it's like you can holler CHURCH AND STATE all day long and, here, the only sound is crickets chirping.

so, i'm just going to say it: i am, and have been for years, one of those angry people who writes letters to the editor. don't care if i sound like a crazed, female franz wright. actually, i like to think of it more as, on a best day, chelsea lately meets wolf blitzer.

this began in college when elle published an article about the glories of carrying on an open marriage. to be fair, i was much more (shall we say) buttoned up in those days. whatever. the word appalling was thrown about a few times. finito. then came the whole truth and beauty fiasco where clemson canceled anne patchett's book from their summer reading list, citing that it advocated promiscuity. which, of course, it doesn't. and the letter to the editor i wrote was so mean that my dad said, gently, "why don't you sit on it a few days. revise." i e-mailed it immediately, received letters from the public, etc.

so, yesterday, this letter (written by a mr. hiers) is published in the greenville news:

"voters should study obama's religion"

"one of the candidates running to be the next president of the united states, barack obama, is a prominent member of the united church of christ. this church is an affirming program of a coalition of lesbians, gays and bisexuals...who support sodomite marriages...reproductive choice [etc.]. why is all of this information so important to the wise voter who is a mature follower of christ? because god's moral absolutes have no place in barack obama's religious beliefs!"

hopefully, your mouths are all just slightly open. i can't even repeat the letter i wrote, mostly because i don't quite remember what it said. something about the author of this diatribe being frighteningly ill-informed, misguided, yadda.

on a lighter note, hannah has been watching lost for the past three days. every episode. she wants to, like, have all of matthew fox's babies.

also, my mother, who wears the guise of a relatively laid back person really well, needed me to help her arrange bouquets of flowers for my uncle's memorial service, which is tomorrow. i put together some mums, white roses, and peach spray roses, and presented them to her. she cocked her head slightly, grabbed two sprigs of something purple and set them in.

"a bouquet," she said firmly, "must always have a hint of blue. even if that blue is purple. it makes the warmer colors pop."

and the way she did it, moving her hand just so, was like that part in cinderella where the birds drape the fabric and it magically becomes a dress.

meanwhile, i'm standing there in workout clothes with leaves in my hair.

hannah says, "she's just the most adorable tyrant."