Thanks Judy,
I am so new that I don't know what an internode is, so i can't answer about them. It's labeled as an Acer palmatum and i don't even know if that is correct or not. As to what type, like I said it was labeled Acer palmatum and the shot of the leaf is a bit better that the shot of the entire tree. I will go out tomorrow and shoot some of the trunk and try to show you where I am thinking of cutting it off next spring to allow for trunk growth and sprouting for eventually choosing a limb to make into the trunk and add some good movement to the trunk. Left alone, I would change my mind 3,000 times about where to cut it off. It's in a deep 5 gallon pot and as it is currently 5.5' tall or so, it's getting cut way back before breaking bud this coming Spring as my space is very small and i am not living with a tree on my deck for years. At the end of the day, you're right, i've got less than $20 in the thing.
Would it do any good to get some big wire and slightly bend the trunk along it's natural movement now? It could be done with large wire and lots of force, but where there is a will there is a way (or is that where there is a will, there is a dead tree?)
I'll do so homework on internodes, and shoot you some shots (better) of what I have. Thanks for your input, I appreciate it. Phillip C