i shot some guns today.

i don’t particularly like guns, as i fall into that liberal camp which believes guns kill people–but then you’ve got to know your enemy, right? sure doesn’t help that i just saw ‘bowling for columbine‘ over winter break with casey.

so i went out with melanie and pj, melanie’s sister tamineh and fiance jadem (a gun dealer), and melanie’s dad and his friend doug. we took a short course on gun safety, and went into the gun range.

let me tell you, shooting a gun is hard. it’s loud. it smells. a burst of flame shoots out of the muzzle. and the thing kicks back at you. so you’re trying to precisely line up the sights on the target while keeping your hands firm but not too firm, knowing full well the thing is going to kick back at you when you pull the trigger. not easy.

after an hour or so in the gun range, we had lunch, and then we (minus melanie’s dad and friend) went out to one of those great places that have putt-putt golf, go-karts, and video games. the video games were ok, but what really kicked serious ass was the go-karting. i should do that some more. that would be serious fun. anyway, we completed the soggy overcast day with a very lively 18 holes of putt-putt golf.

there’s something dark about the juxtaposition of shooting guns, racing go-karts, and playing putt-putt golf. kind of like mixing death with childhood. or violence with nostalgia. or power with innocence.

ahhh, and i finally gave in. i have purchased a cellphone. hopefully this will be a good thing.