Executive Summary
“And I said we are interdependent
And the effects on each other neverending
And that the air has no boundaries
I think this water that surrounds me
Is the same water soaking through to you
So what comes floating to me
Eventually
Will come floating back to you.”
1. I wanted to write a poem today, but I’ve started leaving my journal at home, and it was like I was too lost to bother. But, this song sums up what I wanted to say anyway. Download away. 🙂 See above for part of the song; full lyrics are here. And I may post something original, if I can just get it right.
2. I was doing an artsy project tonight while I watched “American Idol.” It involved cellophane and ribbons, and as I was using some scissors to curl the cobalt-blue ribbon, I had a vivid memory of my grandmother. She used to make the most gorgeous bows. She taught me how to properly wrap a gift — from picking the most exquisitely beautiful wrapping to getting all the coordinating ribbons to make lovely bows. And she taught me how to curl ribbons with extra-sharp scissors. Even though I was a wee lass, she trusted me to not land myself in the hospital with the blades. 🙂 And I never felt like I could do it as well as she could. I still don’t. But I’m left to carry on her legacy, and I do what I can. I know she’d be proud that I still remember.
3. I finally got to talk to my best friend tonight (damn time zone difference). We laughed and philosophized and caught up and laughed a whole lot more. She did a dozen television, radio and newspaper interviews today in her community, and I am so proud of her. It also reminds me in a big way, though, that I wish I could be helping her. But, as I told her, we have to be on separate coasts right now because the universe is simply not ready for us and all the things we can achieve when we’re working alongside each other. And, I will get back to her neighborhood soon enough. I just don’t know that I will be able to stop hugging her once I see her again.
4. My apartment complex was sold off yesterday. My rent is cheap (by Northern Virginia standards — not by sane people everywhere else, however), and I am nervous. See, we’re all on month-to-month leases now — when our leases came up for renewal, we were thrilled to not be locked in for a year. Heh. Yeah, let’s watch to see how long our current rates last.
5. From my journal: “I look forward to what my days will bring. And, even if they don’t seem to bring too much, well, they have at least brought me one day closer to fulfilling my destiny.” One by one, I’ve been getting rid of the negative people, places and things that used to devastate me. No more. I’ve taken back my life and changed my expectations. And my happy place? Way happier now. 😀
6. The Terry Schiavo case. I’ve kept mum because of how my grandmother was murdered by McKeesport Hospital and its imbecilic personnel — they forced us to sign a DNR, told us to “go take a break” and then shot her up with enough morphine to anesthetize the Washington Redskins … all of them. They didn’t give her a chance to live — they didn’t TELL us that they were going to KILL HER. I’ll spare you the drama, but I am not in favor of killing someone when they have life and vim and vigor within them as the fucktards at McKeesport Hospital keep operating a death chamber.
Whew.
Anyway, I don’t know that it’s *right* to deny Terry food and water as the way to let her die. But, it is in fact time to let her die. Time for everyone who is still living to get on with their lives. What frosts my flakes is how many people in this world lack health care and are unemployed/homeless, yet this person who has ceased to be a productive human being gets more opportunities to eat (theoretically) and live and have a warm bed every night while millions of Americans don’t have such luxury. I’m tired of the partisan politics being dragged into this — suffice it to say, Terry’s husband invited due process into this to help him make the agonizing decision. Justice, were it to prevail, would call for an end the semantics and let the woman die a dignified death. Where is Kevorkian when we need him? I know — send her to the pinnacle of incompetence that is McKeesport Hospital!
On iTunes: Cyndi Lauper, “Eventually”
March 23rd, 2005 at 1:55 PM
There are a lot of things about the whole Schiavo matter that make little sense to me.
I’ve never understood the dichotomy of some conservatives who are anti-abortion, and come charging in to “save” Terri Schiavo and yet are pro-death penalty. It leaves me scratching my head. Bush said in his speech, “We must always err on the side of life,” yet that’s clearly not how he felt whilst governor of Texas.
Not to mention, I think you’ll see the pols, all of them, dropping this issue like a hot potato. All of the polls indicate the public feels the government should NOT have stepped in on this issue.