O' the day - 4.25.07

These were taken last weekend in Bay St. Louis, to compare against the photos I shot over the 4th of July in 2005, less than eight weeks before Katrina. Almost two years later, and it will make you sick to your stomach to look at.

O' the day - 4.24.07

I've been thinking a lot about the Virginia Tech murders and the personality of the killer. Students are being urged to notify authorities about any loners, anyone that seems strange or odd or not quite normal. What is college, though, but the last place in society where one can be truly eccentric and yet completely accepted? College is that bastion of out-of-the-box thinking, of being creative and weird and unique, and I'd hate to see that squelched in favor of possibly preventing another meltdown.

O' the day - 4.23.07

The naysayers and the-politicians-are-evil proponents in the U.S. would do well to look elsewhere in the world for examples of a government gone bad. For every issue we haven't resolved in the U.S., China has done so for its citizens -- whether any citizens agree with the decision or not. Torture for speaking out, forced abortions in the last trimester to comply with a birth quota, banishment for the least original thought -- maybe we aren't so badly off here in America after all.

O' the day - 4.19.07

Everyone wants to say they've touched a bit of greatness -- met a movie star on the street, held an autographed baseball, caught a thrown guitar pick. This small brush with celebrity remains fodder for the rest of one's life, so that even if one never achieves personal fame, there's always the "remember when?" to hold close and cherish.

O' the day - 4.18.07

Listening to Beatles covers this morning; I hadn't realized before just how often the concept of home, and specifically going home, comes up in their music. The idea of home as a comfort, a cure-all, and a safe place is not new, but it hits me as especially powerful today.

O' the day - 4.17.07

Heard about the Pulitzers for 2007 a few minutes ago; kudos to our Birmingham News for their prize for reporting on the two-year college scandals. There was a common thread to the winning stories, however; virtually all the prizes went to reporting on what's wrong in the world. Goes back to my old question: does what is dark and evil in the world make a better story? Do readers only want the negative? Where are the prizes for happiness and light and joy?

O' the day - 4.16.07

Maybe the senator I heard about this morning has the right idea -- when trying to overhaul a giant, long-entrenched system, chip away at it in small chunks, rather than going for the glory- (and infamy-) making term "reform." By taking baby steps, if you will, toward the eventual goal, we might be able to effect real change in the long run, though most politicians wouldn't see this plan as nearly as grandiose as their usual tastes.

O' the day - 4.12.07

I'm very disturbed at all the most recent talk about embryonic stem cell research; while I agree that I might feel differently should I suffer from Parkinson's or some other potentially treatable disease, the whole idea leaves me quite uneasy and honestly, a bit scared. This research smacks of playing God with unborn lives; perhaps some problems just weren't meant for us to solve.

O' the day - 4.10.07

Read a great story yesterday about Joshua Bell performing in DC -- and being ignored. Workers too busy or too preoccupied with getting to work simply overlooked the brilliant violinist pouring greatness out of his instrument. With so much ugliness in the world, would you not want to stop for the unexpected beauty, pause to listen to delicacy and grace, take one minute to drink in a positive experience, refreshing and renewing?

O' the day - 4.9.07

I think it would be amazingly cool to run a theater company, much like Kevin Spacey at the Vick; to deal with the actors and such might not always be the easiest job, but it would never be boring. To know that you were in charge of bringing together performances that would touch and shock and thrill a large number of viewers, to know that you had truly changed other's lives -- this would be a dream job.

O' the day - 4.5.07

It's amazing to me to see how heavy a load grief inflicts on its recipient. Mourning leaves one physically and mentally exhausted; maybe it's the burden of holding oneself together in the presence of others, so as not to shock them with the intensity of the emotion that wears one out so deeply. Or maybe it's that grief carries an actual weight, so that to throw it off and see bright hope lightens not only the mind but the body as well.

O' the day - 4.2.07

A sad day, and once again mortality hits us full-face. I never realized before now just how old and fragile hearing about a friend's parent's death would make me feel; our parents just aren't old enough to die. These are our parents, after all, the ones who kissed our hurts and fed us peanut butter and helped with our math; they should be here forever, as our rock and cornerstone we can lean on even as an adult.

I'm at a loss as to what to say; all the comfort cliches just sound wrong or inadequate, like someone trying to soothe a three year-old. I don't know what to do to make it better; maybe as a mom that's the hardest thing to come to understand, because that's been your job since your firstborn cried out at birth. I'm weary and sad and feeling completely selfish that I'm even concerned about my own feelings.