Hey, it’s Poem in Your Pocket Day (here celebrated as Poem on Your Blog Day). Here’s my contribution, picked after being outside for a few minutes and considering cutting out of work early so I could enjoy the perfect weather (alas, I won’t). It’s by e.e. cummings, as if you couldn’t tell:

O sweet spontaneous
earth how often have
the
doting
fingers of
prurient philosophers pinched
and
poked
thee
,has the naughty thumb
of science prodded
thy
beauty .how
often have religions taken
thee upon their scraggy  knees
squeezing and
buffeting thee that thou mightest conceive
gods
(but
true
to the incomparable
couch of death thy
rhythmic
lover
thou answerest
them only with
spring)

[13:33] Ryan: lol… had you seen this yet? http://www.2004nycgop.org/essaycontest/form.html

[14:18] Paul: Can Republicans “holla?”

[14:19] Ryan: apparently, they can, which makes holla-ing, much less cool

[14:19] Paul: Hollaing for Halliburton

[14:19] Ryan: Hollaburton.

[14:19] Paul: There we go.

[14:20] Paul: “Pimpin’ Iraq’s oil fields for your pimped out ride”

I was as shocked as anyone when Jennifer Hudson was booted from American Idol (especially with Fantastia just barely missing the chopping block), but a controversy? C’mon. Take a deep breath and think for a moment.

After the initial shock, it took about three seconds to realize that Jennifer, Fantasia, Latoya, and even George are all splitting the same vote since they come from a similar classic soul/gospel background. Sure, John Steven is a one-note songbird dripping with mediocrity, but he’s got the entire pre-teen-girls-that-like-dorky-boys-with-red-hair-and-sound-like-Sinatra demographic locked. With Carmen out of the running, Jasmine has the votes from the entire state of Hawaii while Diana Degarmo can count on the votes from anyone whose ever been in a high school drama production.

But, America, hear me well. While I can rationalize Jennifer’s departure and understand how it’s going to be an uphill battle for the other three in that soul/gospel group, I promise you one thing: if Fantasia doesn’t make it to the end, I’m done with you. I’m moving to Canada, because clearly, it means the terrorists have won. And I’ve got all my Fantasia MP3s here to prove it.

Comfort Stand’s Interplanetary Materials has been released and I invite you all to check it out. This free two-CD compilation of space-themed music promises to be quite the collection… let me know what you think, especially of disc two, track nine. :)

(Beware the potty mouth.)