Safe. The first safe place I could remember, in a long time, a place to heal up again. Walls painted pale avocado, black and white cafe tiles, all put in for me. A miniature porch, with railings and posts that must have been scavenged from tables and chairs, faded wood boards, and a chair for me to sit. It looked over a yard mostly shaded by firs ( Read more... )

Drunk. And why does this icon not get a cute little barfy drunk picture? It looks like the choice for sad and cold and drained and all the rest. Drunk equals barfy. Good grief. You know, I picked that little critter as an icon because I'd just dreamed of foxes ( Read more... )

Usually I know exactly what I'm feeling. It can be - and often is - a number of contradictory things at once, but I can identify them all. Today I feel as if my head and heart are deeper and stranger than I'd ever suspected - as if I turned a corner one day, in the house of my head, and found a new door, opening onto a tunnel, a wing, a courtyard, ( Read more... )

there's been mysterious blood all over the u district this week. a little blood, a little barf, some abandoned pants, etc etc - these i have come to expect. but yesterday there were great spatters of blood all over our wall. freakish! and today, big pools down by the best of bento. drippy oozy pools. what the hell, people? we tried to find some ave ( Read more... )

Despair like ashes. That's a poetic cliche that still pops up frequently in English. Maybe more often in overwrought fantasy novels. It must have been such a strong image when it was new - the grey sodden heaviness of ashes, the acrid smell. And where there are ashes there once was fire - whether it warmed you or destroyed everything you owned, it' ( Read more... )

Last night I got no sleep. Stressed about work, no doubt. I read through the emergency surgery section of the Barefoot Doctor's Manual, which strangely did not include setting breaks or a tracheotomy, but did provide instructions for doing a vasectomy in the field. I seriously hope people are getting more guidance than that. The instructions are ( Read more... )

I think there's a reason religions baptize people. There's something inherently ecstatic about being soaked to the skin. I know some people like the warm rain, but not me. It's too much like being slobbered upon by the world's biggest dog or something. I like the chill fall rains, rains I'd characterise as 'brisk' rather than icy. Invigorating. ( Read more... )

I think the sidewalks in Seattle are really sad. When I'm walking, I imagine some long-ago city fathers laying out the streets, envisioning generations of citizens strolling down the sidewalks. Now they're all busted up, overgrown, and littered with clothes - jackets, sweatshirts, solitary shoes - as if some natural disaster had come and the ( Read more... )

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Be Afraid

Not exactly news. Perhaps the surprising part is that this is being reported by Newsweek.