The (almost) Daily Comment

Hi, I'm a weather pixie. OK, stop laughing. I SAID, STOP LAUGHING, DAMN YOU. Click here if, for some ridiculous reason, you'd like to know more about the current weather conditions in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Tuesday, 6/22/04 - It looks like Kentucky State Troopers are recruiting middle schoolers for jobs as police sketch artists...

(http://www.wbir.com/News/news.asp?ID=18588)

Sunday, 6/20/04 - Hmmmm.... Is this the start of the planet of the apes? A upside-down world where ape is the ruler and man the beast?

Well... is it??!?

Saturday, 6/12/04 - Reflections on Ronald Reagan and an era gone by...

I never encountered President Ronald Reagan in person, but I did shake hands with Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan during a 1980 campaign stop in Knoxville. Rather, my right hand (one of many thrust out at him) was grasped by his left hand as he was working the crowd on his way to a stage, down a cordoned-off walkway in a downtown area called Market Square. He never saw me, as he was looking at the people in front of me as he went by, but I saw the man very clearly... a very healthy, tanned, and vibrant man despite his age.

That was a long time ago and I was 20 years old at the time. Young and dumb and not yet jaded by the world and politicians' broken promises and treachery. At that time, current president Jimmy Carter seemed to be a weak president who was failing miserably at his attempts to free the U.S. hostages being held (close to a year and counting) by Iran. So, I (and the majority of Americans) couldn't help but vote for Reagan that year. He was a very likable character and held a promise of change... and strength.

During the following years of Reagan's two terms in office, I moved out of my parent's house, had a great time doing the singles bar scene (the swinging years before herpes and AIDS arrived), I got married, had a son, bought a house, and then had a daughter. And of course, I started paying bills... many of them. In short, during those eight years I grew up pretty fast... maybe too fast for my own good.

(Following the Reagan years, during Bush Sr.'s administration, I got divorced and became a single father with custody of two small children. That status remains the same, but now the children are 18 and 16.)

So, as one of the major symbols of those times was put to rest yesterday, I couldn't help but remember those days and miss them. Thanks to the optimism of nostalgia, things seemed better back then, when compared to the dreadful days of terrorism that we live in today.

But, all things must pass and we have to do the best with the world that we have today. The potential still exists to make these times the future's "good old days."

As mentioned yesterday, here are some bits of nonsense I came up with concerning this past week's Reagan funeral events.

Please, don't get mad... it's just jokes, people.

Friday, 6/11/04 - STAY TUNED... A Special Report on the Ronald Reagan funeral (done Longmire-style) is coming tomorrow!