Yesterday, during my requisite three minutes of NPR (All Things Considered this time), I listened to John Kerry speak at a university somewhere - New Jersey maybe. He was introduced by someone yelling "Did you know that John Kerry used to play in a ROCK BAND??" Her enthusiasm was met with a few cheers and applause. What you couldn't hear were the thousand pairs of eyes rolling.

Kerry began by saying something like "Man, I can feel the energy in this place. I feel like back when I was in college, you know, eating pizza and drinking beer, ...or whatever."

I can just see his speech prompt cards, the "you know (pause)" and "or whatever" preceded by ellipses.

It's okay, though, John. I understand that you need to appeal to the younger generation. You just don't need to try so hard, is all.

I'm not a completely informed voter yet, but one thing I like about John's campaign is his idea to exchange a "free" state university education for two years of public service. Hell, I'd probably have my masters by now if I'd had that reward for my AmeriCorps time. (I did earn close to $10,000 for my education, most of which bought me a semester's worth of rent, some books, and a tab at Hub City Brewery back in 2001. Don't worry, there's some left over.)

It's not just about the reward, though - it's about the service. My two years of service to communities was invaluable - some day I'll write about it at greater length. Right now, I'm just picturing how much help the non-profits could count on, the number of houses that could be built, the kids that could be mentored, the change that could occur from the ground on up if community service was a habitual, accepted part of our lives - much like taxes and car inspections.

Who knows if the idea is even feasible, financially and organizationally speaking... maybe come January 2005 we'll find out. (I'm not holding my breath, though. I don't think The W's going anywhere.)

See? NPR prompted a whole new thought process for me. I still don't know what the Gaza Strip is, but I'm getting there.

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