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“…shine on me.” Those are lyrics from a Blind Willie Johnson song recorded in the late 1920′s. Yesterday The Enduros played it in church. There’s something very satisfying about playing with a group of guys that are willing to jump off any musical cliff that our 5 piece collective is racing toward. Every once in awhile there’s a hiccup or a missed chord, but these guys aren’t chicken– they will stay in the car with me even when it’s in a free fall, and headed for the rocks. Here’s a little sample of our pre-service music– minus a death defying cliff hurdle.

Dinovember is here again. It’s the time of year when Refe & Susan Tuma wreck their home in the name of fun and creativity. In past years the Kansas City couple have photographed plastic dinosaurs around overturned cereal bowls and unwound toilet paper rolls. This year it looks like the dinosaurs are finally seeing consequences to their actions. Check out more cool pics on their website.

Skottie Young drew this version of Charlie Brown and posted it on instagram yesterday. He’s a professional cartoonist right here in KC! We were both at the Midland Theater to see John Cusack two weeks ago. He came up and said “hi!” after the Q&A session. It turns out that he’s a regular customer at Homer’s. Now we talk every time he comes in for coffee. Yesterday I found his website. This guy is super talented.

Get ready for a peek behind the curtain… most mornings my routine is:
1) Plug both phones into their chargers
2) Feed Max
3) Warm up coffee in the microwave
4) Look out the front door window with Max
5) Drink coffee & do the crossword
After taking a picture of the last list item on the list, an old Neil Sedaka song popped in to my head… only with different lyrics. This is what I heard.

Yesterday one of my dry humored friends was telling me about de-motivational posters that crack him up. They are the sort of posters that encourage someone to embrace mediocrity instead of aiming higher. While I agreed it was funny, I also thought it was depressing– so I nodded, smiled politely, and showed him InspiroBot images like the one above. He said “I don’t get it.” I tried to tell him that sometimes there’s nothing to “get,” there’s just some dissected random bits of inspiration juxtaposed to stock photos. I haven’t blogged about this since last winter. When the days get shorter and optimism get darker, I’d rather get weirder.

One month ago I posted that work is underway on my latest project, THE EPILOGUE CABIN. There’s no hammering, sawing, or cursing at the moment but three interviews have been recorded, three more guests have agreed to be on the show, and my living room is resembling a recording studio minus the ON AIR sign. The first show is expected to go up before Christmas.

Two people taking a selfie on a boat tour. I know that’s what it looks like on the surface. This is actually something of greater importance though– it’s Dhruba and Andi on the Sea of Galilee! They are floating where Jesus walked!!! Andi has been sending us pics like these for a week now. They have been in Jerusalem most of that time enjoying the sights, sounds, and food around them. We just got off the phone with her a few minutes ago. They went floating in the Dead Sea earlier today, and were returning to their hotel.Oh hang on… the phone’s ringing again– it’s Andi!

My friend Matt Hawkins has been described as “a paper-toy-making, toy-designing, illustrating, banjo-picking, incessant doodler working away in an attic in Kansas City.” His latest production is Words, Notes, and Drawings of Animals, a book that has all 3– plus a CD and a sticker! I listened to the CD while I did the dishes yesterday, it was great! I’m not sure where I’m gonna put the sticker. To see more stuff that Matt makes go here.

Life is funny. Things can go one way and then detour to go another way. A coin gets tossed and a choice is made. Hands make fists and someone says “eeny meeny meiny mo.” Hunter S. Thompson found Doomed Love at the Taco Stand, and I found free beer at the sausage stand! I wasn’t even looking for it! It happened last Saturday when I drove to Werner’s to grab some lunch. Tom was grilling sausages, and said “there’s a self serve keg behind the food truck.” They were celebrating an anniversary, but I can’t remember what it was. I was too busy enjoying my good fortune!

I shook hands with one of my favorite actors last Friday night. 30 years ago John Cusack played Lloyd Dobler in the movie, Say Anything. He was the guy who didn’t want to buy anything, sell anything, or process anything for a career, he just wanted to date Diane Court (Ione Skye), and be a kickboxer. Cusack came to Kansas City for a 30th anniversary screening of Say Anything. During the Q & A session that followed the movie we found out that he actually learned how to kickbox for his role, and he’s still kickboxing today.It was fun to watch the movie with other fans who cheered, laughed, and clapped at all the right parts. When it was time for the audience to ask questions, I got behind one of the microphones and asked how his character might evolve in a sequel… has Lloyd Dobler changed or stayed the same since 1989? I felt super conspicuous. I had taken off my blazer & I was dressed like Lloyd in one of the scenes from the movie:Cusack didn’t seem to notice the similarity, and he really didn’t have an answer to my question except for saying “I don’t know… I don’t do sequels. They would probably get somebody else to play that part.”