Yellow There! Ow are you this fine day?

To begin, I would like to apologize for any misunderstanding from my previous entry. Allow me to explain. For a birthday in the past I was bestowed with a treasure by my loving parents. The album Kind of Blue by Miles Davis has been widely recognized as the bible of modern jazz. His sound was pure, his improvisation  was bare and open and his style was revolutionary to the world of music. As I listened I came to a track on the album entitled Flamenco Sketches and saw an image in my mind. I witnessed a girl twirling and darting to and fro around a world that was exciting and dangerous. i saw her living her life, feeling  happy and sad and excited and stressed as she waited tables at a small Spanish cafe and did homework on her breaks. i saw her in classes and at home with struggles there as well. And I saw her dancing in a slow rhythmic flamenco style. I have since come to the conclusion that there's a story in that song and I want to tell it if I can. After much thought I have started writing and I'd like to know if i should finish. The gist of the story is this: Rafaela Baillette Alonso lives in Andalusia, Spain, the capital of flamenco music. The music that defines her country is all around her in both commercial and more intimate forms but like anyone who is constantly surrounded by something it really doesn't mean much to her. She lived in the U.S. For a year as an exchange student and she attends a small community college. She meets a young spelunker and they teach each other something about life and the music that fills it.

As you know, some tragic events have recently transpired. I have a few thoughts on the matter. First, my thoughts and prayers are with those directly effected. Second i would like to address the mainstream commentary on the matter. I first heard it from Countdown with Keith Olberman. He took a moment from his realist approach to current events to discuss the implications of public discourse. I was quite intrigued at this because arguments kritikal of our discourse has been a specialty of mine through the debate years. Keith is right. While he may have been addressing a specific group of people and I'm pretty convinced that the man who committed this horrendous act wasn't a Sarah Palin worshiping -shall I say it? - normal conservative, language that is hurled around us an an ever increasing and rapid rate has had a tremendous impact on public actions. We're convinced through the "blessing" of movies, video games, political attack ads and news that direct violence is both the sole problem and the sole solution. We let millions die of water born illnesses, hunger and natural chaos while we spend trillions killing innocents in order to protect from terrorists threats that kill statistically fewer people worldwide than there are American bathtub drownings. We care more about killing in faraway lands then we do saving lives here in our own and what do we get for it? Children who grow up wanting to play real life grand theft auto, break the law when no one's watching and kill their congressmen and women for voting with a disliked president. The violence won't end or even diminish without a concentrated effort to diminish indirect as well as direct causes of violence.

In other recent news, I bowled a 114 yesterday. If you normally bowl higher pretend you don't so I can still feel like a fantastic bowler.

I love you guys.