Somehow I missed the day of rest we got with last week's Memorial Day. Oh, I got the day off, but I didn't get the proper benefit. I walked through the rest of the week like a zombie wolf. The morning greeting usually was a smile and then, "You look really tired."

As we took the turn into June, the temperature ratcheted up just a bit. We were in the mid-90s all week. I finally realized it would be a good idea to run the swamp cooler, but that just makes it a little bit more tolerable.

Enthusiasm for much of anything drained from my brain and got lost in my feet somewhere. I spent a few hours this week watching the 100 Greatest Metal Moments on VH1. It's interesting that these metal moments have almost nothing to do with the music.

Motley Crue is one of the greatest metal bands in the history of metal bands (wherever that history is kept)--not because their music was any good (it was only occasionally great)--but because they knew how to be rock stars. That and, apparently, Tommy Lee can steer a boat with his dick.

As I get older, it's easier for nostalgia to get to me. I can sit for a few hours and watch people explain things I already know about (and, of course, have my own opinions about), and it seems like fun. Well, occasionally one of these guys makes a funny joke, which makes a fifteen minute section of reminiscence worthwhile.

But I'm not really excited about anything. I looked at the movies out in theaters this weekend and couldn't find one I really wanted to see. Or even one that might be amusing for a little while--enough to consume $6 (matinee) of my time. I'm not a kid (sorry Harry and Shrek), I didn't just inherit three kids and I don't care if people survive a fake climate change. Kill 'em all, I say.

At $2 a gallon, gas is comparably cheap, I guess. I can't buy a gallon of beer for that price (it's usually around $10 a gallon or more), but I also can't swill a whole gallon in an hour, either. The high prices haven't changed anything except it now costs close to $30 to fill my tank. The city is freaking about gas prices, it's going to cost an extra half million or so to keep buses and garbage trucks running this summer. It'll cost me a $100 or more to commute to work, I guess. If you look at it that way, I'm not so bad off. But that's a lot of beer money getting burned up in my engine.

An article in the paper yesterday pointed out the obvious about summer vacation for kids: they tend to get into more trouble when they don't have school to worry about. Kids are more likely to try drinking and drugs in the summer than they are during the school year. There are a lot of hours in the day, and even if you have a job, there are still all those off hours to deal with.

I can't blame them much. It's hot outside, and a cold beer is rather inviting. There are significantly fewer calories in a can of beer--even the old-fashioned high-carb brews--than there are in a can of soda. Of course, this would seem to imply kids really care about what they're eating or drinking, and I don't think that's true either.

I don't know what I'm saying--it's hot outside.

We have reached the lull, though. There is no news.

Or there is news, but we don't care.

Ronald Reagan died--but didn't he really die almost 10 years ago when he spoke for the last time to tell everyone he had Alzheimer's? We never really saw him again after that.

More U.S. soldiers got killed in Iraq this week. No football heroes, though, so it's not a big deal.

Creed broke up. Thank God. I guess He really is listening.

The Prez keeps giving speeches at military academies, and we all keep finding something else to do with our time. When he's got something new to say, alert the media.

Rumsfeld admitted this week that the administration doesn't really have a plan for post-war Iraq. But this isn't a big deal, because the real plan is to stay the course. Y'know, to the plan that doesn't exist. Maybe it should be called a roadmap--but this might imply the Prez knows how to read a map of Iraq. I'm surprised he realized D-Day was an invasion of occupied France. I had this vision of Bush flying into Berlin and asking where the cemetery was.

The Lakers and the Pistons are playing in the NBA Finals. The 80s are really coming back in a big way, huh? I think the only thing us Americans learned from the 80s was "greed is good." That and everyone lives forever, if you do a line or two.

So I'll just sit and stew in this heat. I figure if something really important happens, it'll get through this haze. But right now I'm ready for nothing.

Matt Worley eats nothing but cold beer between Memorial and Labor Day.