Halloween

35,000 people on State Street + $10/person just to enter State Street = a crapload of revenue for the city of Madison.


Happy Halloween to my Australian family from this guy dressed up as a kangaroo with a stuffed bunny in his pouch.

Mayer Hawthorne and the County

Catching a quick Korean meal with good friend John before the concert.

There is half a chicken carcass in that soup and it looks much better than it tasted.

Then off to see Mayer Hawthorne and the County at The Rathskeller. Intimate, energetic and awesome.

Mayer Hawthorne is one heck of a showman!

Highlight of the night, a pyschedelic rendering of "Green Eyed Love" replete with chunky guitar solo. Here's a little taste from a Sydney concert last January:

I am throughly enjoying the nu-soul movement currently coursing its way up the music scene.

Opening band was Gordon Voidwell. Light, energetic danceable new wave pop with heavy eighties overtones. Like Prince meets the Tom Tom Club.

... with two trap sets.

You know you still have a way to go as an artist when you are left to pack up your own equipment while the opener's crew is setting up on the stage you just finished rocking.

Great Start to a Week on the Road

Headed down to Madison again today with an SUV full of books to sell. Fifteen boxes to be exact. When the buyer asked me how $150 sounded, I answered, "About $25 short of the speeding ticket I was just issued driving down here." All for the want of a Jimmy John sub. Expensive sandwich.

Walking around campus, I think it is no coincidence I eventually pursued architectural restoration as a career. Here are some of my favorite old haunts from the town I called home for nine years:

Autumn in Wisconsin

Fall in Wisconsin looks not so very different than fall in West Virginia... it just comes quicker, as does the sunset. I am beginning to wonder why I was so very intent on leaving so very hastily. There are some people in my life who can never be replaced and I am missing them very much.

Bald Eagles on the River

One month ago, I saw a similar sight on the Mississippi.



Having just biked down from historic Fort Snelling, my companion and I spotted a bald eagle soaring above Mark Twain's mighty river while a paddle boat lazily made its way downstream. A magical moment, we felt as if we had just fallen back in time.



I am experiencing very different feelings this time around.

Best To Do It Quickly

That's got to come off and I know it's going to hurt.

Well, it was nice while it lasted but perhaps it was too soon for me to get back on the bike.

Which Life Path Am I On?

Sometimes life picks you up in its gentle breeze and takes you where you need to go...

...and sometimes life simply takes a dump on you.

I am trying to figure out just where I am in that bigger picture right now.