November 21, 2006: St. Louis Art Museum (SLAM)

Attempts at photo organization usually leave me with a headache and a pile of hard drives that I throw into a closet. Surprisingly, this time it resulted in four pages of Never-Before-Seen! photos on Flickr.

Monday, while driving to work a few minutes late, I stopped at a red light behind another car that had shoe polish writing all over it. I usually ignore the “Go Farmers! We love #15!” shit, but soon there were four bright yellow duck umbrellas thrust out of the windows and twirled for about 10 seconds. The light changed to green and the umbrellas disappeared. I’ve been using a cell phone without a camera the past month and I’m going to throw that thing away. I’m serious.

The leaves are well on their way to yellow and the temperature has finally settled between 50-70 degrees. To welcome autumn, arguably the best season, I give you a song by famed folk singer Serge Gainsbourg:

Serge Gainsbourg – Ballade de Melody Nelson (and video!)

In honor of autumn’s arrival, I present a story I wrote down many years ago. It’s probably after a trip to Lawrence, Kan. to visit a friend and see a show… I’m not completely sure of details, but it still remains a vivid autumn memory.

Oct 13th or so… of 2001

I’m driving in my tiny white car to Atchison, Kan., windows down and following a winding road into this sleepy little town to visit a friend at Benedictine College. I have no laptop and no cell phone; I stop and call from a public phone after becoming lost. It’s warm, late afternoon light, with constantly falling leaves covering the roads and ground.

It gets dark quickly and we eat pizza for dinner. There’s a midnight stage production of “Dracula,” set in a tiny campus theatre. I decide to stay the night, causing trouble after being caught in the girls dorm after curfew. I hide in the closet, but they write my name down and make me stay in a boys dorm with a guy I don’t know.

I leave the next morning, early, and return back to Hays.