The part of my life I don't chronicle here has been topsy-turvy over the last few days. If I'm silent here you can generally blame one of the influences which is not reflected on the blog.

Tonight I will be meeting a new craigslist friend possibility. She's a couple years older than me, recently transplanted from San Francisco, has a degree in one of my languages and an MBA. I'm very much looking forward to it, especially tonight. On a recent online bulletin board a group of old friends and I have been discussing the New Orleans events from a few various theoretical viewpoints; one of our predominant themes being " how responsible is any agency of government for taking care of us?" As I wrote, "… that spawns a lot more questions like if it's a constitutionally-granted entitlement or simply perception, how the responsibility is divided with regard to preparation and response, and if a person's neglect of their own personal responsibility (refusing to evacuate when so ordered) reduces the government's liability." Since before 9/11 FEMA listed the three most likely catastrophic disasters facing America as being a terrorist attack on New York, a major earthquake in San Francisco and a hurricane strike on New Orleans, I'm curious how this new potential friend of mine might view the issue.

Tomorrow night my best friend A is in our hometown with her fiancé. It's the family's standard "you're not invited to the wedding but come meet the new member of the family" party. Of course I'm invited to the wedding but I'm like family myself, so I just go for the entertainment value. I hear that one of the guests will be a guy I spent a very fun summer with back in 1988, and his wife (who was his girlfriend both before and after that summer with me, but not during). Damn sure I'll be dressing to advantage, but that's kind of a given with me anyway.

The Boy Child had his school open house last night for Kindergarten. He enjoyed it so well that he didn't want to leave. X2B was taking him home for the weekend so I was happy that it was his responsibility to get him out of there and not mine. On Tuesday life goes back to normal as school begins. Whew.

And not only did my football team win last night but I was sitting there watching it naked. Life gets no better. Well, the right kind of company would make it a little better, but life is still pretty damn good.

hmmm.. the one week mark has passed by and i barely noticed.
life.

do not worry. i do not intend to bore the rest of this blog away on the topic of life.

it's a cold autumn day here where i am. the sun is not yet at it's peak. it's probably nine hours into the day. the sunlight can be seen through the baring branches. leaves are strewn everywhere, and more fall even as i walk over their former neighbours.
the smell of the morning lingers in the air, the neighbouring field is green as the cat's eyes. a dog bounds joyfully, happy in his freedom. the sunlight grows momentarily as the clouds part their cover. even as the rays illuminate, the dog seems to gain strength. its a blur of movement now.
its looking like a beautiful day.
the puddles from yesterday's late night drizzle haven't cleared up, and they reflect the light in ways i cannot describe. nature is asserting herself in green, gold and blue today; and one cannot "stand and stare."
one can observe; and hope that others can too.
but observations have to be done at the speed of the walk; and so these scenes are momentary snaps taken; faster than the movement of one's head.

i pass all this.. and wend my way to my college; and the drudgery of my masters course.
a long day of practicals, coursework and studies pass.. and one finally leaves late.. there are a couple of hours until the day ends..
the same path.. in the moonlight.
the world seems dark, forbidding, even ugly.
the bare branches are now arms reaching out.. and the leaves - dry now - make it seem like all the monsters of Foot Fetish Info are chasing me.
and then the field.. of dreams..
it looks different. the moonlight illuminates it in all its starkness; and manages to give it beauty.
the beauty that was present in the morning has all but disappeared.
it is replaced by this ethereal place that causes feelings of repulsion and attraction at the same time.
one wants to stay and yet.. one is scared by what may happen if one does.
a dark starlit night sky looms above, and you realise what a particle you are in the mighty ocean of the universe.
[but such an important particle, that there's no-one else to be you now.]
but that is scary too. there are so many of us all.. so very many.. do i really matter ?

to many people, the point of all this is lost. the world is such an amazing place that one cannot find a replacement.
and yet one tries.

why ?
because of the colours of the night.
and yet, the night is what causes the day to seem unreal. and vice versa.