Supremity, Endurance and the last mandolin

Hey.. So today I ordered the Paracho Elite Venice mandolin. It should be here in a week, and I am looking forward to playing it. I also promise that you will not see the word mandolin in a single post from now until that day comes.

I just got home from work.. I was there much later than usual, because a group came in just as the kitchen was closing, and decided that it would be a great idea to order scallops at 10:00. I did not happen to think this was such a great idea, and neither did the cook. We both gave them angry glares, and engaged in a brief sketch, where I tapped my wrist angrily and the cook threw up his arms and pointed at them. We in fact made them quite uncomfortable. Speaking of uncomfortable, as I was performing my duty of delivering dirty linen to housekeeping, I noticed two hotel guests approaching me. One of them had a grin on his face; no doubt caused by my thoroughly soaked groinal area ( In my job, a soaked groin means that you are a good worker.) I was in an uncharacteristically bad mood, caused no doubt by my scallop ordering buddies, and to me his facial muscles pointed to all that is wrong with the world. I met his grin with my best scowl.. I even turned my head as he passed, doing my best to look threatening. Even though his grin was gone, I was determined to make him even more uncomfortable for his unforgivable offence, and I got my chance as I was leaving work. He was standing at the front desk, so I snuck up behind him and slammed the key to housekeeping as firmly as I could on the desk next to him. I saw him jump, and so I slowly turned my head, again doing my best to look like I had just swallowed a shard of glass, to which he responded by averting his gaze. My terrorizing of the guests completed, I made my way out the door, cheerily shouting my goodnights to the employees at the front desk..

Today something made me happy. The supreme court came out with a ruling on the D.C gun ban, and thankfully the justices chose in favor of the individual vs. the collective right to bear arms. Justice Scalia wrote the decision.. Justice Scalia is a cool guy, because he explains things in a manner a kindergartner could understand. I personally never understood how the words of the second amendment could be interpreted as anything but and individual right, especially when read right after the first and before any others containing the words "the people." Something I find funny now that I have a little more perspective then I once did, is how the left and right in this country like accuse each other of picking and choosing from the constitution; the left focusing on the rights of enemy combatants, and the patriot act, and the right focusing mainly on the rights of gun owners and taxpayers, while both claiming to be on the side of the constitution.

I really do not like to talk about gun control, but it is now time.. I guess those who support and oppose gun control measures are divided into two groups; those who say that death is not the worst of all evils, and thus ones freedom is more important then ones life and those who say that life is the most precious of all gifts, and must be preserved at all costs.. I guess arguments against the first point are simple; people do not like being shot. It is not something one wakes up and wishes upon ones self.. Unless there is some sort of very big problem going on, but generally it is not something to aspire to. People also do not like the fact that several children are tragically killed in gun accidents each year.. Generally, arguments against the first point are mainly either emotional, or convenient. Arguments against the second point are more ideological. Live free or die.. The very right to defend your life, or the lives of those you love against any who threaten them, be it a home invader or a tyrannical government. I feel confident in my position on the 2nd amendment, and can happily and correctly quote it(the amendment), along with the first on demand. I could now write something about my views, but quite frankly it would sound like an NRA propaganda piece, so I will let Cesare Beccaria do it for me. The following quotation is taken from his 1764 book On Crimes and Punishment, and was used fondly by Thomas Jefferson "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms . . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes . . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."

Well that is all.. for now.