Where'd that name come from ?

You may have noticed a change in the blog header. Probably not. Editing the blog layout is so easy, I'm constantly tinkering with the details, like a little kid with a new toy.

To explain the header change, I'll tell another of my stories.

Among people my age, the summer of 1967 is often referred to as "The Summer of Love." The hippie movement was gaining momentum in San Francisco, and some of the best psychedelic rock music ever was being recorded. Hell, some of the best music of any kind. In June 1967, the Beatles released what many consider their masterpiece, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

While the flower children were groovin' in California, I spent several weeks that summer living in a tent in a rural district near Fort Sill, Oklahoma. I was attending a "summer camp" of sorts, but not the kind you typically envision, with singalongs and leather crafts.

I shared the tent with several other college-aged men. At night, after lights out, we'd b.s. for an hour or two, bellyaching about that day's activities, the shortage of quality events on our social calendars, separation from the sweet young things in our lives, and getting back home to them. Something that occasionally came up as a topic for bitching was the "chow line" cuisine.

One night, a tentmate declared he was hungry enough to eat "a hot water sandwich and mosquito juice." At the time, I thought it was the funniest line I'd ever heard. If you knew the guy who said it, you'd understand. Anyway, the expression stayed with me for 40 years, and I think of it any time I encounter something that fundamentally lacks substance.

Since the blog is one of my lame opinions after another, I thought I'd give it a new name for a while, one that captures the substance of its content. So now you know.