Is there anybody REALLY ALIVE out there???

Well it's official, yep, uh huh, right. Check. Gotcha, I hear ya talkin, I feel ya'. I've seen the future of blogging, and this is probably not it. Papa Rad's hits the airways, comin' to you live from sin city, it's the first ever blog from a guy who has a lot to say, I'm just searching for listeners, for a captive audience.

I have been inspired by my daughter to hit the blog airways, she has put together a great blog, put it together a few months back as she boarded a plane and headed south, that's way south, to S America, to teach 8th graders about math, life, and the esoteric beauty of Joe Mauer's sweet swing from the left side of the plate.

Writing is amazing, more people should do it, just like more people should read. Writing is cathartic, it's a release, it's a chance to empty out your head ("I need a steam shovel mama, to unload my head"... who said that?) and get your thoughts, your life, your soul on paper. What could be more personal than to share a piece of yourself with somebody else? The greatest songwriters and poets and authors of all time have done this for a living.

So here we go, we're gonna leave the shore and head on out into peaceful waters, the peaceful waters of Lake Marie. Why the blog title? Thanks for asking. I thought about it for a while, took a shower, thought about it a bit more - you can really think good in the shower, good for singin' too - great acoustics, nobody's gonna give you any grief for singin' off key, as if I'd do that. Well, one of my passions is civil rights, one of my passions is justice, one of my passions is liberty. My heros are those people who have fought for justice and freedom, laid down their lives to help move things forward for groups of people, for individuals, for societies. Many others standin' on the sidelines, said "you're gonna die tryin'." They were right, many of them did, but they tried, and they did not give up, and they kept on marchin'. And when they were marching out in the streets, with teargas, and dogs and militia, and a lot of armed folks threatening them and yelling at them, the marchers sometimes sang, maybe just hummed, maybe just sang real soft and held hands and swayed their bodies back and forth as they kept marching forward, across that bridge in Selma... across that bridge in Montgomery... across that bridge in Birmingham... the road was kind of flat, but they were marching toward higher ground, it appeared that their feet were rooted in the earth, that they were human beings here on earth - but what lots of people could not see or feel, unless they were able to peer deep into their souls, unless they were able to peer deep into their collective hearts, that through all the struggling, and abuse, and sweat and blood --- they were really SPIRITUAL BEINGS on a human journey, and they were only here on earth but for a short while.

Oh, yea that's right. You was probably wonderin' what it was they were singin' real soft and low, holdin' hands, swayin' back and forth as they took another step forward. They were singin' "you can't stop us on the road to freedom, you can't stop us 'cuz our eyes can see... our eyes can see a better day... and we're on our way to GloryLand. Amen."