still just dots

I've been spending the last 20 minutes...wait no...have 40 minutes already passed by? What a waste. Anyway...I've been spending my time trying to find a blog skin for this new blog of mine. I wanted something that said "these are paisley days" without actually having the words "these are paisley days". So many of the skins had beautiful colors and fancy graphics, but they'd have words like, "broken" or "freedom" or "always and forever" (gag me). I suppose it's this generation all about expression. But the picture says enough without the words. As my dear old writing professor would say, "Show; don't tell." If that applies to stories, surely it applies to visual art.

If anyone knows of a colorful paisley print skin (without any words) let me know.

Latest Song

I just want a real song
I just want a quick line
And just for once I want to speak
Just exactly what's on my mind

I know all the right words
It's just finding those brave nerves
To bear all the blood that I pull
When I dig deep on down in my soul

Underneath this skin there's a mess of a
Backbone that's broken and bent
But in between these ribs there's a spark of a
Heart that won't let me pretend
Pretend what I am

I just want reality
to leave footprints behind me
I just want to shed all my clothes
And leave nothing left hiding

I know I've been holding out
It's time that I do it now
Point the barrel of Truth and my chest
Until falsity's laid to rest.

Chorus

I just want a real song
I just want a quick line
And just for once
Just for once I want to speak

Good people go to Hell

My mom recently got a ticket for running a red light. I could go into all the details of why she knows that she didn't run it and why I believe her and how that officer who pulled her over was kind of a jerk, but what really perplexed me was the way that her hearing went when she took her case to court.

Before Mom's case, other traffic violators went before the judge to plead their cases. And all their pleas went something like this: "I'm a moral person." "I get straight A's at the university that I attend and my son gets straight A's at his elementary school. I want to set a good example for him." They were all found innocent and excused from their charges.

When Mom got up to plead her case, she actually explained the reasons why she wasn't guilty. Her plea was that she had done nothing wrong; not that she was a good person. The judge found her guilty. In afterthought Mom wondered if she should have pulled the moral card too. After all, the ladies at work look up to her; have even called her their "moral compass." I'm glad she didn't.

I had a few hours of anger, but after that, I have not been able to stop thinking about those people whose defense had nothing to do with their case and that judge who somehow felt a big enough sympathy pang to excuse them. It's just too bad. It's too bad that the judge doesn't understand what justice is. And it's really too bad that those other defendants think they can make up for their mistakes by doing good things. That is the path to Hell.