Horse Manure Park

For those who do not have a Facebook account... Farm Fest 10 Invitation

I picked up the boy from daycare this afternoon and he proudly showed me his lilacs.  When I tried to smell them, he pulled away and scolded, "No, Dad!  These are for Mom."   He would not let me near them.  He protected them like a pitbull on cocaine.   To tell the truth, he kind of scared me.  He takes this "gift for Mom" thing pretty seriously. 

I just closed the cover on my most recent read: Love, Janis ;   an in-depth and deeply personal biography about Janis Joplin, written by her sister, Laura Joplin. I sort of feel like I've said goodbye to an old friend who I never knew, except through her music. Even though I tend to think of her as someone who had been around for decades, Janis only enjoyed success as a singer for four years.   Four years. She truly was just getting started. In fact, she officially recorded just 35 songs in the studio (not including live tracks). One of those songs, the popular "Mercedes Benz," wasn't even meant to be an official recording. Between takes of another song, she sang it to her band a cappella for fun on October 1, 1970.  The tape just happened to be rolling. She died 48 hours later. When Beth and I went to Texas in 2001, we made sure to stop in Austin and have a drink at Threadgill's, which was where Joplin got her start while attending the Univers