Out of Sorts

I’m out of sorts.  Unsettled.  A little tipsy, too, which probably makes it worse.  I should just go to bed rather than try to get to the bottom of it but it’s hard for me to just let shit go.

Lately, there have been some moments when I’ve been happier than I’ve been in a long, long time, some good moments that have just felt like there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing than being there in them.

It kind of makes me sick to my stomach.  Not at the moment, but afterwards. 

I should pray to be open and present and brave, but that seems like a prayer that would be impossible for me to make.  I guess that’s why I should do it.

I watched Ghost Dog.  Again.  I suspect there’s something important in that movie that I’m just not getting.  The dog, for starters.  And yet, it seems like the kind of movie that should reward thoughtful thinking about it.  It doesn’t though, really, I don’t think.

I’m no good at things that don’t reward thoughtful thinking about it.

I have this feeling like I’m fucking things up but I can’t see what, if anything, I’m fucking up.

The Professor was trying to tell me tonight, I think, that I’m too hung up on being good, too worried that my actions might betray me as being a bad person.

This may be true.  See, it’s a line of thought that rewards thinking about it.

Fuck.

I should just go to bed.

T for Tennessee!

Kwach and Ev are pondering a weekend trip to Tennessee.

They wonder, Memphis or Nashville?

Either place makes a wonderful weekend destination.  In Nashville, you can visit the Country Music Hall of Fame, the honky tonks down on lower Broad, the Frist Museum, the State Capitol, and a life-sized replica of the Parthenon complete with the largest indoor statue in the Western Hemisphere.

If Civil War stuff is your thing, the Battle of Nashville Preservation Society has a wonderful driving tour that will take you all around to important points.  Also, a nice afternoon drive is down to Franklin where there’s more Civil War stuff and a charming downtown to explore.

On the other hand, Memphis.  Sun Records, Graceland, the Stax Museum, Schwab’s Dry Good’s Store, Ebbo’s, and you’re an easy drive from Clarksdale and some of the most important places of our musical heritage.  Shoot, even if you’re not a Delta Blues fan, if you love Led Zepplin, Cream, and the Stones, you’ll recognize a lot of the place names.

If it were me, I’d check the weather.  It’s not going to get any hotter than 80 here all weekend–beautiful weather for a Nashville trip.  Ooh, and similar weather in Memphis.

Is it still humid over there?  Does anyone know?

Tough choices but either place will be fun.

Crying Won’t Help You; Praying Won’t Do You No Good

I don’t want to get into some discussion of William and what he’s doing over at NiT.  In all honesty, I don’t expect anything from NiT any more and what I loved about NiT is now happening over at Music City Bloggers and so it doesn’t hurt my feelings if NiT is just “William Blabs about Shit.”  And I would read WBaS.  So, there you go.  It probably reflects poorly on me, but it’s the truth.

That’s a hella long disclaimer for what just amounts to a “Holy shit, we’re all going to die!”

This is not just a Republican problem, as much as I would like to blame everything on Bush and have him so weighed down under the stress of it that he has to roll everywhere he wants to go because standing is too much of a burden.  Problems like this don’t just happen over night.  They creep up over years and years and years and this is stuff that we all should have been watching.

Yes, the Corps is responsible, but who oversees the Corps?

Listen, Tennessee, and learn from the continued suffering of our friends and neighbors along the Gulf Coast.  In all honesty, we should hope to be treated better, but we should be planning for that.  What is our plan if one or the other of these dams fail and outside help is not coming?

How will we aid our fellow Tennesseans?  Are we equipped to rescue folks in Carthage?  Are we depending on the National Guard?  What if they’re all overseas?  Can city, county, and state police be mobilized for such a purpose?  And, if they’re doing search and rescue, who will be guiding evacuation efforts farther down river?

Can we make a plan or two in the event that no one comes to save us?