i wanna rock(y mountain) with you. (rip mj)

day 22 of puppet your face off 2009 and we are in eureka springs, arkansas.

we spent two days in the ski towns of colorado, telluride and durango. what can i say about colorado? blah blah breathtaking landscape, blah blah beautiful scenery. that and we nearly lost our lives driving up the 14,000 ft of slippery mountain road. no one in telluride really knew how to get to durango, so we ended up taking the million dollar highway, only to find out later that it's called that because you couldn't pay anyone a million dollars to drive it. you look out the window and you can't even see the edge of the road, or the guard rail that's not there. instead you see the many feet that you will fall to your fiery death. periodically, the gps, confused at our position, instisted we turn right (off of the cliff) or left (into the raging river). at points, it was sure that we had already tumbled off into the green abyss, as it illustrates here.


we were pretty lucky to randomly run into jackie, a librarian that used to work in crownpoint with matt. she and her husband now live in durango, and she brought a lovely young aspiring puppeteer to see the show. small world! jackie took us out for pizza, but unfortunately we had little time to explore the wonders of durango (which actually does look wonderful). the next day was full of early rising, one show, and several hours of driving. we hightailed it back through new mexico, texas, and oklahoma to meet team gmaz at dad's house in rogers.



coming up next time on summer of puppets: the puppeteers join forces with the many members of team gmaz for "non-stop square jaws, coffee drinking, and quasi-cynical quips about the world and politics....and two babies running in circles."

go out in your country where your land meets the sun...

Day 18 of puppet tour usa and we are leaving new mexico like bandits in the night… or very early morning. this is something matt does to keep himself awake.

I hope you liked those pictures from white sands, because the debris infiltrated my polaroid camera and all but destroyed it. insert expletives here.
two packs of bad batteries from a gas station in truth or consequences convinced me that my digital camera was broken too. consequently, we have few pictures from our weekend at the lake house in elephant butte. As a product of the generation that brought you twitter and myspace, I have no interest in things that cannot be documented in real time and liveblogged to the cyber world at large. I managed to buy some energizers and catch the sunset before we left.

we hit up los lunas for a puppet show on tuesday and then caught the movie year one at a theater in albuquerque. these guys were in the parking lot of the theater, and graciously allowed me to snap their picture.

Me: why are you guys dressed up?
Them: we’re not.






After the movie, we meet up with alex and his sister Natalie for some sushi and Albuquerque revelry. we sleep at alex and jen’s apartment and spend the following day tooling around downtown and eating green chiles..
while here, we sampled an array of new mexican cuisine. new mexican burgers, new mexican pizza, new mexican sushi, etc. the culinary skill required to make these dishes is the sort that i could never hope to attain, but i'll try to describe it to you. first, gather the typical ingredients necessary for the dish. then, cook the dish. add green chiles. eat it. mindblowing, i know.my tone is sarcastic, but i actually love the green chile grub. we've eaten green chiles in every meal for the last three days, and we bought 10 cans to take back to nashville.

we hit this fortuitous mile today on our way to Colorado. 1111111! two shows today in Durango, and then one in telluride tomorrow. xoxo.

we are blessed, we endure.

day ? and we are in las cruces new mexico.
we arrived a few days ago and settled in roswell for two nights of puppet alien madness. i love towns that fix their identity around a single idea or theme. as you probably know, roswell is the headquarters of the international ufo museum and research center, as well as the home of all things alien. witness: mcdonalds, walmart.
after a morning puppet show, we toured the ufo museum and shopped for alien paraphernalia. matt was somewhat impressed. he has always been the more skeptical half of this relationship. i thought it was AWESOME, and i couldn't get enough information on the mysterious events of 1947! we followed up the tour with an afternoon show and then a date at an AMAZING italian restaurant. if you're ever in roswell, don't bother going anywhere but portofinos. it is exceptionally delicious.after leaving roswell, we drove through cloudcroft to white sands and sampled the many landscapes of new mexico: green mountains, desert hills, endless white dunes. while i don't believe i could ever settle in the dry prickly deserts of new mexico, it is at first sight (as the state motto suggests) a land of enchantment, and a land of enchantment provides excellent material for a photoblog.

we'll leave las cruces this afternoon and spend a long weekend with alex and jen in elephant butte. prepare yourself for more enchantment!

that's right, you're not from texas, but texas wants you anyway

driving cross country, there are clear indications that you’ve reached the west, even from the interstate. its an eerie feeling that creeps over you shortly after you drive past oklahoma city and all of its sprawling suburbs. the landscape is flat, expansive, and empty, and it signals to you that the loneliness of this rugged land will likely swallow you whole. in fact, the region may not be any more rural than the empty counties (or parishes) that fill the familiar southeastern states, but your acute awareness of the vast nothing that surrounds you gives rise to this discomfort. Gone are the trees that line the southeastern highways, blocking your view and shielding you from any existential thoughts. welcome to the west.

we spent one day in texas and I wasn’t even going to blog about it, but who knew that west texas would provide such fabulous pictures? Is it the endless horizon? the surplus of natural light? the smell of cow poop that pervades the entire panhandle of the state? I don’t need the answers; I just click the button.

matt did a show in canyon, followed by one in borger, where we met jim, an old man that just couldn’t get enough of the pvc puppet stage. No, really. “Tell your roommate Binkley that I love his work, and that once I made nine massage tables out of pvc,” he said as he lovingly stroked the crossbar. it was cute.

on the way out, we stopped to snap a few pictures on the road. i love these purple wildflowers, and the bug ranch motel café.



tonight, we’ll make it to roswell, and i can’t wait for the curiosities we’ll encounter there.

we built this city... we built this city... we built this city on walmart

day 7 of puppet tour USA and we are in norman, OK, where the local library is treating us fabulously!

we just arrived last night after a relaxing weekend at dad's house in rogers, AR.

those of you following the blog (both of you) may remember that i referred to dad's church/house in the previous post. this is because dad lives in a former church that he remodeled to be his home. the living room sits where the congregation did, and the pulpit is now the kitchen. the house boasts many amenities, including a guest bedroom and two kitties.

we arrived in rogers on thursday night, after three shows in fort smith. matt scheduled in a much needed day off, which we used to discover the many pleasantries of rogers. these include a quaint historic downtown at the center of which lies a defunct railroad station that blasts 50s era music 24/7. we drank excellent coffee at the iron horse coffee company in the old town, then stopped at walmart #1 (it'a true), and skated in a circle with dad at roller city.

a few years ago, dad ran roller city, and so he seemed at ease in the rink, skating with his hands in his pockets, as if he were out for a stroll. we, on the other hand, clung to side rails for dear life, stumbling awkwardly like birds on wheels. still, roller city provided a chance for us to experience all of the adolescent opportunities we had missed out on as nerdy tweens. after smoking in the bathroom and necking in the corner (just kidding), we participated in a couples' skate and even won (by chance and not because we possessed any skill) the dice game! dad put together a team for trashket ball (i'm not even going to bother explaining), and together they dominated their 11-year-old competitors.

the following day we headed to neosho, MO for a single show at the library, and then took the rest of the day off back in rogers, which we filled with barbecue and pool.

i'm backstage right now as matt performs his second show in norman, and i can hear the laughter flooding the room. all in all, oklahoma has received us very well and taken many business cards. the librarian here in norman even took us out for thai food! here's a video from the first show.

on to canyon, TX tonight, and then to new mexico tomorrow. as your parting gift, here's a table sign from the iron horse coffee company.

hungry like a (luv)wolf

day 4 of the puppet tour usa, and we are in fort smith, AR.

this is all i have to say about tulsa.

actually, that's not all. tulsa is a clean city spread out on a grid system, with an excellent public library association. i took some pictures of the track lighting at the herman and kate kaiser library. it's set up to look like trees.

we did four shows in tulsa, and in our free time checked out the arkansas river, and caught a showing of the new pixar film, UP.

the puppet shows have been a smashing hit. we're huge in tulsa! the rudisill library coughed up over 200 kids and matt ended up giving out all of his business cards to representatives of children's museums and other libraries! here's a short video of some crowd participation with bongo man.

after all of the shows in tulsa were knocked out, we headed to fayetteville for dinner and a tour of downtown with margot and jordan. we took a leisurely stroll (read: drove because it was raining) down dickson street, "the beale street of fayetteville", and stopped to eat at hugos, where i enjoyed the award winning bleu moon burger.
having no impressions of arkansas when we came, i have to say i left fayetteville with an overall sense of warmth and community. margot and jordan live in a neighborhood of craftsman houses situated on the side of a mountain, and yet they are only a 10 minute drive from fayetteville's downtown, which bustles with new condos, fabulous restaurants, and a weekly farmers market. hooray fayetteville!

tonight, after three shows in fort smith, we'll head to rogers for a day off with dad. i'm sure the next post will be abounding with photos of his church/house, and the many wonders of rogers!