No Direction Home

I've been thinking about a lot lately, what with the whole "world coming to an end" business surrounding this past Saturday (I guess the guy called it wrong...again. Worse than a weatherman). Not just that, but a lot of stuff around my family is going down, I won't go into it but suffice it to say that nobody has a "normal" family, and anyone that claims to do so is lying.

Also, I've been reading about the Civil War, by which I mean The Civil War, by Shelby Foote. I always meant to pick up one of the massive volumes of his masterwork whenever I used to see it on the shelves of the library, and now that I have (and am currently 300+ pages into the first, 800-page volume), I like it pretty good. You might remember Foote as the grandfatherly figure from Ken Burns' film The Civil War, a folksy oldtimer who could very well have been there on the battlefield by virtue of how authoritativly he talked about it.

It got me thinking, when I went to BAM yesterday and saw all the anti-Obama books that are (shockingly) still being put out, considering this is the same man who, oh, I don't know, took down the greatest terrorist leader to threaten our shores. It made me sad to think that the history of this era won't be written by a clear-headed, sober-minded gentleman, but by an overwrought collection of belly-aching racists. Yes, I said racists.

You see, people call Obama a "socialist" because if they called him what they really wanted to (starts with "n," ends with "-er," and in the middle are some other letters), they'd be justifiably labeled as racists. How do I know this? Because I'm a Southerner, I've grown up with people who thought nothing of using such a word (then again, they weren't trying to sell books to the public at large), and I'd like to think I can tell a bully at long distances. You might think that, if you knew me and how much I opposed Bush, I was ignoring the anti-Bush rhetoric of that era and focusing solely on the nasty Obama haters. I see your argument, figurative internet audience, but let me say this: when we put a Hitler moustache on Dubya, it was stupid. When the other guys put a Hitler moustache on Obama, it was stupid and racist. There is a difference.

Lately I've been looking for an outlet for such thoughts as I might have on the things I care about, something that could help me find a wider audience and perhaps some financial gain as well. If you, figurative internet audience, can think of a place for me to trade my wares, let me know.

Neutral Milk Hotel

...is a good band, thanks for the shout-out on Parks & Recs.

Anyway, last night was an experience in babysitting at once familiar and (thanks to baby Scout) brand-spanking new: the night of the cranky, hard-to-please baby. Sis brought her up to spend time with the grands while she went to a baby shower (funny how one girl having a baby inspires all her friends to do the same). Scout was fussy except when she was feeding or napping, and it seemed like everytime I tried to calm her, I made the situation worse.

Scout hates her uncle...

No, just kidding, but I do think the poor girl is teething already (or maybe right on time? I'm not sure about these things), so I guess that's part of it. Or maybe it was being in a strange place not her comfortable apartment with Mom and Dad that did it. At any rate, she eventually went to sleep and Sis came back to get her. I watched The King's Speech on and off last night, inbetween trying to comfort my niece while failing to do so. Good movie, though I still think the Facebook movie got robbed (Zuckerberg!!!!).

And that's all I got for now.

With Six You Get Eggroll...Mmm, Eggroll

Osama Bin Laden, the long-feared mastermind behind the September 11 attacks, is no more. He has ceased to be, he has run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. This is an ex-parrot.

Thank you for indulging me in that.

Now then, emotions...mixed. On the one hand, jubilation that the son of a bitch is dead, also surprise that he was still alive (wasn't he supposed to be on dialysis?), and gratefulness that my black president did something that a lot of other people's white presidents couldn't manage. Take that, haters.

Of course, I know that some other self-important motherfucker will rise to the challenge of replacing Bin Laden, it's like Brian Johnson replacing Bon Scott in AC/DC almost. But hopefully Bin Laden was so charismatic, like Hitler, that the idea of anyone other than him in charge is just ludicrous. Like Glenn Frey taking over for Don Henley should Henley leave the Eagles to make more awful solo records.

It's a good day, people...