FB: April 11th - 14th

April 11th

Tonight LuLu and I hit the road for our 1st ever bike trip together. We went to Howard Ave & back (about 2 miles), w/ a few added detours through the park, around the block etc. Tip: if you need to clean rust off your bike, take a ball of wet aluminum foil to it. Not only will it remove the rust, it doesn't scratch the paint.







April 12th

I took Lisa & Lump to El Beso, the new Mex restaurant in Greenfield (site of the old Champs). The prices were on the high end of avg & there were few items (and little change in price) on the lunch menu. Service was great, food was average, but they had a grease trap truck parked outside the entrance, greeting you w/ sewer odor as you entered and exited. Stick to El Fuego.

A) My left knee is killing me. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to sit on my a** for four months then abruptly bike 2+ miles B) I'ts the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. RIP Union soldiers. C) I'm in the paper today. Pick up a copy


April 13th

Erin Gray circa 1979 = Yum

The virulent (e)mails generated by my voter ID column [in the paper] don't bother me, but the fact that they CONTINUE to come in (3 today alone) is surprising. And I do mean angry, sometimes vulgar emails, not legit disagreements. One of the letters is as long as the original column. Geesh.

* * * *

This is the editorial the Sentinel printed the day after the Civil War began.

The vociferous cry of "The Union, the Constitution and Enforcement of the Laws" kept up in 1860 by those who opposed the election of Mr. Lincoln, has since been changed by those who then used it, for that of "No Coercion," which, being interpreted according to the rules of common sense, means "No Union, no Constitution, no Enforcement of the Laws."

In 1860, the prime object of the cry was the prompt capture and return of fugitive slaves; but in 1861, it is taken up by the very men against whom it was directed as a lying insinuation less than a year ago and there is both reason and force in their use of it; for since then, many of the very men who made such loud professions of their fidelity to the Union, the Constitution and the Laws, have broken up the Union, trampled the Constitution under their feet, and are this day arrayed in open defiance of the laws. If a Negro was rescued by men whose natural sympathies revolted against the execution of a statute which required the poor trembling wretch to be carried back to bondage and the lash, these men who are now steeped to the lips in treason, together with their Northern sympathizers and allies, held up their hands in holy horror at such a terrible infraction of law, and such treason to the Union.

Now, however, when every conceivable form of hostility to the government and the laws are openly and boldly practiced - courts abolished, custom houses seized, forts, arsenals and navy yards taken possession of and turned against the government; when treason of the boldest and rankest kind has banished all law from a large portion of the country, we must bear it all meekly - there must be no coercion - it will never do to talk about enforcing the laws - it would offend our "Southern brethren" - it may drive Virginia out of the Union - it may lead to bloodshed!

We have had too much of that kind of talk; and it was high time that a determined stand were taken by every man, who is not a traitor at heart, to stand up for the Union, the Constitution and the enforcement of the Laws, and we rejoice to believe that we have a man at the head of the nation who will be faithful to the great duties imposed upon him.

* * * *
I watched the Eastwood/Damon film "Hereafter" tonight. I don't know quite what to make of it. I guess it was like a lazy river ride at a theme park. It was nice, and well done, and you don't regret paying your admission, but it takes damn near forever and it does nothing to speed up your pulse.

My column from Tues. generated a fair share of hate mail. I was called mindless, a cracker, racist, a hater of "colored folk", and told I should leave Wisconsin. Apparently the far left interprets any mention of criminal behavior to = African American, which says a hell of a lot more about them than it does me.



April 14th

Yikes, these nightmares are getting out of hand. Some of it was the typical "makes no sense in the light of day" variety, but part of the 'plot' was my hunt for a killer who then got the jump on me. In order for him to spare my family I had to cut off the fingers on my right hand with a pen knife. I woke up with my hand hurting, which was either the cause or effect of the dream. I am, apparently, going nuts.