Tom's story: 2005
8 pieces on this page. Click a picture or "See the whole card" to open the card.
2005 — Tom was 26 and 27
8 pieces on this year: 7 from a range of years, shown here in the middle · 1 made this year or later.
ABOUT 2005: FROM A RANGE OF YEARS, SHOWN HERE IN THE MIDDLE
18I got something on my mind so I better
about 2003-2008 (age 25 to 29) BEST GUESS
POEMS IN THE 34 ALBUMS
Tom's handwritten poem "I got something on my mind so I better just say it," about music in the heart he cannot yet play, written in large handwriting on the back of a newspaper page (Peabody & Lynnfield Weekly News, 7 August 2003) with its chorus marked.
the card says: written between age 25 and 29
See the whole card → 2 pictures
48DOWNWARD SPIRAL
about 2003-2008 (age 25 to 29) BEST GUESS
POEMS IN THE 34 ALBUMS
Tom's handwritten blue-ink draft of the poem DOWNWARD SPIRAL (set list 4, track 4), on two overlapping torn notebook sheets, from his early yellow binder years (age 18 to 23).
the card says: written between age 25 and 29
See the whole card → 1 picture
1954AUGUST 2003 MUSIC SCHEDULE
about 2003-2008 (age 25 to 29) BEST GUESS
ART BY TOM
A bright pink August 2003 live music schedule from a Salem, Massachusetts bar and grill, turned over by Tom and used for handwritten song-title lists on the back, beginning Ready to Roll and 1. Alcohol, 2. Dead End - and, under the same 1954 number blocks, a cut-out collage: a round hand-lettered READTOM.COM disc and a cut-out of Tom holding a yellow Subscribe bar over a giant thumb, its back blank. Kept with it under the same number: a paper cut-out of a bald man's head above a yellow Subscribe sign held in two hands, over a giant thumb, with a round hand-lettered READTOM.COM disc beside it (pictures 3 to 6; picture 6 is the plain white back of the cut-out).
the card says: written between age 25 and 29
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13I won't be fixxing houses for ever.
about 2003-2008 (age 25 to 29) BEST GUESS
POEMS NOT YET RELEASED
Tom's handwritten lyric "I won't be fixing houses forever," about knowing he can do better than his day job, written on the back of a pink Dodge Street Bar & Grill music flyer from August 2003 in Salem, Massachusetts.
Written on the back of an August 2003 music flyer, so 2003 or later.
See the whole card → 2 pictures
755Walking in Dublin
about 2004-2007 (age 25 to 29) BEST GUESS
POEMS IN POEMS BY TOM
Tom's handwritten poem WALKING IN DUBLIN, about talking to leprechauns and meeting a woman who spoke of St. Patrick but only told lies, on a sheet of yellow legal pad paper, published in his first book Poems By Tom (2007).
See the whole card → 1 picture
A WIDE GUESS: MORE THAN 10 YEARS, SHOWN HERE IN THE MIDDLE
474WORTH A SHOT
about 1996-2015 (age 18 to 36) - an estimate - a wide guess NOT PROVED
POEMS NOT YET RELEASED
Tom's handwritten lyric Worth a Shot, numbered verses about needing a little rest and peace in his own back yard, tied to the song NAME IN LIGHTS (set list 3, track 10), on a strip of lined notebook paper.
the card says: written at about age 18 to 36 - an estimate
See the whole card → 1 picture
1616Fill in The missing word
about 1996-2015 (age 18 to 36) - an estimate - a wide guess NOT PROVED
ESSAYS AND OTHER WRITINGS (NOT LYRICS)
Tom's word puzzle Fill in The missing word - Smarter Phone Dumber Human - on white sheets with the answer in red and on lined notebook paper: the smarter the phone, the dumber the human.
the card says: written at about age 18 to 36 - an estimate
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MADE IN 2005 OR LATER
These carry a first possible date (a print date, a date on the paper). They may be later.
2RATED R · on the adults-only pages
701PAPELBON'S SONG
2005 or later (age 27 or older) LIKELY
POEMS NOT YET RELEASED
Tom's handwritten, never-published PAPELBON'S SONG, a baseball tribute beginning "The bull dog is here!!!", on an aged torn-edge sheet of lined notebook paper showing a crossed-out first draft followed by a bubble-letter title and the revised lyrics.
the card says: written in 2005 or later (age 27 or older)
See the whole card → 2 pictures
MEMORABILIA FROM THIS STORY
Every card on this page is a real piece — 8 pieces.
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What the words mean: PROVED a date or a dated book proves it. BEST GUESS our best reading, not yet proved. TOM SAID Tom's own word. LIKELY strong clues, not yet proved. NOT PROVED an estimate from the pieces around it. NOT SURE the sources disagree. No word: the card gives none yet. "About 1996-2002" means somewhere in those years; the piece is shown once, in the middle year.