happy bday america
2004-07-06, 9:09 p.m.

I went to a party at a tattoo studio on July 4th and am thinking about getting a tattoo. I've been "thinking about" getting one for years and years. And I've pondered what to get and where to get it. But now I'm thinking I might want something that doesn't have a big heavy meaning. Like a lizard on the back of my calf. However, I have a very low pain threshold. So perhaps everyone should advise me not to even try it?

I learned this weekend that we in Nashville have the 4th largest fireworks celebration in the country. Who knew? I watched the finale from afar after we walked down the street to stand in the middle of the roundabout with the statue that is officially named "Musica" & that my godchildren call "The Booty Statue." They call it that because of the nekkidness.

So I finally went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 this weekend. I guess I was a little disappointed. I am definitely no fan of W, but making fun of his reaction the morning of September 11 when he was in front of that classroom full of schoolchildren and probably going into shock, like most of us in the country, seems like a cheap shot. And I don't need the cheap shots. I have plenty of solid legitimate complaints with Mr. Bush and his Administration and would have preferred that Mr. Moore address those and in a less whimsical fashion, please. I did like that we took a look all the way back to that thing we call The "Election" of 2000. And I can't decide if I liked the juxtaposition of the weeping grieving Iraqi woman with the weeping grieving Flint mother of the slain American soldier. I guess I liked it in that it showed that both of them were suffering because of a war that made very little sense to either of them. But the long shots on their weeping seemed so exploitive. And, yes, I think the relationships between the Bush family and the Saudis and The Carlyle Group and Big Oil Companies and the Bin Laden family should be made public and examined. But something about the way he threw it all out there made me uncomfortable. I guess he presented it and then DIDN'T examine it. I know it's a movie and not an academic text, but still...