It was pretty devastating news. I'm afraid for the future but I must stay strong. I need to go to bed, I can barely keep my eyes open, but every time they close, they cry.

Thank you all for your thoughts. Goodnight.

knowing part of what the future brings is how you start conquering the future. damn the future, full speed ahead.

FTR.

I was on a rant when I posted about terrorism.
Anyone who has read my posts know how I can foam at the mouth about the terrorism I encountered as a child.
But it was probably ill-placed here.

I admit I had been thinking about various stories and how they are reported worldwide - or not.

It was partly brought to mind because of a great book I've just read, The Boy Who Could See Demons. It's set in Belfast, and is grounded in fact, in that there are intergenerational effects affecting all children who had to live through and with the Troubles.

We expect it in places like Somalia, the Congo, Sudan. But children in what is effectively my country, although not actually child soldiers, lived with sectarianism, family and friends with extreme views, being harrassed on the way to school. It's bloody awful and sometimes it just spews out of me.

It was also prompted by someone who spoke at Meeting on Sunday, about cause célèbre. He noted that this country publicly mourned the death of three people in America, but ignored the death of 48 mental health patients in Russia, burned alive due to sedation or confinement. It affected him because of his own history as a psychiatric nurse.
Even he admitted we can't mourn everyone and everything.

So that was what was on my mind.
Sometimes I wonder at my own arrogance, that I can squander this privileged life, when so many others fight to just stay upright.

Sundae,

I'm reading Life After Life...I really need to read it again I got a little confused.

BUT, reading about the bombing in London in WWII, the Blitz...I mean, every single day they expected bombing. I can't even imagine. For like 57 days.

Just a tangential thought, but it really made me think.

Anon, I don't know what your situation is, but it sounds like you are working up the resolve to face whatever it is. You know you can come here to talk to us.

Thanks, hon.

My Dad (73 today!) played on bombsites as a child.
Nan was given her first cigarette to calm her nerves during an air-raid. By a Doctor.
And Auntie Alice (or maybe she was telling it about one of her sisters?) risked a doodlebug in an air-raid to get home on time, Nanny Doyle's wrath being more immediate than bombing.

WWII is over.
The wounds of the Troubles are slowly healing.
My heart goes out to current generations of children living through violent conflict throughout this world. It is now as it's always been. But it's damaging. We're so much closer to primitive than we want to admit.

This is post whoring of the whoriest kind.
If you can access it, it's me on the radio.

I listen to BBC Radio Five Live every day, but especially enjoy it on Saturday mornings.
Danny Baker and then Fighting Talk.
But although Danny Baker hosts an eclectic show, it's still nominally sports based, so I have never felt qualified to call in.
This morning however, one of the topics was "people you have argued with in dreams" and I had the perfect dream-related anecdote (you know me and my dreams!)

So I texted. And they called back. And I was on the show!
This is the link to the show, no idea if it can be accessed outside the UK - assuming you even want to. FFWD to 1:37 (one hour 37 minutes into the show.)

It's me!

Wishing you strength. Share with us what you can and know we're here for you.

Sent by thought transference

So I thought I was supposed to start work today so I showed up...found out its really tomorrow. Oops.

That's what employers want... enthusiasm !!!

Pondering what sort of job to go after for next year and where ... whatever happens, a move will be involved. Change is good, I think ... I could be in upstate New York or in West Virginia or in North Carolina. If I were to win the lottery and score an Ivy, hell yes. Texas or San Fran, possible but probably not. I'd prefer the east coast for family reasons. But whether to go for academic or non-academic ... still up in the air. The scales are leaning toward academic.

"...spiteful *and* bitchy." I hope you set them straight! Criticizing your decor, the nerve!

Actually I didn't dare tell Danny that my reaction was to stammer out a few words and then go blub.
The production team were not happy because it made all blotchy for the next shots, but they blamed me and not the band!

Now you can see why I held a grudge for so long :mad:

Out of pretty much nowhere, I decided to defrost and clean my fridge/freezer this afternoon. Granted, it needed it, but WTF? Like I didn't have other stuff I could be doing?

Can't sleep. I have to be up in 3 hours for a six hour industrial plant tour, then a 5 hour drive home. Two more long-distance site visits this week. I'm so tired.