Strive, Graduates.

It came out of the north and west, actually, off and on overnight, and then sure enough it was also raining yes this morning at or around graduation time — they were at DEFCON 47 out there in 27244 — but there was never really enough of anything to threaten the ceremony, which went off outside with nary a hitch save the ones already built in, which were, in no particularly special order, the speech by the movie guy, the speeches by everyone else speechifying this morning, and the reading of all three names of all 1,000 some-odd graduates. Elizabeth Scott Macatee. Deanna Brianna Bobana. Marcus Gelwaithe Davies IV, Magna Cum Laude. The movie guy had life boiled down to The Four Ps, which were People, Perseverance, and two other ones, but he kept un-P-ing his Ps, along these kinds of lines: People, he said, but then he said, In other words, I mean Mentors. At a bare minimum, then, it was The Three Ps and an M. There was at one point some extended metaphor about a sofa that I didn't understand. Also, in a shocking development, it turns out life is a journey.

I'm not saying a graduation speech is an easy thing to give, but let's maybe all agree right here and now that if one were to get hold of a microphone and the semi-rapt attention of a crowd of desperately hung-over graduates, their eager and sight-line-obstructed parents, and their exhausted professors, then one shouldn't spend twenty minutes saying, in essence, what any of the classic rock hits of yesterday and today can say in three minutes. We already know life is a highway. We already know, even, that we probably want to ride it all night long. Gimme gimme gimme gimme yeah.

It's hard to sit through those things.

The forecast wants us to heat up. I had to tie off some of the tomatoes this evening. The mosquitoes are starting to get a pretty good toehold out there. I went over to Blue-Tick-Beagle Paul's house last night and delivered an ultimatum. Tonight the dogs barked ninety minutes straight, at top volume. I sure as hell know how to get my way.