That makes this date in 1990 an important milestone for me, because this was the date on which 2 Live Crew’s As Nasty As They Wanna Be was declared legally obscene by Judge Jose Gonzales, who ruled that the album was "directed to the ‘dirty’ thoughts and the loins, not to the intellect and the mind." Keep in mind, this is 1990 we’re talking about here. 2 Live Crew were later arrested for performing material from the album in Florida, although they were later acquitted on the obscenity charges they got smacked with. Personally, I think this episode, more than any other, may have led to me being such a huge defender of the First Amendment; nationally, coverage of this story led to the first national exposure of Florida’s Attorney General as she spoke out in favour of 2 Live Crew: Janet Reno. Yeah. On that note, let’s play the friday5.org Friday Five.

1. What’s something people do in public that really annoys you, even though it’s probably not a big deal?
I really try not to notice people when I’m out. I keep my eyes on the ground and the brim of my hat pulled down. That being said, when I’m in a public restroom and someone uses the toilet and doesn’t wash his or her hands afterwards … ew.

2. How readily do you ask strangers to stop their annoying behavior?
Never, I’m far too polite for that.

3. What’s something you do in public that probably annoys others?
When I’m in a public restroom, the moment I sit down on the stool and start doing my business, I start wadding up toilet paper for later use. (Yeah, this five is leading to me talking about toilets a lot. Sorry if that bugs you.)

4. What’s your theory about why it’s so easy to get annoyed when one is behind the wheel of a vehicle?
Because on the one hand you have the power of over a tonne of steel that can go in excess of eighty miles an hour, but on the other hand you don’t have the power to get the person in front of you to get a freakin’ move on. (In my case, more like getting people behind me to stop tailgrabbing me. Like I said, I am far too polite.)

5. What regular, minor annoyance have you learned to tolerate?
When my cable signal deteriorates. It happens a lot, believe me.