Neighborz 4 lyfe

About ten years ago, MJ and i had a household's worth of stuff packed up in various places whilst living with a kindly family who welcomed us into their home for a couple of months. Occasionally, we would ride the rails and eat beans from a can. I became quite skilled on the blues harp as the two of us would dance outside small cafes and dive bars whistling for pennies. The judgmental ogling of the passersby effected us not; we had a song in our hearts what needed to be sung. Time wore on as time will often do and we finally settled into the house on Harvest Moon - nestled in sunny Summerfield Village - that would serve as our home for the next near decade. 

About a year after our move, the allure of vacant strip malls, struggling mexican restaurants, and the ever present aroma of deep fried cod would bring our newlywed pals, the Hymans, to a new home just down the street in our lively neighborhood. Over the course of those next nine years, we would share many meals; make new friends; watch neighbors come and go; watch their houses become rental properties; celebrate the births of children; mourn the loss of children; house family members for extended periods of time; drink a whole lot of coffee; edit VBS videos; plan retreats and vacations; rant about the state of CGPC; talk about Jesus and the bible and tapeworms; watch Lost; eat kebobs and white chicken chili and pizza; fall asleep with bellies full of cantaloupe smoothie while Dirty Rotten Scoundrels played in Spanish; watch our sons and daughters become friends and go to school together and hit one another with pvc pipes; sell lots of junk for hundreds of dollars year after year; and support one another as we made tough decisions and hard transitions in jobs, family and life in general. 

Through all of it, our friendship has remained in tact as we've shared life together.

Nine years later, just a couple weeks apart, our homes in picturesque Summerfield Village have both been sold by a realtor who gets shit done. And while our families are respectively excited about the possibilities of where we will make our homes next, it's all rather bittersweet when we realize that we'll not be living just a few doors down from each other very soon. 

As i write this, neither MJ and myself nor our friends the Hymans have closed on a new home. We've been helping one another pack and move and clean - along with a few other friends who have also caught the moving bug - trying not to think too much about the distance that will find itself between us. We should all be so lucky to find neighbors who are as caring and generous of friends as the Hymans have been to us over these last nine years. Now, as we all pack up our kids and take to the rails to whistle for pennies indefinitely, we imagine opportunities for new neighbors, and creative ways of sharing life together, and one day celebrating our children's children all while reminiscing of those days on Harvest Moon Drive when the kids would climb the fence and run each other over in the Barbie Jeep and learn how to love each other.

Just tell me what it is that you want

“I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable, I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.” -Walt Whitman

Several week ago, i made a drawing of a blase feline accompanied by the word “Yawp”. I immediately posted a photo of the drawing to ye olde book of faces asking who might be interested in trading currency for a snuggly t-shirt featuring this untamed beast. Apparently, i wasn’t alone in finding humor in the juxtaposition of a domesticated animal and this word of wild abandon from Whitman’s famous poem. The response pushed the project forward and forward it went.

Not only did i print a short run of t-shirts, but also a few handsome totes that are perfect for carrying around big fat records, books, and so forth to and fro. Everything can be found – in limited numbers, mind you – in my ONLINE SHOPPE.

Asking friends to participate in the decision-making process for this little project was super rad and i hope to do it again soon. Thanks to everyone who gave their input and to all those who continued to bear with me whilst my tendency to procrastinate kept these shirts from being printed for far too long.

Love, The Mustard Room

What a long strange yadda, yadda, yadda

In the spring time of twenty ten, i was invited to be a part of the delightful crew at STRANGE BREW COFFEE in greenwood, indiana. I spent the next thirty three months or so brainstorming ideas, crafting t-shirt designs, solving crossword puzzles, discussing pop culture, sharing stories, ghost hunting, dancing, singing, laughing, crafting delicious beverages, and drinking coffee with Daniel Carr, Toni Carr, Carli Clements, Lauren Chamberlain, Brittany Korreck, Molly Baker, Justin Sluka, Jenn Russ, Kayla Hoogeveen, Jacquelyn Mitchell, Lexi Green, Sean Yager, and the incomparable Miss Carly Purvis.

I made the difficult decision weeks ago to leave my rank as barista at Strange Brew to pursue more work as a printer/illustrator/writer... what have you. The instigators behind the decision were many, but it certainly didn't make it an easy one. 

On new year's eve, in the final hour of my last shift tending shoppe with Miss Purvis (whom i've worked with since day one), we got a little sappy and embraced while gazing upon the snow-covered landscape right outside. Flakes fell slow and plenty to the ground as Jeff Buckley could be heard crying 'hallelujah' from the shoppe's stereo speakers...

I miss you already...

What a long, strange trip it's been... 

Neue and olde dreams for america

In recent times near and far, one found himself amid precariously placed microphones and a small legion of stringed instruments. What resulted were two rapid-fire recordings: side A and B, if you will, of the following sideless song selection: 

Side A was written back in the autumn of twenty ought eight. Side B was written at the tail end of september in the current year. They both smell like olde spice and taste like early times. Enjoy, whippersnappers!

In other less 'hey-look-at-what-i-made' news: 

Hey, look at what our friends Biak and Sui made...

Hniangtha Khun was born today. 

She's 11 pounds. 

Way to go, Sui.

Melting faces from the threshold of narnia (or what happened at oktoberfest)

The past several weeks, i've had the gift of enjoying a handful of opportunities to share my songs before beautiful strangers/new friends. One such opportunity happened upon me this past saturday at the home of some friends who put on an incredible house party complete with tasty spirits, crackling bon fire, and live musics of all types (regna racer, kendall lugwig, tied to tigers, dan snodgrass, your's truly). The songsmiths performed in a corner of the living room in front of an arched wooden door and lamp post as a cloud of christmas lights floated overhead. It was quite narnian in a variety of ways.

Twas a night of magic and memories.

Thanks, fellow humans.

Goodnight mister tumnus, wherever you are.

How to influence neighbors

Thanks for the swell ideas, echelbarger.

Eight bits

Recently, we printed some vee necks, some cool dries, and some track jacks for a visionary youth ministry leader whom we now refer to as the wiz. Have a blast in panama city beach, wiz.

Blame it on the rain

This summer marks the seventh year we've printed tees for southminster presbyterian's summer camp at camp olivet. This also marks the beginning of the fiftieth year of CAMP OLIVET's existence. Olivet is a place that has played a sizable role in shaping the dude before you today. So, there you go; blame it on olivet. But whatever you do, don't put the blame on you. For srsly though, it's a magical place with acres of trees and creek and prehistoric moths. I fell in love many times there. The memories are as long as the bus ride.

Perhaps some of the wetness captured in this framed photo by the incomparable ZACK BENT will rub off onto this stack of hand-printed tees, resulting in a rain-saturated week at olivet. Dreams? When the rain washes you clean, you'll know...

You'll know.

Now a peek at a little something else what's been occupying our time. Good heavens, does it ever stop? Let's not expect this one too soon. After all, y'all still need to check out the first two. GET THEM HERE and i'll probably throw in some weird drawing of a llama or something.

Chai me a river

Here's an art project created in collaboration with kip during another rainless afternoon.

Singin' in the breeze

We have amazing friends. Two of those friends just so happen to be scott hensley and court wilkins. They are old thyme eskimo. They make beautiful music with all their strummin' and pickin' and blendin' of magical voices and what not. Recently, we set up a microphone in our backyard and punched record whilst the eskimo delighted us with their sweetness. Here's a listen:

Old Thyme Eskimo - Still Gonna Die

We're calling it 'field record' and you can pick one up when you come out to see them perform at the strange brew coffee house next friday night. I'll be there as well promoting my new record titled 'goodnight nobody'. Here's a visual reminder:

We'll see you there. Wink.

Foldie gold

On the first day of 2012, whilst stopping for lunch on our way back from a cabin in the woods, my brother from another mother and i began discussing an idea for a collective video project. It was a lofty dream, but one which my cohort has not given up on over the past four months. The idea was for several old pals to create 40-second vignettes using video to be strung together into one singular piece. The catch was that each subsequent participant would only receive the final few seconds of the preceding video to inform the direction of their own piece. The following is the result of the first project. It's kind of a glorious mess which makes me smile every time i watch it.

Our second project was created with less strict perimeters, but it's pretty great. Try to connect the dots and watch for baby jane's amazing portrayal of janeane the secretary.

Tell your friends.

Telling stories

We have amazing friends who have amazing stories to tell. We are falling in love with this family and they are teaching us so much. There are families all over indianapolis who have similar stories to there story. They are refugees from an oppressive, communist, military junta that has taken over their home in Burma. Too many of their new neighbors do not know their stories. They are a resilient, hopeful, and joyful people who have survived persecution for their ethnicity and religion for decades. With their help, we're hoping to create awareness of their journey, and avenues for action as we foster relationships with our new friends.


Please visit INDYrefugee(dot)com, y'alls.

By the way, that photo was taken by the always badass Katie Basbagill.

Just so you know.

Holla at yer bros

Get your holla for fifteen dolla. Choose your colour and we'll make it happen. Give a shout out to holla(at)themustardroom(dot)com to get the proverbial ball rolling, y'all.

Any guesses?

Nope. Try again.

Ooooooh! So close.

It's obviously a depiction of bunnies in the forest. And there's Yoda.

At least that's what the artist tells me.

Wished our dear friend K-baz fond bon voyage from the olde homestead as she prepped to travel the world once again. We spent an evening catching up with seasoned pals and acquainting ourselves with new ones. Check out our friend Zih chilling with Dr. Sugarman as Biak tries to pretend that he doesn't mind having to share. By the by, keep yourself up to snuff with what's going on with all these aforementioned folks involvement in the INDYrefugee project at indyrefugee.com. 

All right? 

Moving on...

This lil chick 'n' tiny dude are bros for life. 

The continuing story of a quack who's gone to the dogs

Almost a year ago now, my bro from another mo moved clear out to NY with his lovely family. When i discovered that they would be back in the g-wood for a hot minute (aka two weeks) i begged and pleaded for a few hours of his precious time to hammer out some tracks in the mustard room. Always the gentleman, Dr. Bob obliged and we ended up spending two morning/afternoons constructing a couple tunes with nothing but some guitars, a hammond organ, a wash bucket, and our childlike optimism. We laid some healthy foundation for a few pieces of the new record we're finally getting around to making.

I only wish we had more time, but we bid Dr. Bob and his family a fond adieu as they trek back to the NY. I'm thrilled to death that we were able to get a couple of days playing and recording together. It was also a great delight to all of us (particularly baby jane) to have Dr. Bob's boy Jake hang with us during the first sesh. Our deepest gratitude goes out to the entire Dr. Bob family. Why not follow Dr. Bob on twitter @RS_Freeland?

Here we are rehearsing one of the tunes we spent some time on:

Happy boogaloo

It's not that i feel the need to throw a party for myself, but it just serves as the perfect catalyst for inviting a crapload of people over to the house to participate in some good time-havin'. It was only what seems like a few weeks ago when some friends and i were discussing the idea of an outdoor movie projected on the side of a house. While i've entertained the idea in the past, it was this conversation, and a forthcoming thirty-fifth birthday which finally set this thing in motion. The decision on which film to show as a feature presentation was an important one. It would have to be one which made a lasting impression with me from an early age well into adulthood. After much deliberation, the obvious choice was of course the 1985 masterpiece directed by budding filmmaker tim burton and starring paul reuben's childlike character pee-wee herman, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.

We began making plans on how we would pull off this incredible feat. How would we affix a bed sheet to the broad face of the back exterior of our house? How, you ask? Why, duct tape of course. I called in a favor for a theater-style popcorn machine, borrowed a projector from some old friends, and braced myself for the impending 'disturbing the peace' call. Well sir, when the highly anticipated evening finally arrived, i never could have guessed what a success the entire event would be. We had over 65 guests throughout the evening including family, high school chums, college buds, new friends, old friends, & neighbors. Why, we had visitors travel from as far as Bowling Green and Fort Wayne to be a part of the festivities. When all was said and done, we had a back lawn full of folks from all seasons and sectors of life lounging and laughing together beneath an open sky occasionally lit by stray bottle rockets being fired from the adjacent apartment complex.

My deepest heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone who came out to the rockey home to make the evening as spectacular as it possibly could have been. I'm not sure i could have asked for a better way to celebrate getting older.

We love our clients, part 1: Hair today, gone tomorrow

What you are witnessing is an almost complete anthology of a three year relationship between the mustard room and westwood student ministries in cincinnati. This fruitful affair was birthed out of our ties to their mighty director, the incomparable mister joshua lemons. Way back in our early days of youth ministry at cgpc, mister lemons quickly established himself as a servant and leader among his peers. The two of us spent the second half of his high school career harnessing his passion and refining his gifts for youth ministry. Clearly it was no surprise that when he graduated from indiana wesleyan university a few years later he would go on to thrive in rallying others to love and care for young people like Jesus. Fortunately, for us, mister lemons reached out to us early on to provide graphics for and print t-shirts for their ministry's retreats and service projects. Not only have they been incredibly loyal clients of the mustard room over these past three years, but their patronage has served to help keep our families connected as well. It has been quite a delight to witness, from afar, the life unfolding before him and his high school lady/wife jennifer.

Three years later, mister lemon's lady has accepted a faculty position at the university of texas, and they have made the difficult decision to relocate to houston as they begin a new chapter in their journey. We wish them all the best, and remember, with great fondness, the collaborative endeavors which we enjoyed during their time at westwood.

Thanks again, mister joshua lemons. The mustard room salutes you!

Say yes to strangers

The first semester of my freshman year of college i lived in a dorm with two dudes who i had never met before in my 18 years of life on this planet. Is was expected that i would share close living quarters with these strangers for the following nine months. I don't want to spin any bad vibes about either of these guys, but let's just say that one of them got intentionally locked out of the room on a particular evening. These are the kinds of shenanigans one can look forward to when being blindly paired with others. Imagine the uncertainty which enveloped me when i discovered that i would be sharing a booth at the indieana handicraft exchange with folks who i had never met in my 35 years on this planet. I nearly backed out for fear of having an ex-high school basketball player wrapped in nothing but a bath towel put his fist through something in a drunken rage accompanied by pantera. Yikes. Not again. Well, instead, i am here to tell you that i shared a tent for over eight hours with two of the most incredibly rad people. They are juli and dan of cordinated, and they make groovy guitar cables amongst other groovy things. We spent most of the day discussing lawn ornaments as defensive weapons, high art, fake and non-fake moustaches, and pants among other things.

Don't judge this cat. He's got his own problems.

Now, before parting for the evening, let me just bid a good morrow one more time to my belvedere-sporting pals from the windy city. Let us join forces again soon. And if you came out to see us yesterday, you are fan-steak-n-shake-tasket.

Found

Received this recently with the following note:

In the grand tradition of giving you stuff we find in our yard, expect to receive this disembodied head in the near future. We wondered if you knew which GI Joe he is. Note the scar. 

Love, 

The Moormans

New stories for young folks

A lovely/totally rad couple named john & linda have asked us to be a part of their wedding by contributing some of the visual elements. Thus far, we've churned out the whimsical illustration featured on this save-the-date card which arrived at our front door monday afternoon.

Kool and the gang

Here's something: Last friday was so completely rad that i've been unable to blog about anything due to soaking in the afterglow.

First, Baby Jane and i spent the morning riding in circles atop horsies and deer. Then, after checking in with our pals and the newest member of their clan, me and the Jane gals made the short hike home to rendezvous with some house guests for a night of pinning cloth and connecting dots. It started in the mind of Katie Bee who shared the dream of her creative endeavor with Mama Jane and myself months ago before trotting off across the globe. Recently, we regrouped and talks began to set the plan in motion. An evening of beers, sheers and bobbins turned into a junction of function and fashion. The night served as a catalyst for grand conversation with buds from all corners of life. Here's a rundown:

• non-profit investigation
• cool porters
• merry bobbins
• second hand slicing
• cozy neck splicing
• granola fever
• baby snuggling
• party favors

Today, we put pen to ink, we put paper to pen and tore the whole thing apart to put together again. Also, for some reason, i made cherry kool-aid.

Word.