�Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish.� � Anne Brastreet

You can interpret that as you wish, but for me, it�s not a comment on the leadership of this country. I don�t need to share what it DOES mean to me, but at least I won�t be grossly misunderstood. Now, I need to rail this thing out (not a line, girls, calm down) and get to work, because it�s going to be a BUSY week!

I can sum up my weekend in two words � emotional wreck. Damn these amazing feminine hormones! I cried more than Tammy Fay and I wasn�t even trying to solicit money from religious saps. No reason, just needed to purge. I feel much better. I do believe that women who purge emotional excess on a regular basis are those who are strong and solid when it counts, when everyone else doesn�t know how to cope. I hope to rise to that occasion someday, though that is not the same as wishing for the occasion that would be my test. Pain is inevitable in life. It is the ratio of pain to joy that makes all the difference in our individual experiences.

Okay, philosophy de Barbarella, now onto what I actually DID, as if it makes any difference in the world (apparently, it does in Italy, ciao bello, Franco! I love you too!) Saturday I saw a movie, Spirited Away. Holy hallucinogenic, Batman! Talk about a roller-coaster ride through the netherworlds. I recommend it, fun and random. You can�t get much more entertaining than that. After the movie, my little crew went to dinner at Albie�s Beef Something-or-other. Tacky paintings of NAKED CHICKS on the walls, the air stank of old-lady and perfume, with the faint odor of beef in the background. Oh, Ron, you crazy cat. It was a fun experience, I enjoyed my chicken dinner immensely, and the uncomfortable grimace on M.s.�s face (that he was incapable of hiding). I enjoy a good down-to-earth tacky experience every now and then. Keeps me in touch with the various creatures that inhabit this city. My city.

After dinner, we enjoyed some old Rowan Atkinson, Black Adder style. Mmm, mm, sarcasm! I love the snotty Brit wit. As is my usual of late, I passed out before the party was over. What has become of me??

Sunday morning, I brunched with M.s., leafed through an interesting, yet frightening book, and headed off to the ballet. Romeo & Juliet , beautiful dancing and mellow music. I went with a handful of Germans, an Israeli and a Frenchwoman. Interesting crowd, and I only knew one of them prior to the ballet. I love me some foreign people, what fresh eyes they have! What interesting perspectives they sport! What strange senses of humor� I forewent dinner and headed home to clean up a bit, do some laundry, and make some phone calls.

This is becoming more of an update journal than it is a peak into my daily thoughts. Perhaps I worry about what you would think if you really knew what went on in my noggin. Perhaps, some things are best left for the handwritten kind of writing. I spoke with my father at length yesterday, he�s out of town as always, working hard at training our military for otherwise unthinkable scenarios. It�s unfortunate that we need things like militaries and wars and politics in this world. But we DO. Until everyone decides to give up their car and become a Buddhist, we shouldn�t be so quick to knock down the people who are making things happen for out betterment. And those are not my father�s words. They are mine.

Enough of that! There are reasons I keep my piddly little thoughts to myself. This morning, I woke up with a smile and My muzzled s at my side. Despite everything right now, life is good. It is VERY good. I appreciate that, though I don�t think I deserve it, not for a second. Too many of us are disillusioned into believing that we are entitled to what we have, and well, I choose not to think that way. I am grateful beyond measure for what I have, and I can only work harder in order to keep it. Which is what I'm going to do right... now.

-Barbarella

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