Meanderings 63 for a minute

1. I've noticed that Taco Bells and Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants seem to have teamed up with each other, often occupying the same cholesterol rich buildings in the outcroppings of Wal Mart parking lots. This is nice. Its great to give fat and lazy people even more of an opportunity to be fatter and lazier. But I think this is really a step in the right direction; its like a peaceful beacon to the rest of the world. I think back to the horror of the Mexican-American war of the late 1800's and America's flagrant desire to take over the world fueled by the idea of "Manifest Destiny." I think back to all the southern states who came to the defense of Texas, sticking up for the state over its rightful will to annex Mexico. And now, over a hundred years later, to see the poster child of "Southern State Food" team up with the poster child of Mexican food? Well, it just brings a tear to my eye. I guess we really CAN all be friends. Some day, I just know, we'll see "Melvin's Matzo Ball Bazaar" and "Rahib's House of Dirkacakes" share the same space in harmony. There is hope.

2. Did you ever think about the fact that we use "litter" to make things "cleaner" and more healthy in our homes? Cat litter, that is. Funny, huh?

3. OFten times on the news you hear people talk about all the "senseless" violence going on in the world today--all the wars, all the murder, all the domestic assault, etc. However, as a grammarian and pragmatist, it would seem to me that all these acts of violence are senSUAL--incorporating all kinds of senses into the act. Killing and beating and murder takes lots of "sense" and emotion and raw soul to commit. There is is an odor to death. There is a sound of bullets and b-slaps. There is a the vision of legs being blown off by mortar shells. Domestic violence assailants physically touch their victims with the backside of their hands. The taste of blood is salty. Sounds grim I know, but let's not fool ourselves. Violence is ANYTHING but senseless.

4. I will be writing a letter to the editor of the local newspaper soon (and I will be writing to the Bicycle Coalition of Maine) lobbying for the law to change to allow cyclists to ride on the interstate highway. I will be met with scoffs for sure; people will tell me I am a nutjob. But consider: I-95 is the most well maintained road in the state, and the only one with a consistent, safe, and clean shoulder. If anything, some of the backcountry roads should be illegal for cyclists, since they are laden with rocks and sand and pot holes and asphalt that looks like petrified hamburger. Furthermore, the speed limit on the highway is 65, and the speed limit on some of these "routes" (like rt 201 for example) is 55. What is the difference between 10 mph? And everyone knows people go faster on these roads anyway. The highway is a safe place to ride also because of the long, straight stretches which provide safer routes than the windy, twisting oblivions of some of the backroads of Maine. FINALLY, the cyclists I know are the most OCD people I know of--constantly vigilant of keeping their bikes and equipment safe, ship-shape, and clean. If safety is a primary concern for NOT letting bicycles on the highway, then how can the suits in Augusta POSSIBLY condone letting a motorcycle--which travels at ridiculous speeds of 75MPH while the operator wears no helmet--drive on the highway, and NOT let a bicycle, which might top out at a speed of 25 MPH at the most? I am very serious about being able to ride on the highway. The roads in Maine suck.