Everyone check out Sarah's blog, The Red Wagon, for an exclusive interview with her. It's my first thorough interview with anyone.

Lexington Cemetery.

I don't know how I ended up with a double image below, but I apparently can't fix it without starting over. Sorry for the onconvenience. Those are all from the Lexington Cemetery by the way.

Speaking of slack-asses, that’s what I’ve been lately when it comes to updating. I think right now the biggest attraction to this page is the list of links to the right. I knew that whole “open in a new window” thing was worth the time and trouble. Of course maybe the comment section has been drawing its readers as well. I think I’ve seen a subtle barrage from people who don’t like what I’m saying, or rather what I’ve said, and maybe in some sense want me to know that I have detractors in my readership now, even as they’re saying they won’t read anymore (quite funny now that I think about it). That’s okay; it’s part of life. If everyone always got along beautifully, there would be no Lifetime Movies. Part of the reason I’ve all but stopped updating is because I’m really not as controversial as I’m alleged to be. For every controversial post, there have been fifty that weren’t, but now I feel pressured to come up with something that’ll make somebody somewhere wince. I’m going to take a deep breath, count to ten, and release all that negativity, and maybe start posting often enough again to rise back to the top of my own link list, if I were on it I mean.

Ethan told me he’d chosen a university for himself. That’s quite a feat considering the lad is nine years old, and in the fourth grade. I wondered, “Is he thinking a local school? UK or maybe one of our nice liberal arts colleges in the commonwealth, or he wanting to go to Harvard, or maybe one of the military academies?” Nope. My son wants to go to Bight University. If you’ve never heard of it, you don’t watch enough Discovery Channel. It’s the school visible in commercials for the “Shark Week” they’re having, which features specials about, well, sharks. He thought it was an actual place, and I’m still not sure myself. What I’m pretty sure about is that if there is a Bight University it doesn’t include a curriculum entirely of classes about sharks, much to my son’s dismay.

Am I the only one who isn’t surprised that George W. Bush is such a bad president? I cried when he won his second term. I mean I actually cried. With every monumentally bad decision these days it seems like I hear someone say, “I can’t believe he actually did that.” What exactly did you expect? When you realize that the George Bush presidency is strictly a for-profit enterprise, as it always has been, nothing really makes you go “Huh?”

I managed to see Glory Road, A Scanner Darkly, Junebug, and Munich all on Sunday. They’re all great. Glory Road wasn’t as negative toward UK or even toward Rupp as I expected it to be. It had a few contradictions, but sometimes it’s necessary to beef up the history to make it have the impact that maybe it should have had while it was happening. Actually Rupp came off as a pretty good coach, albeit a racist. Munich was also a historical piece, from a similar time period, thought the subject matter was of course completely different. I’m not sure about how much of it was true, but it’s certainly a poignant tale for today, as war erupts in the Middle East once again. Here’s a little insight for you regarding the mess in Iraq we’re in right now. Back when we only attacked people who attacked us, when it was all over and the bad dictator was deposed and his army was in shambles, we had the option of putting the boys back on the boats and heading back home. It’s only when we have to make up excuses about what a bad job their guy is doing of running his own country that we have to show we can do it better. The fact is, we can’t. Democracy in a country like Iraq means that there are a lot of people who are letting Allah vote by proxy. Unfortunately Allah often has some opinions that aren’t really all about love, peace, and understanding, which is what we like to see come out of democracies. Of course we have this problem here at home as well, but at least we aren’t kidnapped, shot, or blown to pieces for calling those proxy voters out. Well, not usually. But I digress. Junebug is a great little film. I was not emotionally devastated as Cory promised I would be. Kevin says I’m devoid of emotion, but I think he says that because of one little snicker during Schindler’s List, but it WAS during the funny part. I’m not devoid of emotion; I’m just protective of my own state of mind. I hate feeling bad, so I don’t invest too much in movies that are going to be sad. Maybe if Cory hadn’t warned me of my emotional devastation in advance, it might have actually happened. To finish out the movie reviews, A Scanner Darkly (Cory has a review and a pic) has a LOT to say, and it’s very fun to watch. It’s reminiscent of The Big Lebowski in a few scenes and also Fear and Loathing in a few scenes. I think it helped me appreciate this film that I’d seen Rush for the first time not too terribly long ago, which dealt with similar subject matter. In short, watch this movie.

For all the buzz about the possibility of coming into some of the Meadors money here lately, it should be pointed out that Jewel Robbins was recently barred by the state from selling unregulated securities, securities like the ones of which I’m entitled to a partial piece. At this point, my hope for a big windfall is growing pretty slim. Time will tell (but unfortunately for a lot of Meadors “heirs” over the last decades, it hasn’t yet). I have to admit, I’d really like some of that money, and thanks to my greed and my inquisitive nature I probably now know a lot more about the formation of Gulf Oil than your average Texan.

I've received my first very dissatisfied customer of bloggery. Mr. Graham was not too happy about my remarks concerning why I would not vote for him for county attorney. I think at the end of our conversation we came to a civilized agreement to disagree. He did ask me a very pertinent question, and that was why did I write the piece in the first place. At the time I told him just because I like for other people to know my opinions, but in reflection over the weekend, I remembered that I wrote the piece mostly to defend myself against the accusations by the man from Wolfe County that we had no sense of fairness to out-of-towners in Powell County.

I went home a little early today and when I got home I saw the Robin Williams movie The Final Cut. It's a pretty good film and I'm not going to discuss it at length, except to say that it caused me to begin to think about my own memories. I am not usually one given to reminiscence. I suppose I always thought that that was soemthing to be done with friends and family who shared the experiences you remember and discuss. I thought that there will be plenty of time to remember alone when I am old, and have no one else to share new experiences with, or lack the will to do create new experiences. When I look back however, I realize now that my memories have taken on more poignance. My memories reminded me of emotions I hadn't felt in a long time. It was almost as if I was feeling those emotions again. Mostly I am a simple creature. There are things that I want to do. There are people I enjoy being with. There are things that I like to experience. I have never defined myself by what has gone before. I always assumed that what I had experiences in the past had shaped who I was, without much reflection being necessary. I think I am beginning to realize now, however, that to truly learn from my experience, it is necessary that I examine it. To learn who I am, I must re-examine who I have been, and in so doing, I might be able to shape my experiences so as to shape who I might become. Up until now, I've tried very hard to raise my head up above the masses, to try to shed my anonymity, and I suspect that perhaps I will still try. Recognition for one's contribution to society is important, but what I've come to realize is that it isn't so much recognition in the mind of the masses that is important, as much as fulfillment in oneself, and to be remembered fondly by those who lives you touch more directly.

Speaking of memories, how many memories do we have? Back at the beginning of my memory, things seem pretty sparse. I remember things mostly in flshes. I don't remember exact conversations very well. I don't remember how things tie together all that well. I mostly remember flashes of what I saw, maybe a few words I heard. Scientists say that humans remember smells very well, but I'm not too sure about that. Most of the smells I remember the best, other than the smell of the inside of a tobacco barn, involve one woman or another, and whatever secnt she chose as her signature. I still wish I knew many of those exact brands of perfume, so that I could re-invigorate my memory by sniffing their exact artificial smell again. My very first memory, that still exists where I can get at it, is the memory of wondering when my mother would get back from the hospital. She was there with my brother, who was in the process of being born. I was just shy of three of course. From there until the next one is hardly any time at all. I looked through the hospital window at my mother and my new baby brother. After that, things are hazy for a while. I remember meeting my best friend from early elementary school, Brian Wade. I remember that I was standing on the edge of my yard and he was on the edge of his across a small creek, and we greeted each other. I remember a trip or two down the hill and the driveway on my Big Wheel. I remember trying to find the right bus the first day of kindergarten. Brian was very worried. I remember sneaking a peak up the dress of Darlene, my classmate and bus driver's daughter, during naptime, but time has taken her last name from me. It's also taken the memory of what I saw, but that may be due to complete misunderstanding. I remember playing with wooden blocks and I remember learning to tie my shoes. I remember messing up an assignment and correcting it and not liking it very much. How many memories is that up through the beginning of first grade? Not very many surely. I haven't reinforced them over the years I'm afraid. They start coming a little faster after that. Maybe I need to sit down sometime and remember all the important things that have happened to me. How long would that take? Maybe I'm afraid I've lost a few that should have been important.

I had an intern visit this morning. I wasn't sure if I could talk about my job continuously for more than an hour but I did. I t helped that I I used the first two hours of the morning preparing for what I was going to say.

I know that Cory has touched on this before, but I want to reiterate how sad I am that Rachel has at least temporarily left us for other pursuits, namely training horses in Oregon. Rachel has come to mean a great deal to me over the last couple years. Though she's occasionally been moody toward me, she's never been fake. When Rachel tells you something or acts a certain way, you know that really is the way she feels, if only for the moment. She came into our little circle like a whirlwind, and she's maintained that trait for the entire time I have known her. I wish Rachel the best in Oregon, but I hope that it's a stepping stone to greater things back here at home.