Chamblee54

PG wrote the checks for his bills, and took off on bicycle for the post office in chamblee.
He had gone to the dedication of this post office in 1964. He was ten years old, and he talked to a congressmen named Charles Weltner. This was his year to be excited by politics, and he asked Mr. Weltner if he was going to the Democratic Convention. “Yes, I am going to speak” . Two years later Mr. Weltner resigned his seat rather than run on the same ticket as Lester Maddox.
The post office was horrible. What was once a simple matter…buying stamps from a machine…has become a complicated ordeal. PG was not sure what the current cost of postage was, and finally bought the 42 cent stamps and hopes they work. The stamps say forever, so they should be good.
Leaving the post office, and past the inevitable antique shops, PG came to the Woody Malone underpass. A mural had recently landed on the east wall of this facility. At first it was clouds and a jagged edge. Then an airplane flew in, which is fitting for the home of camp carroll and pdk. Then same the smiling multi hued children, which is surprising to PG. He remembers how redneck Chamblee was when he was a kid. It is hoped that the mural is complete, before King Kong starts harassing the smiling multi hued children
.

It has been another day. The high point of the morning was listening to Lois Rietzes announcing that today was the birthday of Richard Wagner, born today in Leipzig, in the year 1813. ”It is fair to say that he was a megalomaniac” I cranked the radio up until the cab was vibrating to the overture to “Die Meistersinger.” Life is good.
So I got through the day, and made it home. The computer is on a new desk, and the all the parts are not working. Tonight it was the speakers that didn’t want to work without a lot of unplugging and plugging. I am tired of those speakers, I am going to walk to wal mart and get some new ones.
Wally didn’t have what I needed, so the next step is the yard sales.
Leaving the evil empire outpost, I saw a sidewalk back away from the front of the store, towards the Clairmont Road bridge. Hoping to find a shortcut, I started to walk.
At the end of the parking lot was a eight foot concrete circle, and the end of the sidewalk. Proceeding along the backs of the buildings on Peachtree Road, the path ended in a tangle of impassable briers.
Not to be deterred, I continued under the Clairmont Road extension.
Being a native, I remember when Clairmont ended at New Peachtree. To get to Peachtree Industrial required a left turn at the light, a rail crossing over a bridge made of telephone poles, and a shortcut through the Krystal parking lot. The “wonderful bridge” is a vast improvement.
Onward under bridge, over the large chunks of granite covered with kudzu. Finally, there was a place where I could jump over a creek, climb a kudzu covered hill, and come out behind the waffle house. The rail tunnel nearby had been painted over, with a new generation of graffiti adorning it.
It would have been much easier to walk out the front of the parking lot to the street.

And now for something completely different. This is from an Iraqi blog called Kassakhoon:

Wisam Ali Ouda, a 32-year old cameraman for Afaq TV channel, was shot to dead Wednesday in Baghdad’s eastern Obaidi district by U.S. soldiers, according to the station’s spokeswoman.
“We confirm one of our employees was killed by an American sniper,” Bushra Abdul-Amir, head of public relations at the station told Reuters, citing testimonies given by witnesses to the station’s managers.
It is an accusation echoed by Hadi Jalu, deputy director of NGO Iraq’s Journalistic Freedoms Observatory. “They all said an American soldier killed him,” he said.
U.S. army denied any civilians had been killed during military operations in Obaidi on Wednesday.

Spell check suggestions for this feature:
kassakhoon- kassandra
Obaidi- obsidian, braiding
Rietzes- Pretzels, parietals, varietals, Nietzsche
reuters- refuters, neuters, routers, renters
wal- awl, weal, wail, wall, wale, walk, gal, pal, calc

It has been a lively weekend. A Triple Crown race was run without a fatality. Mike Huckabee said something foolish. I found a blog called Easybakecoven.
This piece is from Mattilda at Nobody Passes:

Oh, no — apparently soon I can get gay married, but the company that sells my Fresh Botanicals Hairspray has discontinued the product!!!!!!! What the hell am I going to do? I’ve used that *product* for 10 or 15 years, and it works like glue — without alcohol! And without destroying my life from an allergy attack! I asked the person on the line why they discontinued it — she says I don’t know, we’ve always gotten a fair number of orders for it, especially from people in prison — prisoners loved it!
Turns out that prison officials generally confiscate anything with alcohol as an ingredient, so it looks like I’m not the only one who’s looking for a replacement…

JoemyGod sent a link to this article. A reporter went to Iraq to see what life was like for Gay people. The last line of the story was that they had it better when Saddam ran the show. This quote stuck with me:

“Having completed my difficult journey to the Red Zone, of course I hoped that my Iraqi contacts had arrived at our meeting place as well. But I had also come to recognize by this point that no one was in more danger than the Iraqis with whom I interacted. Rahim explained that insurgents are so ubiquitously on the lookout to kill collaborators that even to speak English on a cell phone in public in Baghdad could mark someone for instant death.”
The more I hear from Babylon, the more absurd talk about “liberation” and “war on islamic terrorism” seems.

For sheer crass entertainment, the ads on Craigs List are tough to beat.
…My friends tell me I’m one of the most genuine people they’ve ever met. … love to throw a backpack on my back and hike through the woods, canoe on a river, explore a cave, repel up a cliff, or spread a blanket by the campfire, sip Merlot, and make love in the moonlight and under the twinkling stars….. . You needn’t be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but nor do I wish to deprive a village somewhere of its idiot. Physically, I am attracted to masculine/butch, SLENDER, smooth to moderately hairy, younger men age 22-35, handsome, clean-cut, professional or preppy types, THIN to athletic build, and clean shaven. Sorry, and no offense, but I’m not attracted to fats, femmes, Asians, Blacks, Pacific Islanders, Filipinos, chainsaw murderers, convicted felons, stalkers, bears, bald men, or men with long hair, pony tails, tattoos, or piercings. …If you are a Republican, a lawyer, a workaholic, an alcoholic, are confrontational or argumentative, a circuit or party boy, a lounge lizard, a druggie, a drama queen, OR are promiscuous and have had sex with more than two partners in the past year, please don’t bother to respond. As for the rest of you fine and upstanding young men life isn’t forever, take a chance, there are only so many tomorrows!

I sent him a note, saying “I think you might have better luck repelling up a cliff”. I got this reply:

hi there and thanks for your response!
i’m in a bit of hurry to work at the moment. unfortunately I cannot
send e-mails there cause my boss has blocked it. I have an account
here though
http://www.@#$%$#@.com/gay/
my name on the site is xyzdef. it doesn’t cost anything to sign
up so don’t worry.
have a look at my profile and pictures and I’ll respond to you as soon as I can.
looking forward to getting to know you =)

Today was the Brookhaven Bolt. It was a fun run and stroller push to raise money for the school, and create warm fuzzies for the Sembler company. Sembler is currently building a supercenter on the site of the Peachtree Garden Apartments. PGA is fondly remembered by many of those who have lived here awhile.

Sembler tore up my neighborhood and all I got was this T shirt

I used to not know the difference between nuts and bolts. Then I looked in the dictionary and learned to think of a bolt of lightening. That is the shape that is the bolt.

The lady in the front running corvette said Isn’t it exciting that we have a race to benefit the school? no you have your olympic hat on.

There was parking in front of the house. Some people saw the need to park on the opposite side of the road from other parked cars. This created a tight squeeze that was not needed.

This weekend started at 11pm last night when I got up from a nap. At 1am I was writing my bio for this blog. At the same time I was listening to a web broadcast featuring a guy from Alabama who likes to get run over by motorcycles. Life is good.

This is haircut weekend.
Like many men of my degenerationgeneration, I have had long hair. The problem is, with a Georgiawhiteboi like me, hair turns into worms after about three centimeters. It is way too much work to take care of.So I bought a pair of clippers.The modern version of letting my freak flag fly…Once, I was in the church’s fried chicken on broad street downtown. The two drag queens were in front of me in line.They got their food and left. When I stepped to the counter, I heard this girl say to her friend”Her hayyer is so preeiitee”…Some say that hair is the last human link to the animal past. This was said by a bald headed teacher who never seemed to shut up. If my job was teaching Georgia History to a bunch of eighth graders, I might be weird myself…Tallulah Bankhead was making a movie, “Lifeboat”, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Some of the other actors commented that Miss Bankhead was not wearing panties. Mr. Hitchcock wondered if this was a matter for wardrobe or a matter for hairdressing…Did Mohawks really shave their heads except for a stripe of hair in the middle? That would seem to be a lot of trouble for pre modern men living in upstate New York. A Mohawk haircut is high maintenance,just like many who display them. …Dolly Parton always wears wigs in public. When asked how long it takes to do her hair, she replies. “I don’t know I am not there”

My newest frequentfolder blog is twentytwowords. He posted a thingie today called
“10 things we don’t mention in worship songs, but that I’m happy God saved me from”

1- Jesus Worship
2- Getting caught driving DUI
3- republican politics
4- pre arthroscopy knee surgery
5- believing the doctor who told me to get spine surgery
6- The Unification Church
7- confusing G-d for my father
8- Living anywhere except Georgia
9- cable television
10-Making complete lists

It had been a slack sunday from the start. It was getting almost too late when the phone call came. Something about taking the dog to Chastain Park, meet me there in a few minutes by the swimming pool.
Turning off Roswell onto West Wieuca, there was a bit of drama at the carwash. The kid bumped into a bmw, driving the black SUV with the McCain sticker. The SUV owner saw this and was not pleased.
Do you think that is really an urban legend about Wieuca Road? The story is that this developer had three daughters named Wilma, Eugenia, and Catherine.
Turning into the park, there are cars everywhere. I get to the parking spot, alongside the torn up swimming pool.
The beer truck beside the amphitheater caught my eye. Where was the Dom Perignon truck that was called for?
Down that road behind the stands, which is so empty now that there is no performers. Yes, 1690 am is a great station, isn’t that the old Air America?
A friend has an interesting take on Randi Rhodes. He got married to a woman with a temper, and stuck around long enough to have a kid. He says there is nothing entertaining about listening to an angry woman, he has done too much of that already.
Yes, america is in trouble. Spending a few trillion dollars on a war we cannot win, and about to elect another republican. You know, Obama just did what he had to do…he gave that preacher a second chance, and then when he got screwed again he dumped him.
After my experience with a loudmouth preacher at that job, there is nothing funny about Jeremiah Wright.
I went to a rally in Woodruff Park a few weeks before the 92 election. Al and Tipper and Hillary were there. Tipper Gore said that Hillary was just as warm and friendly in private as she was in person. Those are not the exact words, but that is the gist of it.
I don’t think i am going to go for extended good byes today. I am just going to get in the car and go home.
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
chastain- chastity, chastise, chasten
wieuca- eucalypti, zwieback,
bmw- bow
ampetheatre- amphitheater, theatrical, theatergoer
Perignon- Peignoir, mignonne, perigee, hyperion

I found a site called “Dead or Alive“. The concept was to show a list of famous people, whether the lines were flat or wiggling, and the date of the passage.
There was one obvious name to check into. The site supports the notion that Elvis Presley is dead.
There was a list of people who had died in the last six months. The surprises here were The Fabulous Moolah, Earl Butz, and Robert Goulet.
Once, Elvis was watching TV when Robert Goulet came on. He said ” I can’t stand this” took a pistol and shot the picture tube out.
Mr. Goulet and Ms. Moolah were part of a phenomenon.These are people who I don’t know if they are dead or alive, until I hear that they have died. Other examples would be Anita Loos and Lowell Thomas.
And now, Albert Hoffman. The man who first synthesized LSD, he was 102. He credited eating a raw egg everyday for his longevity.
He seemed to have mixed feelings about his discovery. He deplored the excesses, but did not support criminalization.
The sixties would not have been the same with it.
I had a high school geometry teacher who took part in some of the army LSD experiments. She said a good shot of whiskey would do more for you.
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
moolah- molar, mullah, moloch, mole, monolith, moles
goulet-goblet, goaded
loos- loops, loose,looks,lois.laos, loons, loots, logos, lobos

So, I am almost home. It is Thursday afternoon, I am tired and feeling horrible. My knee hurts, my job is a nuisance, and Jesus Hates Me.
I stop the car in front of the house so I can back in the driveway. There is a lady with a little dog in the front yard. As the woman is staring at me, the dog defecates.

Can I help you with something?

Something is coming out of the dog

I’m going to clean it up

The last thing I want is a confrontation with a dog owner. Dog owners can be so demanding and selfish about their precious little pooch. I back up the driveway, turn off the engine, and gather my things.
The lady is walking up the driveway. She is holding a plastic bag, which probably has dog product in it, but I cannot be sure.
I stay in the car for a minute. I do not want to talk to this woman.
Finally I get out.

I own three dogs. I would never let my dog poop in someone else’s yard. That is why I carry a plastic bag.
I said nothing.

 
The blog battle is on hold.
After being banned by a slew of Jesus Worship blogs, I have been mostly out of combat. Except for a skirmish with AtlMalcontent about Amnesty International, the western front has been quiet.
Renegade Evolution recently alerted me to the seven deadly sins test. I left a comment, and her initial reply started
“chamblee54 who the f*** are you”.

The complete comment, my reply, and Ren’s counter reply are all there.
I am a touch disappointed in the counter reply. I mentioned I was a recovering Baptist, and Ren said
“Baptist…egads”.

The Baptist and the Jew experience are very different. I decided a long time ago I didn’t agree with what went on in church, and was no longer a Baptist. My mother converted as a teenager, and recruited my dad a few years later. There is no long family history, no Seders with relatives, almost no ritual…just a noisy fascination with life after death.
Jews, on the other hand, have a long history, and many families have been on the program a long,long time. I don’t know if you are really ever an ex Jew, whether or not you are observant. I also am not familiar with Ren’s story…what people mean when they say they are Jewish changes from person to person.
As for Renegade Evolution…it is well written, and has some great stories. I read a description of a porn movie shoot that was highly entertaining. She is focused on the sex worker point of view, which is her right as a blogger. It is also my right as a reader to get tired of reading about it.
I have always found the feminist anti pornography attitude to be a bit mysterious. I imagine this is a function of being a gay man, from a culture which celebrates smut.
Yes that is the sound of one hand clapping…the other hand is busy.
Most gay porn is cooperative, that is, both men are equals and everyone has a squirting good time. I think a certain percentage of str8 movies are not. I have a str8 tape in my collection where this gnarly baldheaded guy says mean things to the woman. I find it tough to believe that guys are turned on by this, but apparently some are. I can see why some women object to this “entertainment”.
I am glad that Ren is standing up for the rights of people like her ( and that we live in a country that permits this). I also question how much I really want to read about it.

Back to the Seven Deadly Sins. This is a very old fashioned list, perhaps even obsolete. Listening to the well defended Jeremiah Wright, it is clear that wrath, pride, and envy are on their way to being cardinal virtues.
With today’s prosperity gospel, Envy and Greed are no longer in disrepute.
From the look of many waistlines in the modern church, gluttony is a favored pastime.
That leaves sloth and lust. Good old lust, that always did have a special place in the hearts of Jesus Worshipers.
 Spell check suggestions for this feature:
renegadeevolution.blogspot.com.- counterrevolutionary, revolutionariness, counterrevolution
ren’s- rene’s, reno’s, rn’s, re’s, ten’s, den’s, men’s, pen’s, hen’s,yen’s, ken’s
ren- reno, en, rn, re, sen, ten, den, gen, pen, men, hen, fen, yen, zee, sun
seders- seeders, senders, seers, ceders, severs, sewers

 
This is connected to the Easter blogswarm, about the notion that church and state ought to be separate.
The current drama involving Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright is a good example of why this wall of separation is beneficial to both church and state.
Anything that makes a Presidential Candidate throw his grandmother under the bus to excuse the rantings of a preacher is not good.
Senator BHO has gone from being a closet radical Muslim to the open admirer of a lunatic. The warmonger crowd has replaced communists with Muslims in their hierarchy of enemies. Since communism has been described as a G-dless religion, this is not as much of a shift as you might imagine.
And, considering the weakness of his opponent for the Democratic nomination, BHO may be the nominee. If this happens, then the November election will be more about Religion than the guns and butter issues that are so important today.
Much angry rhetoric has surfaced lately. Speaking as someone who is profoundly alienated from Jesus, this noise is very discouraging.
I wonder if anyone is going to be “Saved” as a result of all this mess.
I also wonder who is looking out for Jesus. This squabbling does not speak well for him. While a separation of church and state is helpful for the state, it is essential for Jesus.

There is a story involving Jesus which might shed light on this subject.
One day, Jesus saw some moneylenders working in the temple. He caused a ruckus, said “This is my father’s house”, and evicted them from the premises.
The leaders of the day were not pleased. This is one of the reasons why the Roman soldiers felt they had to murder him.
Now, lets fast forward a couple of millennium, and move to a tawdry business in Atlanta GA. There is an employee of this business who insists on conducting a ministry on company time. It occurs to another employee that this is what Jesus was talking about…about the appropriate place for an activity.
The moneylenders in Jerusalem were conducting business in a place of worship. The employee in Atlanta was conducting worship in a place of business. Is one activity any worse than the other?
There is one difference to these scenarios. The moneylenders were not being paid to worship, but the employee was being paid to conduct business. He took this time and money, and devoted his energies to conducting a ministry. Some would say he was stealing from his employer.
Now, some might ask, what does this have to do with the separation of church and state? It is not much of a leap to go from conducting a ministry in a business, to bible thumping in government.
It is about conducting an activity in an appropriate place. It is about doing what you are paid to do, rather than what you want to do.