1. It’s Tuesday, May 5, 2015. The weather in New York is gorgeous. It should be like this all the time.

2. It’s Cinco de Mayo.

It is not Mexican Independence Day. That’s in September.

Cinco de Mayo is the commemoration of the Mexican victory over French invaders at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. The victory stalled, but didn’t completely stop, the French takeover of Mexico by Napoleon III.

The people who might be more inclined to celebrate are Americans, and particularly those who live north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Historians believe that had the French won at Puebla, they would have taken Mexico sooner and then turned their support to the Confederates in the U.S. Civil War.

So I suppose it’s a surprise that there are Texans who celebrate Cinco de Mayo. But beer companies promote this holiday and, to lots of people in the South, a beer is a beer.

Me, I choose to celebrate the Mexicans’ courage, the wonderful people of Mexican ancestry I’ve met and their great taste in food. Happy Cinco de Mayo!

3. Speaking of Texas, it seems as though this weekend incident in Garland was a perfect storm of stupidity and intolerance.

A bunch of idiots decide to hold a show specifically designed to mock Islam. A couple of other idiots decide to shoot up the idiots at the show.

Yes, you have the right to say what you want. But so do I — the organizers of this event are pretty goddamn worthless. So are the gunmen, who must have been so insecure in their embrace of their religion that they felt the need to prove themselves.

Everyone in this case wanted to be a martyr. Martyrdom is overrated.

The only people garnering respect in this situation are the peace officers, including the one who shot both gunmen before they could start their massacre. These officers probably would have preferred a quiet Sunday afternoon with their families or, if they had to work, patrolling some springtime festival. Mercifully, except for one treated injury, they emerged unscathed — except for the additional aggravation and unnecessary anxiety.

4. I haven’t done a lot of writing of late, being tied up with personal issues and the conclusion of my news editing class. I plan to be back on a daily basis, and to expand this blog. Let’s go for a ride with this.