These are some of the thoughts that race through my mind at 80 mph….
Chemically balanced readers beware…I might kill your buzz.

Bumpin’ Jaylib “Champion Sound” headed West on the 80. After seeing my entire life flash before me in the whites of the eyes of a deer….life is good and I’ve pulled my head outta my butt and have decided to fully enjoy this ride. Ya never know when it’s gonna be your last.

  • I love hotels; I really wish that I could live in one full time. As much as I used to boycott any establishment owned by the Hiltons because I didn’t want a dime of my money going into the trust fund of Paris the Dumb Heiress, I have to give The Hampton Inns a shout out. It’s not their fault they have to be associated with that purveyor of mediocrity. The Hampton Inns are an oasis of reasonably priced consistency and excellence in a sea of interstate freeway skeeviness and seediness.
  • Speaking of which….it’s funny what you learn to appreciate when you are “on the road.” One of those things is consistency. As much as I think it’s sad to see the Mom and Pop Main Street shops of yore disappear; it’s the inevitable grip of globalization. And I’m all for it. I would hate running around Main Streets all over meth-addicted America looking for an adapter for my car and some new perfume.
  • Paris has a new scent out appropriately called "Heiress". I am disappointed her tagline for it isn't "Now you can smell like a million bucks."
  • I love hotels for many reasons; the continental breakfast, the pool, the weird smell in the hall. But one of my favorite things about hotels is the fact that it’s a chance for me to catch up on my television viewing. I don’t watch TV at all other than South Park and The Weather Channel or the occasional news bites, but usually not a very good idea before I have nothing to do but think for 12 hours.
VH1 was actually playin’ some videos this morning;
  • Nelly Furtado got all hot n slutty apparently when I wasn’t looking. That’s cool I guess. My gripe: she didn’t reinvent herself like Madonna so much as change her image for a studio. But if she was going to sell out, at least she could have done it more publicly--like getting all drunk with Tara Reid, smokin’ blunts with Snoop and gang bangin’ Busta and some bad boy of Hollywood. Oh wait, there aren’t any bad boys of Hollywood left. They’ve all gone pussy, straight-edge, married, sober BOOOOORRRRRRINNNNNGGGG on us.
  • Am I just imagining things or is JT proposing/begging Cameron Diaz to marry him in the most amazing GAP ad ever (aka the “My Love” video)? Those GAP dancers have really stepped it up. They must be recruiting from the iPod casting pool. That song is HOT though....I'm not gonna lie.
  • The AdCouncil has a new campaign out reminding us to appreciate our freedom. It starts with immigrants saying “I escaped” and goes on to describe the horrible situations these refugees fled in their countries. It gave me goose bumps. If Americans remembered this shit everyday, they might not be so dependent on their anti-depressants.
  • And of course I always have to watch the local news everywhere I go because it is hilarious. Other than when you are in the desert because that is where they put all the sex offenders and the local news there is really disturbing. If you molest a child, you should be put to death. Which leads me to My Daily Rant:
All day long driving yesterday on the 80 West, signs were flashing. It was an Amber Alert. It read: ABDUCTED CHILD and then DAEWOO KTCKY 675 DRV. Every time I saw it, I got chilled to the bone. I kept my eyes peeled for that Daewoo all day. I swear to God nothing pisses me off more than people who mess with children. Die sick fucks. Die. There is no reforming them! Why do we think we can reform these people? You either go there in your brain or you don’t. And if you do, you are permanently tapped and should be executed immediately. No joke. I hate child molesters, child abductors and anyone else who exploits kids. I spent a good 4 hours driving yesterday praying for the little one and strategizing about exactly what I would do to save the child if I saw the car. It is infuriating to me that someone dealing weed will go to jail for 10 years and someone who molests kids will be out on bail, trolling MySpace looking for his next victim, jerking off to kiddie porn that night.
As a society we should all stand up and demand much harsher penalties for these evil sick fucks.
And we should start with Representative Foley.

  • In more news, CNN reported this morning that 10 soldiers were killed in Iraq yesterday. This makes the total for this month already 66, putting October on track to be one of the deadliest months yet of the war in Iraq. Am I missing something here? I don’t know about you, but it seems like more and more of my friends, or friends of friends are headed to Iraq. Interesting how the war is “over" but yet, we keep sending more troops there and bringing more fallen soldiers home every month. Which reminds me of this story...

I recently landed in Cincinnati on a layover. It was a beautiful landing without so much as a bump. Off to the right on the adjacent runway was a plane that upon first glance looked as if it was surrounded by emergency vehicles off all kinds. The plane buzzed with all kinds of ruminations and assumptions about the nature of the spectacle. Upon taxiing closer to the plane, we realized that the emergency vehicles were not surrounding the plane; so much as they were lined up next to it. Fire trucks of all sizes, police cars, ambulances…all lined up as if they were saluting the Delta aircraft. The pilot explained in his perfect pilot voice,” Ah folks on your right you will notice quite a commotion surrounding one of our planes. It is actually bringing home one of our fallen boys from the military and that’s just our way of showing respect. So…let’s just take a minute and show our respect as well.” The plane stops for a moment. We are all dead silent as we let that information penetrate our consciousness. Tears filled my eyes. In that plane was a coffin. And in that coffin was a dead young man. Somewhere in the airport was a mother. A wife. A family. And they were there to collect the remains of their loved one. A brother. A husband. A son. A cousin. A best friend.

I immediately went from feeling sad to angry. But not angry at the government. And not angry at the military. Angry at myself. Angry that I don’t do more. Angry that I don’t speak out more often. Angry at what a short attention span I have when it comes to anything beyond my immediate life.

In some way or another, I feel like each and every one of us is responsible for the young man in that box. Even if I didn’t vote for Bush. Even if I don’t support war. Even if I think the casualties of war are senseless. In some way we are all responsible for one another and responsible for all of the senseless deaths that occur not just I our country, but globally… disease, famine, war. And if we want to start to get to the bottom of the misery of all of “Western civilization” I suggest we start right there. These are things that we can collectively end. They are unnecessary to our survival. If we want to survive, we better start cooperating with one another immediately.

  • Now do you see why I don’t watch the news? It just ends up pissing me off. I swear I do have faith in humanity. Traveling all the time reinforces my faith. I meet so many kind people, learn the stories of many fascinating folks and am the witness to and benefactor of the kindnesses of many a stranger. Usually I am optimistic about the strength of our species. Until I turn on the television. The minute I start channel surfing, I can’t help but think, “We’re doomed.” And ironicallly, we're all too distracted by the TV to even realize it.