Cinco de Mayo

Thursday, 05 May 2011

So here was my very full day – very full despite the fact that I didn’t even go to work. I’ll try to be brief…

This morning, I took Owen to school. This is normally Jennifer’s job but I hardly ever get to do it, so I figured I would do it today. After driving past a for-sale house to see if I liked its location (I didn’t), I arrived back home and Jennifer, Isla, and I took off to go brunch at IHOP. Here’s a stupid thing about IHOP: my wife ordered a meal that came with meat, but she asked the waitress if it would be possible to substitute the meat for something else, such as fruit. The waitress said she could do that, but she’d have to charge a dollar extra. My wife said that was stupid, since fruit costs less than meat (I was considering swapping my strawberry waffles for meat waffles in order to save a buck). The waitress said they had a no-substitution policy, which pretty much means its a we’re-not-gonna eat-there-again policy.

Just before noon, I drove to the state capitol. I’m happy to report that there was plenty of on-street parking, though I thoughtlessly arrived with no quarters for the meters. I rolled down my car window and asked this guy if he had change for a buck, and he said he was just leaving his spot, which still had a half hour on the meter. He also gave me four quarters for my dollar. However, it turns out each quarter only adds ten minutes to the meter, so I still needed more coins. I ran up to a woman (conscientious of the fact that I once scared the crap out of lady doing this once before) and requested a paper-for-coin swap.

My reason for going downtown was to attend the Day of Reason – a secular response to the ery unconstitutional Day of Prayer. I had to walk through a sea of fundamental Christians on the way into the capitol, so I stopped to film some of it (’cause that’s what I do!).

When I got into the capitol, I sat down in the first seat I saw. A guy sitting next to me said he recognized me from my photo in the Humanist. He said he keeps my article on his fridge for when Witnesses come to his door. And, guess what, some Witnesses did come to his door a couple of months ago. When he saw them approaching, he quickly reviewed the last paragraph of my article, wherein I offer suggestions on what to say to Witnesses. He asked them the questions. The first one (who do you shun?) they flatly denied, the second one (if I join can I hold dissenting opinions?) made the woman at his door cry, and the man took the Watchtower back. Oh well, poor Jared and Crystal. Maybe they’ll think about their cult a little bit now.

Anyway, the Day of Reason featured a presentation from a lawyer who fights for separation of church and state, and a state representative (Phyllis Kahn, who seems almost as cool as Steve Simon).

Afterward, I left in a hurry to get back to my hungry, hungry meter. I had to pause for a moment, though, to film some more of the people bowing down on the capitol steps. There was something oddly appropriate about fundamental Christians with their eyes closed and asses in the air.

Here’s the footage I shot. I added in some scriptures, to keep it real god-based: WATCH THIS VIDEO.

After stopping briefly at home, I took off for my University. There, I dropped off my big project to the professor’s office, then attended a “Poster presentation.” I had to attend one of the many “Honors Day” events today and write about it for class. The most interesting poster had to do with a study on how to tell the difference between bones that have been manipulated by animals and bones that have been manipulated by humans at archaeological sites (ask me in person). What did this have to do with my class? I have no idea, but I have to write about it just the same.

I then drove to Owen’s school and picked him up. He and I paid a visit to Tea Source, a store that’s a lot like Teavanna, only about half the price. Then we went to Patina to look for a gift for Mother’s Day. While inspecting the jewelery, one of the staff members said, “Are you guys shopping for Mother’s Day?”

Owen said yes, but I joked and said, “No, I just like to spend my free time looking at women’s jewelery.”

The lady laughed, but then said that I would be surprised how many men do come into the store just to do that very thing.

That evening, the four of us went for a walk (Isla free-loaded a ride in the stroller). We stopped at Mississippi Market to buy ingredients for tacos. It was, after all, Cinco de Mayo.