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This Gumby has been riding with me since I got my driver’s license in 1982.  My best friend in high school brought him back from a trip he took to California.  I hung him (Gumby not Phil) on the rearview mirror of my first car, a 1974 Dodge Dart Swinger, and he’s either been on the mirror or in the glove compartment of every vehicle I’ve owned since then.  I captured this moment at Shawnee Mission Park after a dentist appointment.  It was still a little cool by the lake at noon, but me and Gumby drove around until it got up to the 70′s.

Mom, I think your chairs in the sunroom are a knock-off version of an insanely sturdy chair that was created in war time.  I recently discovered that in the 1940′s  Wilton C. Dinges designed an aluminum chair for the U.S. Navy that was “fireproof, waterproof, lightweight and strong enough to survive a torpedo blast.”  You can hear or read the story on 99% Invisible.

Who is Invader?  He is a creative force that mounts and displays a wide variety of 8-bit art all over the world.  The one pictured above literally orbits the world inside a satellite.  I can’t remember how I heard about Invader, but it had to be a podcast.  He has been leaving his pixelated presence since 1998.  Check his work out here.

Marijo told us The Everly Brothers’ childhood home is in Shenandoah, IA.  She drove by one of the signs for it on her way down from Lincoln.  I looked it up and Jenny & I could jump in the car and be there in 2 1/2 hours!  All these years I had no idea I was this close to it.  Now all I have to do is dreeee-eee-eeeam until we make a daytrip up there.

The 5th episode of AUDIO FLARE GUN is up!  Many thanks to the recording artists who sent their work, or made it available in the public domain.  It feels great to flip the switch that turns on the LIVE ON AIR neon sign (thanks Mom!) and make all of this happen.  Click here to listen to the show that feels “earth-y” and “space-y.”

We love the sun here in the Midwest– at least we love it now because it’s a welcome change.  The daytime highs just got above freezing two weeks ago.  We’ll love the sun until we start complaining about it again like we do every year.  Eventually someone will say something when it’s 10 degrees warmer than they think it should be.  Later in August we will all step outside and our bodies will feel like unwashed waffle irons soaking in a steam bath.  And we’ll smell like them too.  I’ve never understood complaints about the weather.  We’ll welcome the cloudy days and cooler temps in September– but right now we love the sun.

Your suit could tear, you could get a concussion, you could dislocate your shoulder, you could hurt someone else if you land wrong… BE CAREFUL!!!  These are the voices in my head.  Obsessing about potential dangers, injuries, and humiliations can suck all the fun out of life.  It’s the first day of March & soon the weather will be warm enough to splash next to a nun at the pool.  I pray for the courage and spontaneity to do just that.  Amen.

Goodbye potholes.
Goodbye chalky salted roads.
Goodbye homeless mice trying to keep warm in MY house.
Goodbye dripping faucet overnight so my pipes don’t freeze.
Goodbye arctic wind blowing through the cracks in the doors and windows.
Goodbye being too cold to stand by the gas pump so I climb back inside my truck while the tank fills.
Goodbye 4 feet of snow pushed aside by snow plows & covering the sidewalk that forces me to play chicken with cars and trucks in the street.
Goodbye February.

The kids on this album were recorded almost 50 years ago.  They were in grade school & I could have been one of them if I lived in Canada back then.  The honesty, longing, and earnest songs are amazing in my opinion.  I can even imagine my dad at the helm.  I know he enjoyed this kind of participation from his students.  You can click here to listen to and/or purchase Innocence & Despair.

Saw this on Bluesky…