Jim Varagona

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A portrait of the artist as a young man.

We went all out. The mic stand was a tripod.

He played some original stuff and covers of Phish, the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones.

The crowd got into it, or maybe that was the booze talkin’.

Birthday boy Charlie enjoying the tunes.

Dan rocking it out with the birthday boy’s sister.

For more info. on Dan Roth, who may be the next Dylan, contact me at jim@diabetoboy.com.

Special thanks to Juniper Grill in the Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis, MO, who hosted the party.

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I made ’em myself, and ate ’em myself.

>I have not posted in a week. Things have been nutty. My parents are off in Italy having a swell time. My sister flew in from San Antonio for my granddad’s funeral. She went back to people fleeing Rita. Luckily, all they got was some wind.

Sadly my escape has been through Madden 2006. Video games are so addicting. Maybe that’s why I try to stay away from them.

The plumbing at the homestead became a big, black, sludgy mess a few days ago. I spent my time sending Drano down the pipes and waiting. Then I snaked the pipes for a bit, to no avail. I called my handyman friend Travis over. He did everything I did. Then he tore up the pipes in the basement. Ye gads! There was layers upon layers of crap in the pipes. The collective crap of god knows how many people. And Travis was covered in it.

He did fix the problem though, with the help of a makeshift tool made from a broomstick and a toilet brush duck taped to it. Even better, he did it for $50 and breakfast, which were some damned good biscuits and gravy I cooked up.

Clean up was a bitch. Well, I am still cleaning…on my hands and knees. The smell is awful, but isn’t all crap? Thank god for Clorox Clean-Up and for friends that are willing to touch our sewage.