You know when people hit you from out of the blue, surprise you with something you'd never expect? It shakes you to the core, like all the ideas you've built up in your mind have been kicked in the groin -- maybe you aren't as open minded as you thought you were. Maybe?

So you shrug it off, with excuses of diffidence, not ignorance, and life moves along, with this new piece of information stragetically filed away for use in future interactions. And the world spins on...

Today I went to the 21st annual King Mango Strut parade in Coconut Grove; it's this irreverant, boisterous parade starring the characters who have led the Miami's news headlines, or parodies and satirical versions of them, anyway. It was a blast and hysterically funny. This is the first year in like sixty that there's no Orange Bowl Parade so one of the "floats" was led by the "Orange Bowl Committee for finding a new parade" and it was a big can meant to look like a can of frozen OJ, with the words, "Orange Bowl Parade from Concentrate, just add Sponsors." Hahahaha. Another group was the DCF (dept. of children and families), all the people acted like they were blind and had blind stick-poker things, poking around trying to find kids. They carried signs that said "DCF motto: It's the quality, not the quantity, that counts!" Ouch! hahaha. Another float was put together by the area Sierra Club, supporting dirty air and pollution as a mockery of Bush and his stance on oil and big business over the protection of the sustainability of our earth. One float was decorated like a jail, but spiffy on the inside, to make fun of Martha Stewart and the trouble she got in with her IMClone stock and all, with signs saying stuff like "Martha's 5-Alarm chilli for Large Groups, Learn How!". One guy dressed up with a bunch of leaves, and was campaigning as the "real" Bush. hehe. There was a group of people dressed as aliens, and pushing a baby carriage with a doggy in it who had a sign saying "Eve" on it, making fun of the Raelian people who have claimed to have cloned a human. There were nuns around a sign that said "The church grows fondlers" or something like that, and two men walking together pushing a wheelbarrel with a tissuepaper-made breast, and a sign on their chests that said "Two men walking abreast." That was my favorite. hahaha. plus, they had a "Censored" sign to put over it, but it had a hole in the sign for the nipple. Oh my! hehe. There was even an oooold lady dressed in a Hooters outfit, with a sign that said "Retired Hooters waitress", and she had designed the shirt so her "boobs" were actually at her knees! hehehe. and so much more....

Thats all for now. I'm starting to feel anxious since I'm leaving soon; that feeling of, I know I'm forgetting to do the one thing I wanted to do here, and now I won't get to....ahhhhh!!!

Goodnight.