The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues

So I liked the new Hank III so much I went out here, in the vast metropolis of West Des Moines, and bought two more recent albums. Plus music from True Blood becasue I saw CC Adcock and Allan Toussiant were on it. Plus I ordered the new Ray Wylie Hubbard CD, since I have looked for it in 3 states now and cannot find it in stock. And Borders needs to buy better inventory software.

I asked the nice plump lady, who insisted on helping me although I am perfectly capable of typing in a search term on my own, to see if they had the new R.W. Hubbard CD. She did the search and told me that the computer says they might have it. The computer says you might have it? I knew walking in the door that you might have it. Just like I knew you might not. The purpose of inventory tracking software is to.....oh, never mind. Customer service in the US is not dead. But it is brain-dead.

Anyway, might not have it was the order of the day, so I made the order of Wednesday to have it brought to the store via, I suppose, a truck. Yay giant carbon footprint for an eclectic artist's 12 new songs. (10 he wrote, 2 he co-wrote though. That should stand for something.)

Looks out the window that we're fixing to blow up a storm here on the plains. I think Iowa is the plains, right? I mean, I know it is the midwest, but that just says where in the country we are. It hardly describes the features, or lack of features, of the ground. Or, if you will, the topography. Anyway, I am interested in what's going to blow in and what it will drop.

I rode out a couple of storms in Denver and was very surprised by their intensity. I think I have heard that plains states storms can get pretty furyful...furyistic...ah, furious. I guess I'll see. But I think the plains states also attract tornados. I am only truly afraid of 4 things, because all are painful and sneak up on you unexpectedly. Plus you can neither predict them (I guess that's what unexpected means, huh?) nor control them. And those things are 1. Sharks (not a huge concern here unless there is such a thing as corn sharks) 2. Submerged water moccasins (I was told when I was a kid that they can't bite underwater, but if that was true, why would they hang out there?) 3. Hard work (Mine, really more than yours) and 4. Tornados. I am really afraid of tornados because they are hurricane strong without the courteous 2 week notice you get from a hurricane. You've got time to name hurricanes. All tornados are named "It was really big and it sounded just like a train a'coming".

Update: No tornado. Heavy rain and thunderstorms? Well, not them either. Just a muggy night with a heat index of 102 (when I went to bed). But the crawler had dire storm warnings all night. That was exciting.

I grew up in a region (the South East) that didn't really value education. Still doesn't really. Not to the extent that a lot of other places do. And, of course, I am a product of my enviornment. I dropped out of high school, although I did return and graduate so I could enlist, and that all turned out OK in the end. Being a HS graduate didn't really make my resume a "must read" as I eventually figured out, but I was never without food and a roof.

I don't know why, really. That my beloved south has such an anti-intellectual bent. Other than my region was agricultural and in many cases brawn was more in demand than brains. You could reason with the "help" or you could whip 'em into line. And if you owned a big old spread with a lot of crops to tend, you didn't really want your sons figuring out that they could make a decent living elsewhere pushing numbers around with a pencil without all the sweating through their hand me down overalls you had in mind for them. You get the picture.

North Carolina has a lot of big name colleges, 3 of them up near Raleigh are literally within spitting distance of each other (Carolina, State, & Wake Forest). But after pondering on it mightily (hey if you're going to ponder, just as well to go all out) I concluded that it probably had something to do with better basketball tournaments. Well, when you think of Michael Jordan do you immediately think of a) basketball superstar, b) wait'll we get our Hanes on you, or c) thoughtful college graduate? So there you go.

Everything is in a state of flux, including the status quo, out
Ramblin' Ed
----- rhymes, videos, extraneous crap -------------

Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.

Think You Might 25 JULY 98

I was born here, I've been all over the place.
Like a permanent smile on a temporary face.
The night I was born my mama hung up the phone
said "my work here is done, so I guess I should go"

I was only nineteen when I turned thirty-five
I was barely awake, I was really alive.
I was on my way to see you when my brain kicked in
Saying "why you wanna go through all that mess again?"

If you take your time it all kind of seems so clear.
And I think you might...
I think you maybe ought to come to your senses.

Like a friend of a friend of someone you used to know.
Getting kind of tight here at the end of the rope.
I've been known to let you know when all else fails.
That's about the way it goes when you're riding the rails.

I was only in town for the rest of my life.
I was just passing through and handing out lies.
I was wonderin' if I'm thinking you're the girl for me.
It's as plain as my nose, it's as hard to see.

And if you take your time it all kind of falls into place.
And I think you might...
I think you maybe ought to come to your senses.

I was calling to say I won't be calling no more.
I was dropping some names, yours kinda fell on the floor.
Well it wasn't on purpose and it wasn't for spite.
It was precisely like the way you went and blew through my life.

If you take your time it all becomes so easy to see.
And I think you might...
I think you maybe ought to come to your senses.

Girl I think you might...
I think you maybe ought to come to your senses.

Ed
Yokosuka, Japan




Driftin' 'round 'bout half past four
With the blues on my back
And a bottle on the floor
Drinkin' until I think I'm gonna fall down
'Cause my sweet little baby had to kick me lowdown