When I first sat down here this morning, I was going to write about how when the work is slow, that’s when we all remember how to annoy each other. But then I thought that people I work with might read this, and I don’t want to say anything I might regret.

So after that, I thought I would write about how I have a *few* ideas, but still don’t know what I’m going to get Michelle for her birthday. But of course I know Michelle reads this, so I didn’t want to give anything away. (On a related topic to those of you who actually live *with* the important women in your life—how do you get away to shop for them and preserve surprise? Well, actually, maybe that’s not too hard after all. Er, I dunno. Ah, forget it.)

Sometimes it’s a lot easier to blog in a vacuum. I’m trying to remember a time when I didn’t think anyone was actually reading the blog, and hence I didn’t give a damn how or if what I said might be offending anyone.

It seems that I can recall a point in the not-so-distant past when I thought that tact or (an even stronger sentiment) grace in writing was a sign of weakness; that if you were afraid of offending someone, you were less real, or the words you used were less true. Thinking about that in the present, I can see that being inflammatory or offensive is actually just a sign of poor writing. If you need devices that you know will rile people up just to get them interested in what you’re saying, then your thoughts simply aren’t that strong.

Moving on to a different topic, Christy called me last night and asked if she could get a copy of the interview that I did with Grandma & Grandpa in 2000 about their experiences during World War II and beyond. The conversation was framed around a class that I was taking at time called ‘The Rhetoric of the Vietnam War.’ But it was the last time that I had a really in-depth talk with them about those things.

I recorded the talk that we had, and though the quality was not that great, I still wanted to share it with people. I was planning to clean it up digitally and then put it on a CD, but I haven’t had a chance. Since Christy asked, I think I should probably get back to that, though.

So that’s what I’ve got for you this Friday. I’ll be around the Fox Valley if you will be. Otherwise, keep next weekend in mind, because Michelle’s birthday celebration is coming up, and she says she “wants to remember it this year.” Please join us to see if that happens…