I confess to a bit of pity for my ex-wife, for no other reason currently than she decided to take a vacation to Florida at the invitation of another friend of hers, and decided to drive. My eldest daughter, The Mouth That Roared, wasn't aware of this state of affairs, OR the fact that her mother's 7-passenger minivan would be stuffed to the gills with bodies. My only concession to her was to buy a car plug for her Game Boy, so that perhaps her mother wouldn't COMPLETELY lose her mind. I shall refrain from any further commentary.
At any rate, given that, and the wacko weather we've been experiencing around the nation, I hope everyone has a good time, because *I* certainly haven't the ability or inclination at this point to attempt to counteract a poor vacation experience. God knows I've spent enough energy counteracting what passes for morality where my ex-wife is concerned. It's hell having to be the one to lead by example all the time, particularly when I don't have physical custody, but if the end result is that my daughters stay out of jail and make some sort of positive mark in the world, which I'm convinced they both will, no matter what, I can live with that. I'm also coming up on having paid child support for the last four years--Shelby's birthday is on the 22nd, only six more years or so to go till her own money is gonna have to take the place of mine. I also went to see a debt counselor, who amazed me with how much he said I could deal with in the first 12 months of such a program. This "setting right" thing, I can see, is a non-stop process. But, of course, I knew that, pretty much. Here's praying, then, that I live to see it all come to fruition.

I'm also going to make a comment now that would probably get me shot by the people (any of them,) I was in Journalism school with: I didn't even hear about precisely what Don Imus said on his radio show, but a few things come to mind, none the less. First of all, he's a shock jock--a radio man of a (fortunately, to my mind,) dying breed; genuine intelligence is considered a liability amongst an ilk such as his, so whatever he said, no F*IN WONDER it was idiotic! And the fact that advertisers are pulling support for his show, or contemplating doing so, shows some rousing of intelligence amongst Americans. Second, the First Amendment of the United States Constitution was designed to accomodate REAL redress of grievances, not to allow shock jocks and rappers to use the words "bi*ch" and the like, freely. Quite frankly, a LOT of the Constitution could be said to address the needs of the world as the framers saw it rather than the way it is today. After having been to South Korea, where only police, military and security people are allowed to own weapons, I think America as a country could do with some reeling in of gun laws, too. I doubt very much that it will really happen, but I believe it would NOT be the worst thing that ever happened to us as a nation.

And I understand that rap music expresses anger, desire, and raw emotion, so don't come at me thinkin' I don't; but using a word for the simple sake of being able to say it is positively infantile. If that makes me some kind of hyper-conservative stick-in-the-mud, so be it, I shall wear that label (along with all the others I do,) proudly. I worry sincerely about the things my daughters, and the rest of America, hears, because first of all, this is not original, or intelligent thought. This is pointless, ugly, mind-melting ranting. Second, the point could be made that talk like this, and thinking like this, doesn't help ANYONE address a problem properly, no matter what it might be. Is it any wonder that Gangsta rap, shock radio and all these other things that never would have existed anywhere else but where they do in history, also falls in line with events like Columbine, David Koresh and Waco, and road rage? I think not, personally. I think for a long time we have been led to NOT solve problems intelligently, and I think we REALLY need to get back to making that attempt. Irrational acts entail everything from Imus moments to unnecessary credit buying and high cholesterol in America, and......well, given all the soldiers now, who are coming back from Iraq after having been at death's door and escaped with their lives (if not all their limbs,) intact, I think rational thought, and things like simply NOT taking things for granted is going to make a comeback REAL soon, if it hasn't already begun. I shall only hope.