kids and dogs.

remember well those years if you care.

a tin shed for a home.

for being inquisitive you were mistreated.

how the shadows grew and grew.

a street like no other.

and music blaring.

people talking gruff.

with nothing but little trees.

what does a dog know?

if your car starts we can go.

to the drive-in in osseo.

love story's too old for you.

sven.

through the fair.

I go through the fair again. I see many 

weird and wonderful things, 

like these deep frozen snackoid things, cool.

in the wonderful old cattle barn I see this majestic 'sunbolt'.

we see a lot of music in our travels.

...and lots of cool lights.

robert randolph & the family band.

we see mini donut scientists.

and most of all, lots and lots of people.

at the fair.

these are some of the things I see at the fair.

I like to go to the fair.

little journeys: rochester.

   last weekend we went on a little journey south to rochester minnesota. it is only an hour and a half from st. paul, but we took the long way around and so it took much longer. we traveled along the wisconsin side of the mississippi until wabasha and crossed over the river there. the route is dotted with small towns along the river and in the countryside. we travel through towns like stockholm wisconsin and plainview minnesota and this is some of the stuff we see...

odd little nooks and crannies, trucks with logs and venerable old swedish stores. at the book store / curio shop the owner is into all things tesla and is impressed that I notice his electronic equipment and connect the two...

we have lunch in pepin wisconsin and our seats overlook the water. after, we drive further through bluff country and into middle america. finally arriving in the center of the medical universe, rochester minnesota...

rochester minnesota is a quiet sort of town filled with the history of the mayo brothers and the nuns who helped build this medical paradise. it is pastoral and filled with lovely homes, a monastery, some dale chihuly art and of course hospitals.

well I really enjoyed the time with family and the sites and the travels but it was nice to come home to wintermoor in columbus minnesota.

chihuly

look for me in the mountains.

you know there'll be no end to it.

a sarah and a jim.

jim worked at a mill. 

sarah worked in their garden and took care of the little ones.

there was never enough. I suppose that's what started it. 

though it's no excuse. 

on saturday night take me into town.

on the way back the car finally gives out.

all the money is gone.

it's sunday now, what'll we do?

can't you hear it? it sounds close.

woman, you'll drive me mad.

sven.

jamey's cafe.

if the thunder starts.

more rain. it's getting hard to see anything to the east.

you still think it's a reason. sven.

(butte montana. jamey's cafe. 1970s. caer no. mt -35-50)

rain.

rainy evening thinking.

the lights twinkle, endlessly.

there is no pain or worry.

sven.

(8" x 8", march 2013, paper, ink, pencil, crayon, iphone > iphoto > preview > iphoto)

city and country.

   I had to go the big city yesterday, there were not too many people out and about. these are some of the skyscrapers there. below, see the hennepin co. library with several tall buildings behind, including the ids tower. the ids was the only tall building in minneapolis for many years giving the downtown area a very distinct look. it's definitely changed over the years...

   

   I worked for 2 years at the top of the ids, at the orion room / cleos. it was kind of a hassle to come and go, but it was a really cool place to work. years and years ago this was... there was quite the cast of characters working there at the time.

   cathy the dishwasher in the elevator after work: beautiful people who have just had very expensive dinner and drinks are now traveling with the person who's still sweating from washing their dishes. she was a little indifferent to the other passengers as she used to click her jaw madly to assuage the pressure in her ears from the ride down. 

   lori barbero: lori was a very nice girl and definitely tough. she would come to work dressed very punk and transform herself (as much as possible) for the floor. one night a british band, 'the lime spiders' came to 1st avenue. lori (and I, but not with lori) attended - and left with the boys on their bus after the show. no more lori. next thing I heard of her was that she was the drummer for 'babes in toyland'

   several other musicians, artists, actors and dancers worked in a tiny back of the house / kitchen, that I always thought of as like being in a submarine perched high in the sky. it was a very interesting place.

every once in awhile, late at night after work was done: mix a drink, turn on the 'oldies' channel, go into one of the smaller rooms, turn off lights, enjoy. beautiful.

   here's the armory. I saw a few concerts there. It's acoustics are not good but this is my kind of venue. I wish all indoor concerts were held at venues like this. I just much prefer the old school - industrial - utilitarian vibe of an old civic center, to these modern 'softeez toilet paper center' joints.

   70's concerts: $8-$10, mostly kids, a cloud of smoke fills the 'sky' for the evening. bottles and frisbees flying around. halls filled with colorful long haired kids in various states of buzzed. fire crackers and rock music blasting. fun. 

   in august 1978 I drove my '67 fury III from stacy to blaine, where I picked up greg marx. his father was a strict authoritarian and their family was run in a very unhappy manner. the family was basically doing homesteader stuff: big garden, everything home made etc. that day his father had ordered him to return a rabbit to the wild of my house before he could go anywhere else. he agreed and we set off, 15 blocks further and it was freedom for blinky the bunny into the nearest field we could find.    

   then we took off for bloomington to see my 1st concert: the eagles, steve miller band and pablo cruise at the old met stadium (current site: mall o' america), tickets were $10. the attendance for this show was a record 80,000 outside in the pouring rain that only let up towards the end of the night. I more or less purposefully 'got seperated' from greg at the beginning of the show and spent the rest of the night 'alone' with 80,000 other revelers... there's parts to this story that can't be told here, what with this being a family operation and all...     ...quite the introduction to concerts for me.

when I came back to the country this is what I saw:

a cardinal, perched in the blue spruce next to our house.

I like the city.

I like the country.

sven.