A Miss as Good as Her Smile (washingtonpost.com)The Good News: "The Miss Black America Pageant" is probably obsolete.

The Bad News: The winner actually said the following - "I've been aspiring for this goal since I was 6 years old," she said at the news conference afterward, looking out at the former Miss Americas present and beginning to cry. She apologized to her parents for being a Capricorn "perfectionist" and said she hoped that as Miss America she could become the "ultimate representative for all cultural diversity and inclusiveness issues."

Carpet Bagging is Back and Evidently Lucrative

I don't mean to over dramatize, and everybody has to make a buck somehow but it seems a bit overdone. Goes with the times I guess. Right up there with my favorite - Modern Journalism: "Madame your son was just burned to a crisp in a horrific fire. How does that make you feel?" Anything to keep that engine of commerce going I guess....

"Eager contractors have called Jackson-Madison County School Board members at home, work and "everywhere else," Superintendent Roy Weaver said. The storm destroyed Denmark Elementary School and Jackson Middle School.

A few days after the tornado, some contractors approached an assistant superintendent's car while he stopped at a red light and asked him to pass on their business card, Weaver said. The contractors' sales packet was already in the superintendent's office."

Tornado path thru Madison County - jacksonsun.com

Tornado Rips Through the Home Front
- The Jackson Sun, Jackson Tennessee

I heard about it on the news yesterday but pressing concerns kept me from checking until today. Ma's in the hospital - dizzy spell, four stitches in her head - so I've been a bit distracted. Convinced she's okay for the moment I turn my attention to the web and find my hometown in headlines on Google News.

It's a mess. I talked to a friend of Ma's who says that parts of Cerro Gordo road are unrecognizeable. Landmarks just gone. Mary Martin's house is on Cerro Gordo. I spent many a day at Mary Martin's house. Ate my share of meals there. Miss Mary was always the calm in the storm of a houseful of kids. She was unflappable. Makes sense then that when every tree in her yard fell (and there were plenty) not one hit the house. The house was moved six feet off its moorings though.

So far no reports of loved ones harmed, though Niki is unaacounted for. But then Niki always runs under the radar.

Boston School Plan Isn't Biased Against Whites, Judge Rules As Boston's 30-year battle over desegregation continues, a federal judge ruled that the city's school assignment plan did not discriminate against white students." - Sara Rimer;
- New York Times (Registration Required)

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/25/education/25BOST.html?th

..."30-year battle..." Wow

Bliss

And as flip and as trite as that last sentence sounds, it's true.

Marriage is extremely rewarding but frankly much of it's former promise pales in comparison to what's available to the modern single. I won't belabor the obvious; it's been done to death. From sexual gratification to having children to companionship to financial security; much of what was once only the purview of matrimony has been freed by cultural shifts, educational opportunity, and technology.

So is marriage outmoted? I haven't a clue.

For me it was cultrual. I got married because I wanted to. And I imagine I wanted to because it was what I was raised to do when I felt a certain way about someone. Not very romantic I guess but romance fades.

At some point you make up your mind that you've found someone that you want to raise a family, build a home, travel, attempt to build wealth, explore hobbies, etc, etc, with...or you don't and move on.

A friend confided in me once that he wanted to marry his long time girlfriend, but he wasn't sure if he could make it stick. While he was extremely attracted to her and felt she was his equal in many respects and his superior in most others, he was afraid that somebody better might come along, that his eye would rove.

I assured him that it would. I'd been married several years and had met "the perfect woman" at least a half dozen times in that span.

But I made a promise to my wife in front of God and a couple hundred witnesses that I'd "cleave unto her...." and so forth.

It's one promise I've been able to keep so far. And consequently I can sleep nights.

As much bliss as I need.

Ressurection