Well, maybe one last post...

I'm semi-hosed on rum and Diet Coke.
Rum and Coke was my dorm drink of choice when I was in college. I'd keep a pint of Bacardi in my desk drawer and add it to Coke from the vending machine on my dorm floor.
I got away from it for several years, living in the world of beer and Scotch and Margaritas.
But recently, I've gotten back to my roots, so to speak, and find a splash of Bacardi in a Diet Coke hits the spot.
But that's not what's on my mind - just what's in my mind.
My stepdaughter the college student has a summer job at the local library. This is one of those little smalltown Carnegie libraries that is just now - nearly 100 years downstream - undergoing an expansion and modernization.
One of the downsides of having a stepdaughter working in the local library is that you learn what kind of idiots are running the place.
The director is a longtime acquaintance. She was director of curriculum at one of the premiere school districts in the state and is not part of the scene I'm about to describe.
Most of the other women who work there are fundamentalist Christian types, which is fine, except that they let their religious perspective guide what materials are included in the library's collection. They also proselytize the kids who come into the children's department for summer reading programs.
Chances are that their religious bent actually reflects the majority beliefs of the community, but the First Amendment zealot in me recoils at the idea that they think they have the right to eliminate certain religious or philosophical or moral points of view from the public library that is supported by my tax dollars.
The stepdaughter reports hearing them worrying out loud about what is the "Christian" thing to do and also admonishing youngsters about what books they should or should not be reading.
Makes me wonder if they don't keep lists of what everyone is reading.
Keep in mind that I was raised a Presbyterian, but converted to Roman Catholicism as an adult. Which is to say I became Catholic as an informed decision rather than by the accident of birth.
The Catholic Church is a tough club to belong to because of the rules, but they also cut you an enormous amount of slack and don't cluck disapprovingly when you screw up.
The longer I am a Catholic (the original form of Christianity) the more I tend to regard Protestant denominations - not to mention Islam - as nutball made-up religions. Mostly silly exercises in mood-making and, in some instances, a form of mental illness.
How's that for a king-hell alcohol-amplified bias?