The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!

Who else is burnt out on the news this week? Raise your hands! Between the terrifying state of the economy, Palin-Watch 2008, and threats of a "New Cold War" with Russia, I am actively avoiding the news. I feel like I have the basic gist of anything that could possibly be said: The economy is in the shitter, it's not going to get better for a long time, any past headway gained against terrorism in the Middle East has been completely invalidated, Google is taking over the world, McCain-Palin are incompetent and the apocalypse is nye. Did I pretty much cover it? So yeah, no more news for me for a while. Not even the Daily Show.

This morning, my partner and I were trying to remember who has been bought out by what and who is still standing and between the two of us we could not sort it out. What a mess! The one comment I will make, however, is that I truly hope the $700 billion bail-out does not get approved, because all of those greedy, incompetent boobs made their beds. Let those pigs go lie in them so the fall of capitalism may usher in the revolution! The oligarchical demise is so close I can taste the blood of the guilty and it is yummy, like cotton candy and dreams.

Last week, we got a cat, and today he ate my purse. (If that's not an approriate metaphor for the economy, I don't know what is.) Besides the purse eating, air mattress puncturing, and fish tormenting, he is pretty damn adorable. To distract you from the end of the world I give you:

(I don't actually have any pix of him yet, but that's a pretty accurate representation of The Honorable Sir Worchester Noodle)

Emerging from the Cave of Doom and Gloom: Contemplating a Significant Day

Today is September 11; a sad day of remembrance for many people, but my reason is a little different. It's been a month to the day since my dad died and every day the emotions and realizations are different and raw. The first week I was certainly numb, which was helpful in being a rock for my family, overseeing all of the preparations so no one else had to. The second week, when I returned from Indiana, I was angry, resentful and lost, doing very little beyond watching TV and sleeping. Last week, I started making decisions again, missing my friends and my life. This week, I've made leaps in rejoining the human race, both joining the SCA and becoming the likely candidate for the East Bay representative to the SF IU Alumni Association. Yesterday, I was inexplicably, explosively sad, yet ended up shaking hands with Michael McRobbie, the president of IU and of whom I am a total fangirl (I also met his wife, who is an exquisite lady). Today, I am quietly thoughtful and gearing up to hang out with new SCA folks tonight. Some days I feel really pathetic, but stepping back like this, I think I'm doing remarkably well. Each day is a process and I've just got to embrace the flow, recognizing that some days will be much harder than others.

In regards to that other reason today is significant, I can't believe it's already been 7 years. The way the politicians and pundits keep talking about and summoning fear over it, you'd think it happened last week. Though what happened was tragic and I don't mean to be callous, we as a country need to move on. Every mourning period must evolve for it to be a healing process, but we keep getting sucked back into the yearly loop of desperation and fear. For the people who lost loved ones in World Trade Center attacks, I'm obviously not talking to you, but the rest of us need to let the true mourners have their sadness and we need to move on in regards to foreign policy and homeland security goals. It's tremendous that we have not had another attack since then, but this culture of fear and anxiety is an unhealthy atmosphere to raise a society and it has clouded our judgment on issues like the economy and funding for education. There are other ways to prove our strength as a country that have nothing to do with our military. I hope as this election cycle draws closer to the big dance, the country's eyes can be opened to the possibility of a new day without fear. Be well, America.