oh, yeah.
hAppy HaLlowEen!

how beautiful is this?
Harold Pinter, on Samuel Beckett:
"The farther he goes the more good it does me. I don't want philosophies, tracts, dogmas, creeds, ways out, truths, answers, nothing from the bargain basement. He is the most courageous, remorseless writer going and the more he grinds my nose in the shit the more I am grateful to him. He's not f---ing me about, he's not leading me up any garden path, he's not slipping me a wink, he's not flogging me a remedy or a path or a revelation or a basinful of breadcrumbs, he's not selling me anything I don't want to buy - he doesn't give a bollock whether I buy or not - he hasn't got his hand over his heart. Well, I'll buy his goods, hook, line and sinker, because he leaves no stone unturned and no maggot lonely. He brings forth a body of beauty.
His work is beautiful."
from this site.

this is interesting: Red Cross: no more September 11 donations

and so many scary things to list:
-NY Firefighters report illness
-Afghan hospital strike 'kills 15'
-Heavy Bombing Outside Kabul as U.S. Slams Range of Targets
(the use of the word "slam" is particularly nice)
-New terror warning bewilders America
(what, did Ridge get that forwarded email that said "sTay ouT Of mAllS oN haLloWeeN"?)

we knew he was crazy, but still...
Milosevic Calls Tribunal Unfair, Infantile and 'a Farce'
(actually, what he said was, "And don't bother me and make me listen for hours on end to the reading of text written at the intellectual level of a 7-year-old child, or rather, let me correct myself, a retarded 7-year-old.")
...he confirms it over and over and over for us.

silliness:
(eli and susan in Philskadelphia)

here's the MZ and the beemer.
oh, those boys.
rode the MZ for the first time-- not as comfy as the BMW, but fun.
zoom! zoooom!
zoooom!

managed to salvage my precious weekend after feeling like complete crap-ola on Friday...
I decided to believe that the sore throat was all in my head, and went to the mountains anyway.
it didn't quite work, but at least I didn't feel any worse.

they made nil so ill take off her sunglasses at an airport security check... reminded me of when they made me drink from my own water bottle... they made ME nervous with that one.

So this is pretty fuckin' funny...
Jonathan Franzen, artist, purist, elitist.
and he ain't goin' on Oprah now.
nope.

going to Strawberry for the weekend, to play in some fresh air with Gail and Chris and their new dog:







a-wooooo!
hurray!

New York Times
Chechen Diary
photographs by James Hill

(This is not exactly cheery reading.
but good stuff nonetheless.)

found some more photographs by James Hill.
I think they're phenomenal. make sure to click on the images to view them larger.

Profiles in Cowardice,
by Victor Navasky

say what you will. I'm glad they fired that woman's ass.

i want a lomo.

the NYTimes quote of the day:
"More people have been struck by lightning in the last 10 days, I'll bet, than have contracted anthrax. The country badly needs to settle down."
Senator John McCain

last night i took a cab home, and somehow managed to close the door on the tip of my finger when i got out.
ow-ie. owie owie owie.
writing and typing without my right index finger. whatta pain.
someone at work told me to (*yuk alert*) heat up a paper clip and pierce a hole in the nail to relieve the pressure so i don't lose the nail. how gross. did she really mean i should do this at home? i'd be passing out before the thing was warm.
i never used to be this squeamish...
i happened to have an appointment with a dermatologist this afternoon anyway, and when he said, "anything else?"
i said, "well, i have a smushed finger, but i don't think that's your thing..."
he took a look anyway, and said he doesn't think i'll lose the nail.
eek.
it ain't pretty.
stress manifesting itself as klutziness?

Did I mention that when I was back east I found a box in my parent's basement with old, old letters and miscellaneous crap, and in it I found a brochure from the WTC from the late 80's? Just sitting there with all this other crap, no other NY stuff around it.

oh, wow, I can't believe "Boondocks" was yanked from some papers for this short series from the 4-6th of October. Unbelievable.

hmmmm....

I need more free time. too much to read out there.

I have watched too much CNN today, and I'm thoroughly depressed and pissed off.
boys and girls, can you say, "nation of morons?" where's mr. robinson when we need him?
did anyone else hear our idiot prez give a press conference the other day? specifically the part where someone asked him if he thought Americans were sacrificing, and he said yes--- and then the only example of sacrifice he gave was that Americans are waiting in much longer lines at the airport? Who the hell lets him open his mouth without a cue card?
and now--- Fireman Appreciation Parties in NYC.
somehow it's a little weird.
today I heard sirens all day long. Turns out there were "suspicious packages" found in the big post office not far from here. nothing came of it, apparently.
I would seriously like to know what is really going on in Afghanistan. the American press reported somewhere that 4 civilians were killed in/near Kabul in the 'regretful' incident--- (oops, we missed. we regret the loss of life. what is that about???), and then says the Taliban are inflating the numbers. I'm afraid to read all the articles I'm finding everywhere, because I'm already so pissed off...
I'm reading this really great book, "The Man Who Tried to Save the World," which I am recommending to anyone who will listen. Here and here are more links to Cuny and Scott Anderson's book.
oh, I did my research too hastily. here's something waaay better from PBS/Frontline.

---

In Memoriam: Fred Cuny

home again, home again, jiggedy jig.
I didn't post from PA.
I shouldn't be writing now, as I'm falling asleep on the little keyboard.

I'm whooped. the trip was muy fabuloso, but now I want another week off. I'm swamped at work, hating it, and behind in class.
yick!
send me something entertaining, somebody! please!

oy, I've been so swamped.
The rest of the photos from last Saturday may not appear for a while after all.
work is crazy, and I'm leaving tomorrow for a week in the East.
(sound much more exotic than Pennsylvania, no?)
I will probably post from there, as I'll have a little time, especially after the weekend is over.