davidcedillo.com

years ago someone showed me how to record vocal and instrument tracks right on my computer. i went through a prolific phase where any idea that popped in my head would usually turn into a song. here’s one that i did during that period:
MONSTER IN THE MIST
he walked like a cat outside the window
he always took his time
at the end of the day
when the sun went down
he was still walkin’
head in the clouds
dreamin’ about
motel neon
desert phone booths
some scratchy records
old arcades…

sometimes he sees it
like a monster in the mist
he knows it’s only real to him
a clap of thunder
and his clothes are getting wet
he knows it’s only real to him

and here’s a track that joshua fairman and i recorded sunday after eating jack in the box tacos & hanging out at the arcade.

here’s the truck i bought last week. it’s rear wheel drive, 5-speed manual, and there’s a hand crank to roll the windows down. i picked up the maroon shell friday afternoon. a guy up in gladstone was giving it away.

i hosted my first workshop in the makerspace last thursday. 5 people came. i was hoping for 6. they all played the simon game on the makey makey, and later i talked to a couple of them about my teeter totter project & communication goals. this thursday i will host another workshop in which i show people how to 3D print a teeter totter & laser cut cartoon heads. we’ll also talk about the importance of communication, and then i’ll give away at least 3 teeter totters & six heads.

a few nights ago barb & john, our neighbors, invited us over for dinner. it was good timing because we didn’t know what we were going to eat. barb made a delicious vegetable stew. later they were showing us the room where they keep exotic frogs in a terrarium, and jenny asked if she could hold one. i was really surprised when it didn’t jump off, john said “yeah, they’re pretty chill.”they told us that it’s really cool at night when they make those frog sounds. it must be like summer in their house all year round.

he’s not a juggler, but he looks like he’s done this before. wilson helped me gather infant mannequins last thursday after a CPR class. i always tell students, “please don’t grab the babies by the head, because they WILL come off– and then you’ll have nightmares, and i’ll get yelled at.” but someone almost always does it anyway. this guy rose to the challenge like a superhero to make sure none of the heads came off that night. thank you wilson.

3 workshops are coming to the JoCo Makerspace this december!
Giant Multiplayer Simon game – Dec. 7 @ 4pm
“You said it, I heard it, is that what you said?”
Come talk and play with Maker in Residence Dave Cedillo (hey that’s me!) we’ll chat about communication, conversation and collaboration from active listening, and learn how to turn almost anything into video game controllers with Makey Makey and make video games with Scratch.
Laser-cut teeter-totter – Dec. 14 @ 4 pm
“Up and down, back and forth, to and fro, stop and go”
Bring your best friend, your grown-up or your child and learn to make laser-cut and 3D-printed objects. You’ll learn how to build and customize your own teeter-totter tool to resolve differences, and better understand each other!
Speed-sketching phone game – Dec 21 @ 4pm
“We are not mind readers, we can be honest”
Come find out how well you can express yourself and listen to others using walkie talkies in a game of telephone and speed-sketching through the whole library!
***special thanks to Thomas Maillioux for his help producing these workshops!

johnny c’s pizza is closing for the last time tonight, so last night jenny & i thought we would beat the rush to eat there one more time & say goodbye– we were wrong. everyone else who is going to miss this little dive had the same idea, and there was a line all the way to the door. i don’t know cynthia rojas kernodle, but she has more stamina than me to wait 3 hours for nostalgic pizza.jenny and i went inside anyway to say goodbye to the owners, but they were swamped because of the massive throng of customers who began to rain insults and blows on us for cutting in line (just kidding, they really didn’t) so we took pictures of each other instead. gary and elizabeth introduced us to johnny c’s back in the 1980′s, and it’s been one of our favorite places ever since. i’ll miss their video & pinball games. we were lucky to have this little pizza joint for the last 35 years.

driving home from nebraska we caught the last part of an interview with greg boyle on the radio. it was amazing. i’m downloading it now so i can listen to the rest of it. boyle is a jesuit priest doing gang intervention in los angeles. krista tippett had him on her show, onbeing.org, a program that i first heard when she talked to glenn beck. that interview was an eye/ear opener also.

this thanksgiving weekend i recorded a song in western nebraska with my niece georgia. she normally plays guitar and sings, but when we were concocting this number i was singing & playing my guitar, and she was playing the theremin. she did sing with me at the end though.

ok, well the thanksgiving moment has passed, but we’re still lounging in the afterglow. hope everyone had a good time with family and friends.