It’s that time of year again.  I have to decide if the noises I’m hearing are gunshots or fireworks, because in my neighborhood it’s pretty much a 50/50 chance.

I got so angry at pre-actual 4th of July fireworks last year because they made Marley hysterical.  Marley didn’t bark at anything that made sense, like intruders or small animals.  Marley barked at things like car doors closing, garden hoses, and changes in temperature.  She also barked at brightly-colored canisters filled with gunpowder that people were lighting on fire two blocks from my apartment.  Last year at this time, I cringed at the sound of fireworks and cursed the ghetto ass kids who couldn’t stop playing with them.  Marley barked herself hoarse on the actual 4th of July; on the surrounding days, she stress-shed all over the house.

While the quiet is nice, I guess, I’d really like to have my dog back.  Sometimes I think about her and my chest hurts.  Yeah.  Fine.  I look like an idiot and this probably isn’t what you expected if you started reading when it was all about zombies and blowjobs.  But I miss her a lot, even though her being around meant a deafening three hours for one night in early July.

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I had a work meeting the other day about whether or not we’re being outsourced.  The answer was no, nobody’s even talking about that, but we can’t guarantee what’ll happen next year.  This is fairly enough cause for me to crap my pants thinking about 2011, but whatever.  If what they’ve done with other departments is any indication, I’ll continue working harder than anyone else in my group and they will find a place for me.

Know who else works hard?  Henry Rollins.  Graham and I went to his show at the Pageant on Thursday, and that man can talk.  Nearly three hours without once – I swear – taking a sip of water.  I went to the bathroom, got a beer, and thought I might pass out if he talked for another ten goddamn minutes.  (I wasn’t drunk, I just prefer to be in bed by 10:30 on a school night.)  I didn’t agree with everything he said, but he does have a work ethic I can look up to.

Point of Disagreement: While in China, he went to Tiananmen Square.  For three days, he was continually approached by friendly men who said they would be his tour guide.  After pretending to humor them for several minutes, he told them to get out of Tibet.  He thought this was hilarious.  Nevermind that the men were first confused and then terrified by his suggestion, and nevermind that they were just people of a government and not the government itself.  He had a blast telling verbally berating them (in essence) that he didn’t agree with their government’s policies, the same government the men in question didn’t elect into power, a fact of which Henry Rollins is fully aware.

I frequently find that the people who are so obsessed with themselves as individuals have a very hard time understanding the individuality of others.  I bet that neither Henry Rollins nor I ever voted for George W. Bush; however, we were both American citizens during his administrations.  This doesn’t mean Bush spoke for us or that we agreed with anything he did, just like the Chinese government’s occupation of Tibet wasn’t decided and maybe isn’t supported by some poor guys who probably get humiliated and shortchanged on a daily basis by smartmouthed tourists in Tiananmen Square.

Also I was sitting directly under an air-conditioning vent all night and only started to regain feeling in my extremities once I made it home and crawled into bed.

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It sissifies me to admit this, but my perpetual heartburn has gone away now that I’ve cut back to only 1 pot of coffee per day.  I was only drinking a pot and a half before, which sounds like a lot to everyone but my Seattle friends (and to put this into perspective, one of them doesn’t drink and the other works for an espresso company).