Weds., July 1, 2009, Nashville, TN., 4:38 p.m., D.S.T.~

Dear Journal~

Stinko here.  I figured since I haven't written in a while, I'd do so now; it's been since May 20 since you last heard from me.

I am doing good.  Still not working, but continue to look.  Don't know why they don't want to hire me; maybe it's because I...well, stink??  (Hope not; I bathe every day, now that it's hot out!)  I wish people wouldn't be so picky as to who they hire; it drives me bananas!!

Ma and pa, they still get on me for not working.  I tell them I go out every day, for a few hours, looking; you'd think in a city as large as Nashville, Tennessee, where I live, I'd at least find something!!

I've been on a few dates with my girlfriend, Ronee' Reaux.  She's a lot of fun.  Very witty, bright, sexy-cute, and laughs just about all the time.  She's cool!  I find myself falling in love with her more and more every time I see her!  In fact, I can easily see her being my wife!  :)

I love her car:  she drives a little red VW Bug.  It's her dad's car, but he lets her drive it; she's a very good and responsible driver.  I feel very comfortable being in the same car as she.  She doesn't scare me halfway to death.

Whenever I see her dad in the car, I can't help picturing a clown car at the Barnum and Bailey Circus.  Her dad's like nearly seven feet tall; he's got the longest legs on a man I've ever seen!   LOLOLOLOL

And here he is, driving a tiny car!  It's really comical!  Still makes me laugh every time I think about it!  LOL

I hope he lets his daughter have the Bug; he seriously needs a much bigger vehicle!  It must be murder on his arthritis!!  LOL

Now July Fourth (and our city's annual Fourth of July celebration) is staring me in the face; the festival starts tomorrow and runs all weekend, through Sunday.  There will be fireworks tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday night, with Saturday's display being the biggest one; it's a good forty five minutes long.  The parade is in the morning, and there will be activities/music all day long at Centennial Park, where a good bunch of the activities are to be held.

I am really looking forward to it.  I know I will run into many of my friends there, and Ronee' will be performing a few times there.  I just love how she sings; she sings like an angel!  And I love her Cajun-spiced music; she's gotten me hooked on it!  She's really good at playing/singing it, too!

Besides the music, I am waiting for the fireworks; the fireworks are reputed to be one of the largest holiday displays in the entire country, not to mention, one of the longest.  I just wonder how they can keep affording to pay the cost of it; it must be astronomically expensive, especially during this bad economic time!

I do have some sad news to report:  one of my favorite entertainers, Michael Jackson, died on June 25th; he was only fifty.  (He would have been 51 in August.)  He died of a sudden cardiac arrest:  by the time paramedics got there to his residence, they found Michael not breathing and unresponsive.  They tried to save his life; they couldn't. 

They really don't know what killed Michael; but it's really sad.  Too, too young!  Such a shame!!  The world lost a true legend; his death will be remembered/felt for a very long time to come.

Some of my friends complain that there's too much media attention on Michael; maybe it's becuase he was so young when he died; his death was not expected; it took a lot of people by surprise, me included.

Besides Michael, the world lost two more celebrities:  62-year-old Farrah Fawcett (cancer) and Ed McMahon, 86, the former sidekick of Johnny Carson and former Star Search host.   Nobody seems to be paying attention to these two nearly as much as Michael Jackson's death. 

To me, Michael Jackson's death reminds me a lot of Elvis Presley's, even though I wasn't around when that happened; Elvis died in 1977.  I was born fifteen years ago, in 1994.  There was a lot of speculation surrounding his passing; there still is, after all this time later.  And he was even younger than Michael:  he was only 42.

Guess there will be a lot of speculation about Michael Jackson, too.  You just wait and see.

I can tell you this much:  this was a bad week for celebrities croaking!  :(

Makes me want to wonder: "who's next??"

On Wednesday, our city had a city-wide disaster drill (of which I took part).  There was a mock terrorist attack; hundreds of people were "killed", and thousands were "injured", some mortally.  I was one of the "mortally wounded" victims.  Lost both my legs (not really), had deep cuts, abrasions to my face, shoulders, arms, chest, and abdomen, and my guts were spilling out.  I was in very sad shape.  I was supposed to act like I was unconscious while the paramedics/firefighters "treated" me on scene, before the doctors and nurses took over when I got to the hospital.

I'm sure the drill freaked out plenty of people who weren't aware of it; it sure seemed real!  It was beyond terrifying at times, especially when they strapped me and put me into the back of the ambulance; that was more than a little unnerving, as was being looked at by the doctors and nurses after I'd been delivered to the emergency department.

(I was supposed to be unconscious, remember; however, it was difficult to play my part when everyone was screaming at me or pinching or tapping me, as they tried to "revive" me.  My eyes kept popping open.  LOLOLOLOL)

This is why I knew what was happening to me part of the time.  LOL

I'm just glad that is overwith; it's not easy being a disaster "victim"!  And I'm glad it was only a fake deal; I don't know what I would do if it were the real thing (and don't want to find out, either)!!

Well, ma is cooking supper, so I will run along.  Have to help dad get the table set, and then eat.  Probably will go skatboarding with a few of my chums until 8:30/9:00, just when it's getting dark.  I will write in here again soon; until later, this is Stinko signing off!  So long for now!

And have the best July Fourth holiday eVER!!

~Stinko.  :)

Bring on the FIREWORKS!!!! :D