A pleasant surprise came in the mail Monday afternoon. A check from the federal government for, pretty much, the amount of extra tax I paid back in April. I didn't get any extra money (like from the thousands I paid through payroll withholding), I just got what I paid over the amount. Plus a few cents of interest.

The explanation for the refund check made no sense at all. So I've decided I got it because I voted for Obama.

That night, after celebrating my younger brother's birthday with some scotch and green chili chicken enchiladas, I walked home through light rain. It was a nice night. And, inside my bedroom, it was still raining.

Being a renter, it's someone else's responsibility to fix the leak. And the next day they did.

We get a lot of choices as Americans, including how to celebrating being American.

Some people have guns, some pot, others God, some car racing, some baseball, many alcohol, fewer tobacco (now with an extra 75 cent tax in NM!), children love Jello, and all of us mix up a nice potpourri of our favorites.

I took Friday off from my job (I had the vacation days and was just exhausted with the inanity of work) and spent some of my refunded tax money.

I bought a pair of shorts, jeans and two leisure shirts at a thrift store. All blue.

Then I went record shopping. My favorite record stores in Albuquerque are Charlie's and Natural Sound. I went to both. I found a copy of Zappa's Sheik Yerbuti for $5. It looked fine (although the tag said it was "rough") and, despite a slight warp, played great. This was my great value find of the day (from Charlie's). And at Natural Sound I found new copies of two records I'd been actively trying to find lately. Hendrix's Electric Ladyland and Tom Waits's Mule Variations. Score two for America!

Eight records total and only the copy of Wham's first album (bought for a dollar) was really rough. It skipped through "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go." Maybe because it was the only non-American record I bought. Hmmm...

Mimosa's in the afternoon led to a drunken happy hour (love this when you don't even work), and the eventual discovery that the two Netflix I had waiting for me Friday night were broken.

But I had choices beyond these movies to watch. Endless choices.

I don't know if this is your idea of American, but go U.S.A! And, to top it all off, my niece seems to have decided she wants to be a drummer.

After an Independence Day grill today, I still have another day off tomorrow. And then I get busy.

I'm God in a play my brother is directing (God by Woody Allen). It's a small part. Rehearsals begin on Tuesday.

And my band is in the middle of recording demos of as many songs as we can get down this summer.

Oh yeah, I still have a job, too. In a week or so, I'll hit my two year anniversary. I don't get a cake or anything, but they keep paying me, so I keep going. Most weekdays, anyway.

I can't think of anything more American than that.

Matt Worley shoots off his mouth in a spectacular July 4th display after the game.