Since the place Micah, Laura and I got in Florence had a 12:30 curfew (what is this, ninth grade?), we didn't do much that night. Just sat on our room's balcony porch, drank semi-cold to warm Italian beers, and ate bread and feta. That, and had a free concert from Micah, whose name was chosen by his Baptist missionary parents because of the passage from Micah 4:3, the "peace prophet's" description of what is to come after the End of Days: And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

All really religious parents should be hippies, too, I think. Micah's dad, for example, has a pony tail longer than Rapunzel's and doesn't support the Iraq War, yet he is still more devoted to following Jesus' example than George Bush will ever be .... because that example was to not wage war. Make sense? Religious-hippies are a great case study in raising your kids with the best of both worlds. You can teach them to be upright and differentiate between right and wong, but you can do it in a way that won't force them to rebel. After all, why do kids rebel against their upbringings? Because they see their parents as being "out of touch," as being squares.

This is the stark truth. Micah probably informed me of how much he loved his dad once an hour, and he wasn't embarassed by it. The Peace Prophet Part Deux is also just a straight up good dude, and it's due largely in part to the environment in which he was raised. Yet, he's an amazing musician who plays guitar and drums, and sings. That is not very square-like. Nor is it rebellious, because his folks are all about that whole "free spirit" thing.

Me? I'm thinking about naming my son David, because he got allll the ladies.Okay, if anyone likes my idea, PLEASE help me in convincing the man. You all agree that the way he got his name is cool as hell, right? (If not, you've got issues, and I bet you kick puppies when they poop on the rug). Well, I'm trying to get as many people as possible to email Micah at micahberrymusic@gmail.com, and tell him that if he ever starts up a band of his own that goes on tour or gets a record deal, a real band with a serious name essentially, that it has to be something along the lines of The Peace Prophets, or Peace Prophet Part Deux, or something utilizing that line of thinking. It's a gold mine.