Great afternoon for reading!

Ken had to stay up until noon because of a conference call, so I spent the afternoon sitting out on the deck and reading a Repairman Jack novel. Very pleasant, and I'm enjoying a purely fun read, after finishing a book club read...it was a good book, but it's fun to experience a little escapism and get caught up with Jack (one of my favorite fictional characters). I'm plowing through it, too! I also spent a little time thinking about the characters in the short story I put up here, how I might flesh them out a little bit, what they might be about...fun to think about. I managed to do a load of laundry in there, so the day wasn't a total wash. Hah! Get it? Laundry? A total wash? That was an accident!

Silver Squirrel Alert! I had a blog visit from someone in New Rochelle, New York. A Silver Squirrel to anyone who knows what fictional TV family made their home in New Rochelle.

When you get a chance, I hope you'll stop by and visit Doug's blog, Running2Nowhere. Doug is Cousin Shane's friend, and I do believe we have become friends, too, although we have yet to meet. Doug was in the Navy and spent time in Afghanistan as a photojournalist. Some long-time readers may remember when I put up a picture of him and then-Senator Obama, who Doug got to meet when the Senator made a trip over there. Doug is now a reservist, and decided to start a blog to get some thoughts out there. He's a fine writer, and I look forward to seeing what he has to say (and to meeting him at some point). Pop on by and say hi if you're so inclined!

I didn't turn on the news all day, and was shocked and saddened to hear about the shooting at the Holocaust Museum. Apparently the shooter has a website that is highly anti-Semitic, is one of those fucktards who claim that the holocaust never happened, and has affiliations with various neo-Nazi groups. (He is also a Birfer.) For the life of me, I will never ever understand that sort of mentality, and frankly, I don't want to. I've been to the Holocaust Museum twice, an incredibly emotional and heart-rending experience, and have read many accounts from survivors. How anyone can deny the fact of the holocaust is beyond me, and I believe such denial is another form of hatred. The Nazis were excellent record keepers as well as efficient murderers, and there are multiple examples of their horrid practices.

This shooter is yet another example of how hateful rhetoric can drive unstable people to terrible deeds. People read such rhetoric, become obsessed by it, and if they've already got mental problems, it can lead to disaster and death, as took place today at the Museum. I'm so sorry for the family of the museum guard who died after being shot, and my heart goes out to them. This brave man was another victim of hatred, over sixty years after the occurrences that resulted in the museum he guarded.

In my opinion, it's also another reason to be disturbed by Gingrich's comment the other night, that he is "not a citizen of the world." I know that this will seem naive, and I know that in many ways it is naive. It also makes sense. (Besides, my naiveté is part of my charm. So there.) It seems to me that if we all start understanding that we are citizens of the world, there might come a time when we want to stop killing each other. There will always be nutjobs, but is it necessary to fuel the fire? I wonder what causes people to be drawn to such extreme views? I have strong opinions (don't be shocked!), but I would never think of harming someone because of their political or religious views or sexual preferences. Opinions are one thing; wanting to harm, and harboring such hatred as we saw embodied today, is something else entirely.