Operation AXIOM
Happy Independence Day, both to my fellow Americans & to any non-American whose eyes might fall upon these lines! Happy birthday to the United States of America, free now for two hundred thirty-five years!



I always mean to make a bigger deal of Independence Day that I do. Alas, this impulse strikes me each year only on the evening of the 4th of July, as my mom watches the Washington, D.C. fireworks on television, & very quickly thereafter fades until the following Independence Day. How shall I go about reminding myself to plan a proper whizbang for '12? I want ballyhoo! I want spectacle! I want… I'm not sure. I must make at least as big a deal of Independence Day as I do of Narwhal Day; not a one-to-one parallel, but a rough equivalence of effort put forth. I've a year to get this right, & the scheming cannot begin too soon.

Happy Independence Day!

The Rebel Black Dot Song of Independence Day
The University of Michigan Marching Band, "The Star-Spangled Banner" from Hurrah for the Yellow and Blue (T.L.A.M.)