It was an adventure, an adventure in patience

Daddy doesn't have to work today. Let's have a family day. Would you like to go to the children's museum? We'll use our pass and enjoy the carousel and all of the other attractions which tykes both young and old find appealing. What's this? So many cars lined up outside the... It's MLK day. No school could mean a whole lot of other families taking advantage with their own family day. But lookie here, the ticket counter appears to be vacant...

Well I do declare, it seems what we have here is a

FREE DAY!

We'll ride the carousel a couple of times, check out the fish and then stand around for a great deal of our time waiting to migrate from one floor to another. We'll pause for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then opt to wait in line for the elevator. After all, why wait forty minutes to travel two more floors when we could wait less than half the time to ride immediately to our destination in a tiny box full of delightful strangers?

MLK

Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realized
If the thunder cloud
Passes rain
So let it rain
Rain down on he

- U2, The Unforgettable Fire

I was thinking ’bout Alicia Keys, I couldn’t keep from crying

After falling asleep a week ago yesterday, I woke up to the sound of Alicia Keys singing about trying to sleep with a broken heart during a performance on SNL. Immediately, I was mesmerized by the Prince-inspired wall-of-pop-synth atmospherics, provocative lyrics and even Miss Keys stance as she exposed her aching heart on stage. I'll admit, I've never been smitten with Alicia Keys up to this point, perhaps because I've never given her music much attention. However, this song has been haunting me for the past seven days. Faint echoes would follow through my days. The song would play over the speakers at the coffee shop where I work from time to time. Then, two days ago as I was enjoying a bowl of cereal on the sofa before heading off to the aforementioned coffee shop, I stumbled upon the video to this song while flipping through channels in search of a rerun of "Roseanne". The visuals of this video were no less captivating than those of the performance on SNL, particularly when she knelt down before what appeared to be a wounded dog and brought it back to life. Things just got even weirder from there. Anywho, I was soon made aware that Alicia Keys is in fact a super-human or at least possesses super-human traits which probably make it difficult for her to assimilate authentically with us humans who, despite our most noble efforts, simply cannot fly or bring dead dogs back to life ala the pie maker (for those familiar with "Pushing Daisies").

Even after watching this video which is quite obviously a spin-off of Heroes, a show which managed to both win me and my wife over completely and lose our interest completely in a matter of months, it has only added to the intrigue of this song. The mere fact that Bob Dylan mentions her in the opening track "Thunder on the Mountain" from his brilliant 2006 album "Modern Times" should have given me enough reason to pay attention. Well, now you have my attention Miss Keys. Now you have my attention.

Goodness gracious

Over the span of the past week, new opportunities have provided a much needed change of scenery along with a bit of edification to my soul and humanity. Meanwhile, hearts ache and the world grieves over the death and devastation among a people already living in a land wrought with corruption. I don't even know what to feel, but I know that there is a response demanded of me. There is a response demanded of us.

What does love look like in times such as these?

Live snow!

Before heading to the children's museum for a late morning romp, the wee one and I found it necessary to pause in appreciation of the brilliant precipitation.

Reissues, Part II

Reissues, Part I

Brand New 4-Song EP for the Holidays!

As is the yearly tradition, the segueing from one year to another brings an offering of homespun singsonging from The Mustard Room. This year, we offer up a four song EP of new material all recorded on an 8-track digital recorder.

DOWNLOAD HERE.

Happy days of holly!

Before we crack

I've decided to press the proverbial pause button at this time. The holidays are all upons and we've recently found ourselves caught up in a swirling eddy of emotion.

First, let me say that the ride taken down a particular road has been like driving an eighteen-wheeler up a coarse mountainside on wheels with no tires. Actually, I'm being kind. My wife and I are milling over the proper response while visiting her family for a few days. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that her father has just had his right foot removed.

It all happened quite suddenly. One minute, Dad's in the hospital for an issue seemingly unrelated and the next thing we know, we're hearing about a possible toe amputation. No, wait... a partial foot amputation. No, wait... You get the idea. We all waited around for the better part of Monday to hear the diagnosis and to learn how much of the lower extremity would be lost. When Dad had us all around his bed he informed us that they would be cutting somewhere between the knee and the ankle. You could say it was a sigh of relief for those of us anticipating a worst case scenario. But how do you say goodbye to a foot?

Indieana Handicraft Exchange Mini

The Mustard Room will be sharing space with our pal the Vintage Songbird once again to sell our wares and wears at the Indieana Handicraft Exchange 2009 Holiday Hoopla "mini." We hope you'll come out to support local artisans and crafters such as ourselves.

THE SCOOP:

Date:
Friday, December 4

Time:
5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Admission:
Free!

Location:
Chatham Center
901 North East Street {map}
Indianapolis, IN 46202

Parking:
free lot behind venue &
on neighborhood streets

Give the gift of abduction

Recently, one of our screen printed thrift tees was featured at...

View their GIFTS FOR HIM post here.

Thanks Creepy Queen Magazine for finding our ABDUCTION tee one of the best gifts on Etsy to give one's man during the holidays. Cheers!

To be famous

Find the movie "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" and watch it right now. Then, listen to the WFMU broadcast of "The Live Music Faucet" found in the special features.

Homefront haiku

Feed baby chili
Watch baby make more chili
Don't pull her finger