I’ve decided to take a break from blogging, at least for the summer. I will, however, continue to utilize other social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. You can catch me there to keep up with me, or check back here where my (less frequent) tweets gets published.

Of course if something ground-breaking occurs I might return here briefly, but my plan is to enjoy summer and free myself up a little.

Enjoy yourselves, too!

In the summertime when the weather’s high,
you can stretch right up and touch the sky

The American Decency Association is more than a little upset with this ad being run by McDonald’s in France, calling it “one of the most bewildering kinds of advertisements.” They’re suggesting a massive call-and-complain protest to McD’s corporate headquarters.

I’d like to roll my eyes so hard that they stick. I don’t think it’s that bad, even by the most conservative measures. See what you think – check out the commercial below (or go here to see it in a larger format at YouTube).

“We wanted to show society the way it is today, without judging.” – Nathalie Legarlantezec, McDonald’s Brand Director

… and wouldn’t you know it – one gay group is actually complaining too … not about the the ad in general, but the fact that the young man won’t disclose his sexuality to his father. A message with fries on the side, indeed.

You’re just like your father
You got your daddy’s ways
You walk so close to him picked up his traits

Via Joe(.My.God) via Andrew (Sullivan) and with credit to Dave Coverly for hitting the illustration on the spot:

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho
It’s home from work we go

All gave some and some gave all …

I’m pretty much nonchalant when it comes to Miranda Lambert music. She gets lost in the conglomeration of current female vocalists. A lot of them are just vocally veneer. But before I wander off in to comparisons of singers now versus then, I’ll get back on track. Miss Lambert’s latest single release is a song called “The House That Built Me” [video] and it’s one of those songs that I like because of the song itself. When I listen to it, I am listening to the words; it’s about something we all have done at one time or another – gone back to our childhood (or a former) home to check up memories.

I know they say you can’t go home again
I just had to come back one last time
Ma’am I know you don’t know me from Adam
But these handprints on the front steps are mine

I’ve done it before. Many times. In person and on the internet.

Look at a house where I once lived. My first apartment. The first house I bought. My aunt’s home, and even the house that my grandparents lived in from the time they took their wedding vows until the time when death did indeed do them part.

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing

Sometimes I’ve just been curious as to see what the places look like. Sometimes I go to remember.

You leave home and you move on and you do the best you can
I got lost in this old world and forgot who I am

Lawns seems much smaller than they did when you spent your precious Saturdays mowing them. Porches are less inviting than they were when all of your friends spent the warm summer evenings with you there. Fences crumble, additions are built, memories abound. You will usually find something the same, albeit aged, and usually something gone.

In the end, it’s not what you still find there – it’s what you’ve taken from there that counts. After all, it’s just one ingredient in a complicated recipe that made you.

If I walk around I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me