this is what happened:

i realized i had business to do in a city an hour away. so i drove to it. this business was fairly important, and i wasnt sure if it was supposed to have been done last friday or this friday, so i needed to go, check on the date, and do it.

my parents called me, at one point, to ask when i would be able to meet them.

i told them five, five thirty.

at five, at almost five exactly, my parents called me and told me they were going out to eat without me.

later, i talked to my sister about it. she felt bad, because she was under the impression that i wouldnt be back until late, say 10 or 11.

she wanted me there, because she was uncomfortable with the family who was there.

which i won't go into right now.

on a completly differnet note:

it really bothers me that there's so much focus on france not backing the war.

listen: they're not anti-american or anything.

let's go back to the world wars. one and two.

france lost half a generation of young men in the wars. HALF A GENERATION.

imagine that.

imagine it, now. these days. imagine you have ten men in your life you really love. be it husbands, brothers, uncles, friends.

just imagine ten of them.

now five of them are gone.

imagine you've got two sons.

one's gone.

a whole country went through this.

and remember world war two?

remember how the united states was an isolated nation? because we wanted to be? because world war one had taken a lot out of us? how it took pearl harbor to finally get us into the war?

i dont blame france at all for not wanting to be involved in this war.

i dont want to be involved in this war.

i think this is a war that doesn't need to be fought.

i would love to see a debate between hussien and bush.

i've already had three friends shipped off. i have two other people, close to me, who could, at any moment, be called to serve their country. i have friends who have loved ones not here.

and for what?

because there are people out there who think "freedom fries" is more patriotic than "french fries."

because there are people out there who will not allow muslims in their buildings because of september 11.

i dont think our country's freedoms and rights are in jeopardy from outside forces. i dont think osama or hussien or muslims are a threat.

i think the only threat to our freedoms is our own government.

our country is strong enough to withstand anyone, anything.

and, as a side note, a RELIGION is not a threat.

we will fight, yes.

but we've got to learn to fight the good fights, for the good reasons.

bah. i've just rambled. i apologize.

the deal is this:

the only people who can take away all our rights and privileges are ourselves. we're the only ones who can tamper with the constitution. we're the only ones who can enfore laws to make our private lives public.

we, as a country, have the potential to be a great nation, just like anyone has the potential to be a great person.

we're just falling way short of it.