I’ve got exactly zip

I can’t think of a single. thing. to write.

Sorry y’all.

I was going to comment on how quickly a distraught woman with vaseline on a plane (lube on a plane?) was captured this morning, but I guess some people don’t think it as absurd as I do. (the whole “security alert,” not the poor woman in this incident). I mean, c’mon, isn’t it a little convenient to make a big stink about “gel bombs” or whatever after they had these people under surveillance for months and they hadn’t even bought an airline ticket? Am I the only one not particularly shaking in my boots about it, now that the details are coming out? (and don’t even get me started on the “cell phone terrorists” that were supposedly going to blow up a bridge in Michigan. Oops, says the FBI, they’re just guilty of being Arabic-looking). Seems we need to stir up the “fear of terror” once in a while or folks might start thinking that drunk drivers or fried chicken are 1,000 times worse for our health.

I was going to say something about the weather (it’s hot, and humid. Again) but that’s pretty much a given.

Or hey – we’re all doing the happy dance here in town because gas is less than $2.80 a gallon. Woot! Go and fill up, y’all! Everyone run to the dealer and buy a new Hummer!

See? Nothing to write about.

How about this – I went for a run this morning. 5:30 and it was almost 80 degrees out (and humid, but I already mentioned that. 90%, not that I’m keeping track or anything). And this morning I thought I’d try and make it three miles in thirty minutes. Which, if you are in shape, may not be that difficult, but remember that I’m a) a lard ass and 2) just started running in June and it takes a while to get the lard out. But here’s the kick – it was really, really hard to run this morning. We’re talking oodles of sweat, heavy breathing, constant pounding motion – all the things that make sex so great, but when you’re running on asphalt at 5:30 AM by yourself it’s not so great – but I can’t wait to go again. Why? Because I can.

Snider and faith

This is just an excerpt from a much longer article. But I like what he says and how he says it (love his music, too, if you’ve read here very long you probably know that)

One of the brightest and best voices of the Americana music scene is Todd Snider, a sharp-witted singer-songwriter who wears quite a few of his core beliefs on his sleeve: a commitment to progressive causes, a deep mistrust of materialism and greed, a sympathy for the downtrodden and a relentless Christian faith that leaves him bewildered at the way people of his own faith are acting in America.

Snider told Chris Willman in Willman’s excellent book Rednecks & Bluenecks:

I’m a Christian, but I must’ve got a defective Bible or something. Mine didn’t tell me to change anybody, or tell me to hunt and destroy all sin. Mine said forgiveness was the most important thing there was and pride was the worst. Mine said if someone takes your shirt, give them your coat. Mine said it was easier for a rich man to pass through the eye of a needle on a camel’s back that it is for him to enter the gates of heaven. Passing through the eye of a needle on a camel’s back is the American dream.

As his career progresses, Snider has mined this concept for some great music. His best songs confront the confusion of being a progressive Christian in America, where your president says Jesus is his favorite philosopher as he favors the wealthiest in his economic policies and embraces a doctrine of pre-emptive war.

Found here.

The full article is below the fold, or click here.

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