Wednesday Mental Massage?

I know, I know. The Mental Massage is supposed to happen on Fridays. I mean, who goes for a mental rubdown on Wednesday? Well, as I mentioned before, this week and the next few are going to be a little odd and more than a little busy for me. At the time I should be mentally massaging on Friday, I'm likely going to be somewhere on I-44. So, just in case I can't make it back to the blogging machine, here's a quickie.

Devon Epps--I really expected to wake up this morning and see a lengthy piece in the Greenville News about Devon Epps. Today marks the one-month mark since the seven-year-old Greenville County boy was asphyxiated. While his mother, Amanda Smith, maintains a knife-wielding maniac sprang from the shadows, forced her from her car, and smothered her son with a pillow, there have been no arrests and no suspects publicly identified. Of course, the one-month mark is rather arbitrary, and in the investigative process means absolutely nothing. However, I think it does serve as a reminder to everybody that this case is still open.

Previous Coverage:

Reading between the lines of Devon Epps' death

Devon Epps, Amanda Smith and the difficulties of reporting crime news

Devon Epps: Scene of the Crime?

Rapid Eye Reality coverage of Epps case makes it to print

Devon Epps: Waiting

Devon Epps: Pictures

September 11th--Also missing, I felt, from this week's news at large was much news coverage of the sixth anniversary. Again, anniversaries are little more than a date. However, every time the date 9/11 comes up, I can't help but think that September 11th should receive some sort of recognition. There is no date in my life that holds greater significance and I think that's even more true for many, many more people. Am I wrong to think there should be some nationally recognized day on 9/11? I hesitate to call it a holiday, because it is not a day of celebration. However, if we're going to take a day off to recognize our Presidents, Columbus, and the day or day declared its independence, we might consider federally marking the day the America changed forever.

Truckin'--I simply don't promote my buddy Pauly's literary 'zine here enough. He's been running this thing for what seems like forever and has been kind enough to ask me to write for him. I should be promoting it every month, and not just the months he publishes something I wrote. But, since he published something I wrote...well, here's this month's Truckin' (my piece is a typo-ridden and comma-splicey rumination on why airports sell condoms in their bathrooms).

1. Monk's Siberian Dream by Paul McGuire
Brain dead. Deep into the sixth day of a foggy bender, I had forgotten the day of the week. Frisatursunday? I’d successfully lost time. The demoralizing result was that my conversational skills had dwindled down to a few muttering sentences... More

2. The Rubber-less Traveler by Brad "Otis" Willis
Breathless, confused, and sick to my stomach, I arrived at the British Airways gate and looked at the departure board. The flight was delayed for an hour. This is how I travel. I run to nowhere to fly to somewhere where I see little, do much, and find myself asking questions like, "Why do they sell condoms in airport bathrooms?" ... More

3. It's Not Like I'm Dishonest; Honest by May B. Yesno
I'm a private investigator. A damn good private investigator. I have a wife, a very expensive wife. She likes the good things in life. We're matched. I like good things too... More

4. Coming Home by B Kemp
Some of my former friends think that she is using me for my money. It doesn't seem right to them that a man my age would "throw it all away," leaving my career for a life of unpredictability and adventure. My old friends are naturally suspicious of younger women wanting to spend their money, rightfully so I suppose... More

5. The Confetti of Life by Sean A. Donahue
I read the love letters that my grandfather sent to his wife. I could see the tears in my grandmother's eyes as she read them, touched them for one last link to him. I shed many a tear today, ones that no one saw, because I left the room before they fell... More

Roadie--Not sure what, if any, excitement the pending road trip will offer. Anything of note, interesting or not, will appear in the Twitter and Buzznet feeds. Oh, and because I've turned into a guy who has to be connected 95% of the time, I have outfitted the gas guzzling family mover into a mobile office. I could conceivably travel 100% of the time and never be away from work.

Now, there, friends, is an idea.