Better to burn out than to fade away

For those of you who were not feeling old enough already, Neil Young turned 60 over the weekend. And,as a mere coincidence, I'm sure, on Sunday night Marge Simpson explained Neil Young to Bart like this: "He was a singer from the Sixties... like The Archies or The Banana Splits."

Quote of the weekend: "Do I want to ride a whatcycle built for who??" - Bart Simpson

I used to get asked all the time by the inhabitants of Yokosuka (Go ahead. You try... Yokosukians? Yokosukaites? Yokosukamanians?) if I liked Japanese food. Then they would look at me expectantly, patiently awaiting my polite response. I would smile and in my calm,international ambassador's voice I would reply, "Oh, I just love to eat Japanese... it's your food I don't like." And then I'd give them my best Godzilla meets the white devil smile. Good times.

I made a lot of mistakes as I went along and tried to grow up. And this will not be a real long bit. But I was thinking about it when I went to the school board offices to get a copy of my high school transcript for my sheriff's job application. This is going to show that I was a below average student, I was often a truant, I quit and went back, graduating 2 years later than I should have. Yep, it's all gonna show.* But what can I say? I know that by running head first into a lot of unyielding brick walls, sometimes repeatedly, I learned lessons and truths that I never will forget. And that have served to make me a patient, determined, and live and let live kind of guy. Sure hope I get a chance to explain that.

I posted this as a comment on Gunner's site. By the way, if you ever want a quirky site full of gun news, political discourse and the most eclectic selection of diversionary links available, then go to visit his site. It is one of the select few listed in my link field. And the boy keeps it all G-rated, same as me. Or same as I try to, anyway. I had just taken a quiz that pegged me as a political centrist, suprisingly with a slightly leftward leaning (who knew?) and I was adding my two cents to the comment chain. I noted thus:

"I think all drugs should be decriminalized for adults. In fact, the legislation could be on the same bill that would decriminalize shooting a drug addict who was trying to steal from you."

My thinking is that self destruction should be one of the inalienable rights, as it is never good to legislate against mother nature's natural selection process. Down here in Florida we already got rid of helmet laws for adult motorcyclists, which should serve to thin a few more of the foolish from the herd than the law allowed before. So, those inclined to slink in back alleys and flop houses to pump junk into their bodies should be allowed out into the open. It'll speed up the process. And maybe if the devestating effects of it on the body are more in the open for more people to see, it may serve as a sort of anti-drug message in it's own right. What is it they say, TRUTH: the anti-drug? But since some junkies will refuse to die on time, and most if not all will steal to finance their habit, there will need to be a provision in the law allowing us to shoot the morons. OK, just a thought from a newly discovered leftward leaning centrist. Again, who knew? And I always thought I was a slightly right of center libetarian.

BTW, here's my quiz results: Your PERSONAL issues Score is 100%. Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 80%. (Please note: Scores falling on the Centrist border are counted as Centrist.)

Next... my home. Tampa is weird right now. I think it is really a city in flux as it was always a rather quiet, smallish town but is now experiencing an explosive growth rate.

I am in a pickle, really. I am a down home, little redneck boy at heart that likes pond fishing, live oak trees, livermush and sitting in the front yard with a cigar and talking to the neighbors as they walk past. On the other hand, having far right wingers, far left wingers, Jews, Christians, Agnostics, Hindus, Bhuddists, Yankees, Red Necks, old, young, in between rock n roller with a bluegrass bent all rubbing elbows all the time is kind of mentally stimulating. It's damn sure not real homogenous around here. We got the flag waving politicians and the clueless politicians. For example, when the city council in Tampa learned that ethics laws were keeping them from accepting some of the more desirous freebies from developers and carpetbaggers and the like, they all voted to change the ethics laws! Even in a snake pit like Hillsborough County, that didn't go over real well. So, here are some things from today's paper concerning Tampa trying to decide on a new motto. I think numbers one and nine are best with an honorable mention to number six. Enjoy:

1. Tampa: What happens here stays weird
2. Tampa- It has culture, it has vultures- a feast for the senses
3. Tampa: Redneck Miami
4. Come to Tampa. It's cheaper than Orlando
5. Visit Tampa. We're Tennessee's Riveria
6. What happens, when your wife thinks you're at a convention in Orlando, stays in Tampa
7. Tampa: City of the jammed
8. Tampa: Where the good life gets bitter
9. Tampa: Hold your breath long enough and it goes away.

Won $25 on a scratch off ticket today. Considerably less than the $20,000 I was going for, but when all is said and done, a $21 profit.

Please dispose of properly, out
Ramblin' Ed

* Or maybe not. Actually, I really don't know what's on a transcript.