Hmm, I'm feeling rather well these days. I am starting to get that itch to write/create again, and indeed, composed a poem last night. I'm also reading a good novel by one of my favorite authors, Josephine Hart. I was mesmerized by her first novel, Damage. Of course, obsessive, destructive love affairs are my forte. And that novel delved into an obsessive madness that destroyed one life and a long marriage.

Here's an excerpt from the novel I'm reading:

Oblivion--By Josephine Hart


"....I believe death is a double dealer: first, he deals us our mortal death, and then our real death -- oblivion -- when we are forgotten. Life to death, death to oblivion, both are short journeys. Yet we journey on, not in blissful ignorance -- for this knowledge is universal -- but in wilful blindness, or in childish terror, or in insane activity and accumulation of what we perceive as emblems of protection... Fame, 'surely if so many know me' ...Money, 'surely if I can count me' ...Power, 'surely, since I give orders'. Perhaps Epicurus was only half-right. Most of what we do in life may not be to try to defeat death but perhaps to defeat that dimly-glimpsed oblivion. We are, I fear, constructed for forgetfulness. The forgetfulness that we will be forgotten."

"And love? ... Surely when we love?"

"Love is the most dangerous emotion of all for the dead. Love's the killer. Love is always the killer. The new baby, the new romance, the new wife, over time they force the dead into oblivion. Perhaps the dead are sometimes angry."

I held my hand over my eyes for a moment and I felt my mouth tighten involuntarily.

"I've offended you."

"No, no."

"A polite lie." She gazed at me. Mockingly? I must move on. I must try to keep control.

"Art -- what about art? Does art defeat oblivion?"

"'I am an artist,' the self-benediction of our time. But so few are. And of those who are, so few are great. Time alone will tell whether some unique contribution has been made, and if the work lasts, it would have done so even if it were anonymous."
====

Otherwise, I'm still working...but this is a temporary, part-time position and will end after this month. And that is okay, since I am not full-time work material; I loathe it long-term.

DH and I are still looking at property/houses. Haven't found anything promising recently, other than the foreclosure fiasco last weekend. I do have several selected to drive by this weekend. One is in a VERY small town about ten miles to our south, a rather pretty region in a valley surrounded by mountains. The place is a house and huge lot for $39,000.00. But since that is the asking price, perhaps we could make an offer of 35,000.00 and get it. The main thing is the condition of the house and the lot/location. Since the small town is lightly populated, and is considered a dying town...then I'd think we MIGHT stand a better chance of liking this place.

The city where we live now is not considered a large city, more of a modest-size and certainly NOT a small town anymore. The quaint, quiet nature of small towns has always appealed to me. Unfortunately the Mexican illegal element is ruining various sections of this city (and NO, I'm not prejudiced, simply stating a fact), and causing strain on the school systems, and almost every community service. Plus, they do not take care of their housing -- and though most rent, they even cause nice apartments to become rundown. Sorry, but this is the truth for our city. At any rate, a change of town might just be in order.

I found an exceptional website today for American military families to express themselves; there's articles, as well as candid letters (with signed names) which really are eye-openers about what our service men/families are enduring over in Iraq. I support our troops, just not the boneheads who have sent them there and continue to keep them there.

Here's an interesting excerpt from a mother's letter about her son's service in the first Gulf War, and his suicide:

In early 1996, I thought things were starting to look up for him again. He'd sworn off the alcohol and drugs, he had a job he liked, and he planned to become engaged to a long-time girlfriend. Two weeks before the date they had chosen for their engagement party, at the age of 25, my William went out to his favorite spot at the beach and took his life at sunset. A few years later, unable to adjust to losing him, his girlfriend/fiancee also took her life.

So I guess I'm not a military family member anymore. Not since March of 1996.

I blame King George the First, and Gulf War I.

Now, another crop of kids and their families faces a war even more brutal and terrifying -- and much longer-lasting, and with a much, much shakier rationale -- than Gulf War I.

I'm writing to you to let you know I support your efforts. Even the kids who come home without a mark on their bodies still sometimes bear terrible scars because of the things we ask them to do to "defend freedom". I'd feel better about this if I knew it really *was* to defend freedom, and not just to defend Dick Cheney's stock portfolio, or Donald Rumsfeld's massive ego, or King George the Second's undeserving grip on global power, or our access to cheap oil and gas.

This stupid and unnecessary war is sowing a terrible seed among the other countries on this Earth, and among our own young....

My heart is with all the young soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan today. I hope they and their families can find a better, more just outcome than our family did. Wars send terrible ripples through the world. They should never be undertaken except as an absolute last resort.

Why do so many of the American people still trust these horrible people in this administration? Don't they see, yet, that these people may spout all the Christianoid claptrap they want, and they may stoke all the fears about Liberals and Gays and Terrorists and Atheists, but they are in no way on the average American's side. They take away our liberties and they sacrifice our children, supposedly to "protect" us ... but they can't protect us from anything.

They and their selfish dishonest kind are making matters worse, while they make themselves and their friends richer.

--Bring Them Home Now, Military Families Speak Out

And here's another link to an important news/articles website:

Truth Out

If you haven't checked out my links section at the bottom of this site, please look at those and click on 'Let There Be Peace'; it will provide you with up-to-date news daily about the continuing situation in Iraq.

Enough for today.