Of perhaps the greatest import at the moment is my daughters, who, although they don't really wish to see me, wanted to contiue to see their grandmother. And by coalitioning with Cheryl, I pretty much axed that. I will not be circumvented, or otherwise ignored, especially on the basis of profit motive. That just ain' happenin'. If you think I'm wrong, feel free to say so. I guess the upshot, really, is that I'm trying to get my relationships the way that I want them. Which may seem selfish, cold-hearted, and somewhat Damoclean, but ya know what? The light at the end of the tunnel has all too frequently been that of an oncoming train, leaving me feeling more like Wile E. Coyote than anyone else. I also realize that all of this may indeed backfire on me, alienating me from people altogether. I see this as a chance I take. My hope as far as my daughters is, that upon further maturation on their part, they will realize what the hell I was trying to do. As such, I could be in for a long wait. On the flip-side, I have been praised by many around me for standing up, actually getting things off my chest, and getting on with life. Which I have, I guess. I have way too much other sh*t to worry about to be carrying around excess emotional baggage. Sorry if you got dropped, but I can only handle so much.

In other news, President Obama said he approves of the mosque Muslims have wanted to build in Lower Manhattan, not far from the site of the former World Trade Center. I'm fairly certain the right-leaning conservatives are gonna have a field day with this one, as it affirms in their minds that Barack Obama is not a "real" American, that his birth certificate is a fake, blah, blah, blah, ad nauseam. God forbid we as Americans should ever give credence to an idea that we ourselves don't believe in, no matter who else, or how "non-American" they might seem. Although given that Islam has been around for thousands of years, and the World Trade Center didn't even make 30, I'd be more than willing to say that the symbolism of religion trumps the symbolism of capitalism, hands-down. Especially given the current state of the American economy. Kinda makes you wonder, if the World Trade Center were standing today, how many of the offices would actually be occupied, as opposed to just having a "For Lease" sign on the door? Seems to me that the Founding Fathers had something to say on this particular element of social tolerance, a little thing called Freedom of Religion. If you've forgotten about it, it's....oh, God, lemme think......OH YEAH! IT'S IN THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES! Right there in the Bill of Rights. I've worked in Dearborn Schools, and it doesn't make me any more Muslim than I've ever been. Speaking of which, I've been mulling over in my mind whether I shouldn't, even being a practicing Catholic, know a bit more about my Jewish heritage, in honor of all those relatives of mine who sacrificed their lives at the hands of a man who really WAS a monster, Adolf Hitler. I suppose if that was the case, I'd swear off Porsches, Volkswagens and Mercedes Benzes, given the influences he had over the two former, and his personal preference for the latter. If that was that case, of course, I'd also end up having to rule out Enzo Ferrari, given that he was a World War II-era Italian, and thus theoretically a Fascist, and everything would snowball, and frankly I'd set my own thoughts back about 1,000 years. It's bad enough Henry Ford was such a raging anti-Semite. Maybe I'll just swear off pork.

I've spent probably most of the summer now reading Aristotle's "On Man in the Universe," which I think should be a must-read for anyone who considers themselves a true American. If you've ever wondered where the Founding Fathers got their ideas about what kind of nation America should be, look no further; this is like the owner's manual of being human. There are indeed parts of it, to borrow from Tim Curry as Dr. Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, that have "a certain naive charm," but other parts will have lightbulbs going off over your head faster than those in Miley Cyrus' dressing room. Don't believe me? Read it for yourself, assuming you can find a copy. Oh, wait a minute, Amazon to the rescue.

http://www.amazon.com/Aristotle-Man-Universe/dp/0517146843

As always, you can tell me if I'm wrong, I'll believe it when you prove it. Finally, I'll share with you a little something I did for the wedding of some of our Tip Topper friends. Unfortunately, it's at the top of the page, and I can't seem to move it like I usually can. So if you were wondering what that was about, now you know.