THE POISON PEN LETTER
So, somebody lopped the head off a Lauren Spierer sign on the south side of town. And then somebody sent an anonymous letter to the grieving parents saying, essentially, enough with the signs.
You knew it was going to happen sooner or later.
The blowback. The fallout. The shoulder shrug and the roll of the eyes. Lauren Spierer has become old news and, like an interminable presidential campaign, it has become — to some — annoying.
The Lauren Spierer disappearance began raising intriguing questions almost from the day it became the biggest story to hit Bloomington since “Breaking Away” was filmed here.
Scarcely a week after the story broke, a Facebook contretemps broke out over the attention being paid to the pretty, blonde, daughter of wealth. Well, if not wealth ala Bill Gates, then really comfortable, vacation-in-Europe wealth. The kind of wealth that, say, Crystal Grubb did not possess.
The Herald Times reported Friday (login required) on the anonymous letter. According to Charlene Spierer, the letter’s author asked, “… [D]on’t you think it’s time to do the right thing by Bloomington and stop littering our town with your posters?”
Man, that’s cold.
I say that even though I have rolled my eyes any number of times upon seeing the several dozenth Lauren sign during a 15 minute drive around the city.
The way I figure it, my annoyance isn’t worth sending a mean-spirited, knife-in-the-gut letter to the kid’s parents.
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HOLY FOOTBALL
The Loved One and I attended a backyard bonfire party last night. The beer and whiskey were flowing freely. The fire was hot. So were a few of the attendees. The fiasco that is Indiana football 2011 came up. One guest said to another, her voiced tinged with righteous shock, “The coach has gotten rid of all the chaplains!”
The second guest shook his head sadly.
I said, “What chaplains?”
IU Football Doesn’t Have A Prayer
Several voices were raised, competing to educate me. Seems the old IU football coaches used to allow any number of chaplains to roam the practice field and the sidelines, ministering to the spiritual needs of young men whose tacit purpose is to snap the bones and mangle the ligaments of the opposition.
It must be said the guest list at the bash was comprised primarily of folks who attend the same Catholic church, St. Paul’s. At this party, at least, the latest savior of IU football was no friend of theirs.
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ROCK THE VOTE
The Herald Times reports (login required) former reality TV show participant Rupert Boneham has announced he will seek the Libertarian Party nomination for governor in next years election. Which begs the question — does a celebrity whose life’s work is unrelated to politics or statesmanship have an edge over professional vote-seekers? Well, duh, look at Arnold Schwartzenegger.
So, let’s say John Mellencamp had decided to run for mayor of Bloomington (I know, I know, he’d have had to move within the city limits — but let’s just have a little fun). You know, incumbent Mark Kruzan is running unopposed.
Had Mellencamp jumped through all the election board hoops and gotten himself on the ballot, would his name alone have been enough to vault him over our very own mayor-for-life?
Let’s face it, had one Robert Montgomery Knight decided to throw his hat in the ring circa 1978, he’d be a shoo-in — even if he did wear ridiculous sports jackets.
The General As Mayor?
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THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN
Helen Harrell, Carol Fischer, and the gang over at bloomingtoOUT on WFHB radio offered up another winner this past week. Wednesday, Harrell’s regular “QueerHerstory” segment on the hour-long program devoted to LGBTQ issues looked into the life of sultry movie vamp Marlene Dietrich. Catch it.
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