June 8, 2005 (hey! almost half a year down already? wtf?)

I am hoping my mini-shipment of THE MORGANTOWN SUITE POEMS comes today. I already have more people wanting/needing copies of it than I am getting...so I've worked out, what for the moment, is the master distribution plan:

4 copies are coming in -

1 goes to Meghan King-Johnson at Arts Monongahela
1 goes to Jack Thompson at the Greater Morgantown Visitors and Convention Bureau
1 goes to the Morgantown Public Library
1 goes to Ron Rittenhouse at the Dominion Post
1 goes with me to the AEI reception next week, as a gift to the Governor's wife
1 I keep for my own purposes
1... hold it, we're already over-extended...I guess I should be thankful that my ex informed me that my daughter would not appreciate one of my books as a gift, this simplifies my life, in that regard. I usually have a stock of my books in my possession, in case someone wants to hit me up for a copy...but I probably won't so much with this one (the royalties all go to ArtsMon and I hate tracking stuff like that)

Anyone else notice the similarities to what is going on right now in Aruba and the Robert Townsend/Denzel Washington movie "The Mighty Quinn"...sounds like there is political pressure to resolve the missing girl case, even if there is not hard evidence at this time. So, they are holding a couple of guys they are accusing of kidnapping and murder, but haven't charged. This has to be killing their tourist trade...I was considering designing a t-shirt that says "Good Parents Don't Let Their Kids Go To Aruba"...but that would be cold. The fact of the matter is, the definition of "good parent" has slipped so badly over the last several decades, it's perverse.

Kids regularly are permitted, even encouraged to do things that are detrimental to themselves and society as a whole, as parents are afraid of alienating their kids. Media tells them that all the cool parents let their kids drink around the house, go to Cabo for spring break and appear on "Girls Gone Wild" videos (ever see a more morally reprehensible product than that? Some guys getting rich videotaping some drunk girls who get little or no compensation. I think the whole trend started when we stopped defining Hugh Hefner as a pimp. He basically sells us women. They may get a nice place to stay, but he has the mansion and the millions. That's a pimp.)

I know I've not been the world's greatest Dad. Ask my daughter, according to latest reports I am somewhere between the Anti-Christ and Charles Manson in her view, although the messenger may be not completely unbiased in what I am being told. Of course, as long as she is safe and happy, my place in her heart runs a distant third in my priorities. I know her fiance is a good guy and devoted to her. She's fortunate.

Back on track: Nevertheless...I can not imagine the hell the parents of that girl are going through. I hope, for their sake, this turns out to be a runaway situation. Of course, she will be in deep, deep water in that case.

Google Groups informed me that because of the size of the mailing list I was moving over from Authors Den, they could not accept it as a direct add, but would need to send out invites for the newsletter. Then they went ahead and added it anyway.
Sigh.

See ya all later.