it again