new house

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A great line from Eli Stone:

"Don't backseat deify."

One more day!

Our Thanksgiving break begins Wednesday at noon after parent-teacher conferences. We're excited, though our students have no clue why they're getting half a week off. Apparently the story of Squanto and the friendly Pilgrims didn't make it back over the pond.

Is grave-robbing okay if you're starving?

Here's a follow-up article about the tipping of the trailer. This was the most interesting bit, to me:

Veteran journalist Al Cross, director of the Institute of Rural Journalism and Community Issues, said it's tough for small towns to be in the spotlight, especially in Kentucky.

"As a state, we have something of an inferiority complex," said Cross. And we might have good reason, he said. "We are one of two states that can be the easy object of late-night commentary." In other words it's pretty easy for Jay Leno or David Letterman to take an offbeat story, insert a backwoods stereotype and get an easy laugh. (The other state would be West Virginia, he said, because other poor, rural states farther south more readily bring up race issues, making the laughs more complicated.)

So the prickly feelings when folks start chattering about something that happens at home, he said, "all goes back to the feeling of being picked on."

"Sometimes rural places feel like they are being looked down on by urbanites and suburbanites," he said.

I miss Kentucky

I love seeing stories like this on the evening news:

"Sherriff's order destroys home"

The gist of it is that a mobile home was being moved with a tractor that broke down and blocked traffic for hours. The local sherriff stepped in and had two other tractors ram it to get it off the road, essentially desroying it. My favorite bit:

Barton, and the extended web of friends and family who lived with her, claim authorities didn't give them time to clear out a house full of furniture, much less clothing and the things that can't be replaced such as pictures, favorite toys and baseball card collections. [Extended web? Is this like Charlotte?]

Barton's boyfriend, Alan Gaunce, no relation to Jim [whose front yard the trailer now sits in], said somebody — he's not sure who — told him he'd be shot if he didn't get out of the trailer before it was toppled. Barton, a grandma at 35 with gold streaks in red hair, tearfully contends that Nicholas County Sheriff Dick Garrett "showed no respect for my home" when he ultimately ordered two tractors to ram the thing and set it on its side. [Sure he isn't related. A grandma at 35? Holy crap!]

On the other hand, Garrett, a wiry chain-smoker who ran for re-election with the slogan of "More 'Dick' in 2006," maintains that anybody who thinks it's a fine plan to pay somebody $200 to move their 25-year-old home, all their belongings, and a passel of pets with a farm tractor can't exactly complain when things go wrong. [I would've voted for that slogan.]

"I know I wouldn't pay somebody $200 to move my house and everything in it," said Garrett, noting that the group didn't have a required permit or escort. Basically, he said, he could have arrested the lot of them: Barton, her brood and the hauler. The charge, he said: "being ignorant." [My favorite line in the whole thing.]

To be fair, the partial closing of U.S. 68 for some nine hours on a Friday night is pretty major in Nicholas County, where Garrett Tuesday was reviewing a Mayberry-like constituent call concerning a thwarted attempt to snatch a fresh cherry pie from a kitchen. [What the...? Are you serious?]

He said he did all he could think of to salvage the mobile home, but had to get the road clear. "It's a federal highway," said Garrett, who stood in the rain from roughly 4:30 p.m. Friday until 2 a.m. directing traffic with the rest of his force, a single deputy. ["His force" doesn't seem like the best word to describe one person!]

About 1½ miles into the move, the tires popped off. Sheriff Garrett said he's heard that somebody warned the group the tires would be loose and they should stop the move. He said Barton insisted on going ahead. [This is a classic hillbilly story. "The tars done popped off again, paw!"]

The family, a mishmash of real kin and unofficially adopted kids, teens and young adults, are crammed into a smaller trailer while Barton tries to sort through it all. [Kin? KIN? What the hell kind of journalist uses the word 'kin?' Also, where did these 'unofficially adopted kids' come from? Are they just wandering around the countryside in bands?]

Jim Gaunce, an amiable great-grandfather, watched most of it unfold from his rocker in a sunny living room with windows so spotless birds frequently thud into the glass while trying to fly through. [What the hell is the purpose of this!]

Truly, this is my favorite news story in a while.

Not forgotten.

It boggles my mind that there are more than 6 billion consciousnesses out there who are simultaneously thinking 'I.'

Sometimes I just look at MSLF and wonder how her eyes see me and her ears hear my voice.

I also wonder, rather narcissistically, how often my face or voice has registered in someone's mind and created a thought which is catalogued in their mind and then quickly moved to the darkest and remotest corner of their memory. I also realize I have a subject-verb disagreement in that sentence, and I don't care.

These are things which I have too much time to think about lying in bed waiting to fall asleep.

The Nirvana baby is 17. Wow. What the hell kind of milestones do we use these days?

Trainspotting - The Full Toilet Scene.

This was one of my favorite films in high school.

I just read Aaron's entry about the election, and I feel the need to respond.

I truly wish there were a way to spread this around. Aaron states quite eloquently the simple truths about what a truly Xian approach to this should be, something which I doubt will be stated from pulpits around the nation on Sunday. I truly hate the schism that exists (or, more accurately, is perceived) between the Democratic party and Xians. Yes, that's a sweeping generalization which could be rebutted in a moment, but there is a general perception that the two are not compatible.

Obama does need all the prayer and support he can get. I don't agree with the tone of resignation in Aaron's call to be a "light" to those who voted Democrat, but support need not mean blind loyalty (one problem I had with Obama's rise to power). This should be a unifying election, not a schismatic one.

When it comes to money, I definitely tend toward the socialist side, and I value the Xian groups who take the "follower of Jesus" to the level of living as he did. Of course I'm not suggesting the Xian community become a nonprofit community, but I will never be able to justify (nor understand those who try) a gospel of prosperity. If you are one of those making more than $250K, assume some civic (human) responsibility and help others. If you don't want your money going to fund a baseless war, express that through your vote. I'm fully aware of the Bible's mention of not concerning yourself about material wealth for the future or for your daily needs because god will provide, but I think sometimes people of the best intentions become caught up in the rush of materialism and lose track of the line between "need" and "desire."

I could not agree more about the globalism of the Xian church, and I think some of that ties into the point above.

Finally, I'm glad to hear Aaron's pragmatic and meaningful response to the issue of abortion. It's amazing to me that people will vote in response to an issue which in all likelihood does not affect them, blind to the paradoxes which may be present. Often the same people who will vote against abortion will vote (by voting for the same candidate) for the continuation or extension of aggression which will lead to equal "atrocities" against human life. It's a disconnect which baffles me, and while my stand on abortion is still developing, I appreciate Aaron's reflection that the issue is not one which will be (or should be) resolved in a court. Both sides must be willing to sit down and talk, not bomb or antagonize.

If I've misrepresented anything, I apologize.

Numa Numa

This has brought me hours of joy today.