a good weekend. that it was. i feel a little guilty for having such a pleasant weekend in the face of everything that spins around us in the world, right now, but i think everyone deserves whatever measure of happiness they can claim.

i didn't really do much. i hung out with guy and had a late lunch. we looked at guitars. we went to the skateshop to see if our friend sean was working. he wasn't, so guy called him. sean tipped us off to a big cookout thing out at his girlfriend's parents' house. we rolled all the way out to lagrange, ky and spent an evening cooking smart dogs on the campfire and eating amazingly delicious baked beans. we swung on a rope out over the lake (not jumping in, due to it being kinda chilly out), trying to top each other on what outrageous method we would use to swing as far as possible out there, even launching from the top of the nearby picnic table.

i was amazed by how many stars you can see in the sky when you're a good 20 miles outside of town. it was a nice night, staring at stars, talking to new friends. a very nice evening.

but what about the rest of the world? i was involved in a conversation at the skateshop about local islamic owned businesses. someone asked about omar's gyros. the comment leveled after that was "omar's flying the flag. he's spooked." where i support omar's decision to fly the american flag outside of his business, i wish it were just to show his support for the country and those who had their lives snuffed short. but the second part, about omar being spooked, just isn't right. we live in a land of freedom. we live in a land that, ideologically, should be opposed to discrimination of any kind. i am constantly amazed that racism still persists in this "free" society of ours. it shows ignorance and poor education. it shows fear and cowardice. omar should have no reason to be spooked. he should not have to fear for himself, his family, or his business. omar may be of arab descent, but omar is an american. it makes me sick that instead of uniting as a country that has always been a "melting pot," we're squabbling amongst ourselves and discriminating against our friends and neighbors.

omar is a good man. he's a business owner. an american.

and he makes the best damn falafel you'll find in this city.