There's some people that you don't forget, even though you only seen 'em one time or two...

I had a meeting in Grand Rapids this morning, & although I'm quite happy to live only a couple of minutes from work, I forgot how much fun the morning drive into work could be. The drive to & from work was always the best music listening time, since there's nothing else to do except drive & listen to tunes. Christie always makes fun of me for grabbing a stack of cd's for the shortest of car rides. This dates back to driving back & forth 45 minutes to get to good ol' Lutheran High Westland, & has continued through driving back & forth to Lansing from Grand Rapids & to Grand Haven from Grand Rapids to work. You kind of plan things out, for the first half hour you listen to something that is good, but there's not as much pressure on the first half hour. The last ten minutes, however, you plan it out so that you can hear a great song in it's entirety ending just as you get to work.

I also was reminded today of how rude people can be on the road. It must be easier to be mean to people on the road when you don't really have to deal with anybody face to face. Bumper stickers, for example, are the biggest example of passive aggressive rudeness. By putting a bumper sticker on your car, you can insult somebody (or at least try) from a 3" by 6" sticker. I saw one today that said "take that hippy! four more years!" & it had a picture of George Bush on it. Does this mean that everyone who didn't vote for George Bush is a hippy? Does it imply that everyone who didn't vote for George Bush are going to "get theirs" as a result of their decision? Gloria, who knows my strange sense of humor, bought me a t-shirt that mirrored a popular bumper sticker: "Vegetarian: Indian for Bad Hunter". I wear it proudly.

It doesn't end there, however. I've never quite understood the act of giving somebody the finger. If you were to see somebody in person, without the security of your car, & you gave them the finger, or said something of similar effect, there's a good chance you'd get punched in the nose. Mike & I were driving to dinner this evening, & we drove past somebody coming the opposite direction on his street. He was driving a big ol' Lincoln, & as I drove past him he gave me the finger. Why? I don't know. I asked Mike if I did anything wrong. He told me that it was because I was driving a new car. Go figure.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

Cold Blooded Old Times-Smog, Accumulation: None

Mama, Won't You Keep Them Castles in the Air & Burning?-Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Some Loud Thunder

Ain't Talkin'-Bob Dylan, New York City, 2006

Hard to Tell-Old Crow Medicine Show

Peaceable Kingdom-Patti Smith, Trampin'

Happy Tuesday, friends! Say hello to strangers & neighbors alike!

andrew