Imagine someone still driving around with one of these?

Spotted recently in a parking lot in Atlanta:

 

If I had one of these at the time, I would have covered it up:

For them that must obey authority...

...that they do not respect in any degree(*)

I cannot think of the song Blowing In The Wind without thinking of an incident in Catholic school, 4th grade, which would have been 1964-1965, Sister Catherine Imelda's class. For some reason we were singing BITW, and Sister handed out mimeographs of the lyrics, which we all of course pressed to our faces to embrace the aroma of the mimeograph ink.

I had never heard of Bob Dylan at the time. I only knew BITW as a Peter Paul and Mary song. Sister probably hadn't heard of Dylan either.

Anyway, the mimeograph had a typo. The line:

How many times must I stumble and fall

was printed as

How many times must IS stumble and fall

Always the ever-vigilant proofreader, I started laughing (big mistake) and pointed out the typo to the kid next to me (bigger mistake). Suddenly, I heard the swoosh of an approaching habit and rosary beads clacking against the desks, and I braced for what I knew was about to happen:

I was yanked out of my desk by the ear, angrily asked what was so funny, and instead of saying "Nothing, S'ter", I showed her the typo, which got her even angrier. After a verbal tirade I was slammed back into my desk to resume singing.

The story above is an excerpt from my upcoming memoir (in progress), working title "It Was Hell, Recalls Former Child" (pending approval from the BKilban estate)

(*)It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)

 - Bob Dylan, 1964

There's one thing that makes spring complete for me.....

Thank you, Tom Lehrer, and special thanks to my Troy-Bilt weed whacker and cultivator attachment, which actually started up and worked yesterday (leading me to believe that I had been Raptured). Who thought that cleaning the air filter (something so easy, even I could do it) would make such a difference?

So, yesterday I got my garden started, turning over the soil, first by hand, then tilling with the Troy-Bilt. Today it's off to Bloomers for some plants (I don't do seeds), then planting today. Tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, cucumbers, basil. That's it this year.

Stay tuned for an update when things start to grow. In the meantime:

Walk Now for Autism Speaks - Please Help!

My friends, Melissa and Brian Bernardo, are participating in the South Jersey Walk Now for Autism Speaks event on May 21, 2011. Walk Now for Autism Speaks is a charity that raises money for Autism research. Please help them reach their fundraising goal of $200.00

Melissa and Brian are walking with Team Bancroft.  If you are not from the South Jersey area, Bancroft School is one of the leading providers of programs and support for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism, and acquired brain injuries.

Please CLICK HERE to access Melissa and Brian's personal page to make a donation. Every little bit helps.

Thank you!

Another Weekday, Another "Town Hall"

This is getting old. I got the news late Saturday afternoon that Governor Chris Christie would be taking his "Town Hall" road show to Evesham, NJ this Tuesday, May 10th. Again on a weekday, again in the middle of the day.

I learned this through a Google alert, in a news site I hadn't heard of called southjerseylocalnews.com. Apparently I have once again been purged from the governor's email list. After a conversation with a Christie staffer a few weeks ago, in which he denied that non-supporters were being removed from the email lists, and denied the existence of a secret advance notice email list for supporters, the staffer promised to add me back to the list.

After that I got not one but two invites to last week's Manalapan event, one from the standard email distribution and one personally sent by my new "friend" from the governor's constituent relations office. I politely declined, citing the need to show up for my day job.

I was told by my friend from the governor's office that these events cannot be held in the evenings because the governor works very hard during the day, has four kids, and spends evenings with his family. Fair enough (I have four "kids" myself, but they're grown), but somehow the governor has had time to travel across the country last fall, campaigning for fellow Republicans, attend a White House state dinner, and attend the Time 100 Gala, after which he gloated about having the Lincoln Tunnel cleared by his State Police detail to facilitate his arrival at this mission-critical event.

So, here we go again, this time in Republican Burlington County, on a Tuesday afternoon, with a diverse crowd of white retirees who feel that they no longer need to support the public education system with their property taxes, now that their own children have been educated and graduated.

For what it's worth, here are the details:
Tuesday, May 10th. Doors open at 12:15pm   
The Blue Barn - Evesham Recreation Center
1004 Tuckerton Road
Marlton, New Jersey
Click here to RSVP:
http://goo.gl/CWulF