I loved his columns in the Daily Press. Now he’s got his own website – SpencerSpeaks.
And the first column I read is one that everyone should read – Religious Extremism Knows No National Boundaries.
I appear to live in a commonwealth that would codify hatred and fear.
That would legislate whom one may love and with whom one may spend one’s final moments.
That would denigrate my own marriage because we married for love, and no other reason.
I am not very proud of my adopted home at the moment…..
Today I was slobbered upon by an extremely friendly and sweet Rottweiler.
Somehow that just seems to be a metaphor for how I feel about things right now.
Things are never what they seem. You need to look beyond the surface – look beyond what they are telling you and somehow try to come at the truth on your own.
I wonder if what the media is telling me is the truth, or a clever interpretation. I guess I’m hoping that there’s some bit of embellishment, because if it’s really the truth then it’s much more frightening than we realize.
I’d like to think that all of humanity has some sort of moral compass – but if the Iraqis are dressing as US troops to accept the surrender of other Iraqis so that they can execute them, then I despair for the future of human kind.
We placate ourselves and say that we should learn from history so that we will not repeat it. And I think that Americans are pretty darn good at following that dictum. But this news of what Saddam’s troops are doing is so upsetting. So depressing. So very wrong.
The malaise continues at work. We haven’t lost any school groups yet, like many area museums have – but the toll this is taking on staff is rather severe. We have a few folks who are directly affected – who have someone overseas right now in harm’s way.
I cannot even begin to imagine what they must be feeling right now. I don’t know what I would feel nor what I would do if Jim was over there now. How do people cope with that? How do these families whose husbands, mothers, children are now prisoners of war cope with the horror that is now their reality?
I know that I’m incredibly fortunate. My husband is here with me. During the day he’s a phone call or email away, and at night he’s right here. I don’t have to worry or wait too long to hear from him. I know people who are lucky to hear from their husbands or wives more than once a week. Sometimes not even that. I am so insanely lucky.
My dad was in World War II. It’s something I’ve known all my life, something we talk about every now and then. He was only 18 when he left, the baby of the family – and he was on his way to the Pacific – to Okinawa I think – but thanks to a bizarre twist of fate he was pulled off of his transport with a handful of sailors to go to Eniwetok to work there.
He was a SeaBee – he would have been right in the middle of the action, one of the primary targets since his role was to repair things and support the combat troops. And his parents and family – my grandparents and aunts and uncles – had to deal with that uncertainty. Where was he? Was he safe? Was he OK? Was he warm and did he have everything that any family would want for their own? Was he scared? Was there someone there to look out for him when his mother couldn’t? I can’t even begin to comprehend what they must have gone through before they knew he was safe.
My heart and all my thoughts go out to everyone suffering right now – not knowing where their loved ones are – whether they are safe, warm, well. And for my own staff – I wish I knew what to do for them. Hugs and stuffed animals and encouraging words only go so far. I can’t bring their loved ones home. I can’t do a damn thing. And I feel so helpless.
Anyway – it was a really sweet dog.
Went home a tad early today so I could actually get some work done.
How ironic – I have to leave work to be able to actually do work.
And of course – I’m writing this instead of working. Thing is, I’ll be able to finish my current work project in about a third of the time it would take in the office. Part of it is that I can be completely comfortable and focused at home. Part of it is that I have Caller ID at home too!
Anyway – I just needed to clear my head and be able to focus on – what else? The USS Monitor – everyone’s favorite cheesebox. I’m producing a kind of uber-PowerPoint to give to people to explain what the project is and why they should care.
There’s a general malaise in the air right now, though – and I’m guessing it’s all related to the war. This area in particular is affected quite heavily. So many folks from here are deployed overseas right now – how could Tidewater not feel different?
Right now there’s a Pentagon briefing on concerning the POWs and the “laws of war.”
Funny – I thought the “laws of war” were gone with the 19th century. I know, I know – the Geneva Convention is part of this and I’m all too aware of that (our Monitor sailors are covered by it), but the idea of civil behavior on a battlefield – particularly this battlefield, seems to be a contradiction in terms.
I don’t know if I agree with all the reasons behind this war – and I’m not sure any rational being could ever completely wish for any war. Being a historian, I’m naturally going to be skeptical and probably tend to over-analyze things. But what I do know – what I feel with strong conviction is that our troops who are over there should be supported by those of us here at home. That’s the bottom line. Protests are really of no use now and only serve to demoralize. Worse still, they divert attention from what police and rescue units need to be focusing on. Use your freedom of speech and right to assembly wisely, folks!
Allright – sermon over.
Right. So I watched a biography of J.K. Rowling tonight and I’m so psyched up for the next Harry Potter movie that I can’t stand myself. The sad thing is that I will not be able to go on opening day, despite my best intentions. I cannot call in sick nor feign an injury because I have too many meetings and other annoying responsibilities to be able to easily sneak off and see it.
I know, I know – I’m too old to be doing that kind of thing.
Or am I?
See – the Harry Potter books make me feel like such a kid again. They make me remember the first time I read C.S. Lewis or Madeleine L’Engle or J.R.R. Tolkein. They are, in short, the other children’s books that I wish had been written when I was a child. They have that same magical feel – the feeling that you really could find another world in a wardrobe, that elves really existed and that you really could travel through time. I wanted to live a magical life. I wanted to be that lion, that witch, or in that wardrobe. Of course – some would say that I’m already there.;)
I don’t get this whole notion that Harry Potter is satanic or dangerous. Harry isn’t evil – but of course, most people who speak ill of him would never know that because god forbid that they should actually read the book. Goes to show you how little people know about the world around them. I really feel sorry for people so naive that they aren’t willing to think for themselves – or at least do a little research…..
Anyway – huzzah to Harry Potter and to Ron and Hermione and Dumbledore and even Snape! And kudos to J.K. Rowling for creating platform 9 and 3/4 at King’s Cross. It’s somewhere I know that I can always go when things get me down. I’d really love to be there right now…..
I’ve written a lot since my last entry – I just haven’t put it up here yet because so much has been going on, going right, going wrong, that I haven’t had a chance. Hopefully in the next few days I can retroactively update this little place.
It also seems as though I may need a disclaimer for my website as more people are reading it than I had ever realized. Mind you, it’s not the type of disclaimer that says ‘I’m going to write whatever I feel about whatever I’m thinking and it’s your problem if you don’t like it.’ That’s not who I am. But I’m not sure that most people really do know who I am and why I’m writing this.
So for now this will serve as a disclaimer:
I write this diary for two main reasons, though there are a host of other, lesser reasons that would probably bore everyone to tears. First and foremost, this is for me. I was an avid journal writer for years, then suddenly it all stopped because life, love, and education got in the way. My little website allows me to explore things, get back into writing, and keeps me always learning.
Second – I write it so that folks who are so inclined can find out what’s been going on – in my life, in my head, in my heart. I have only rarely mentioned names because I don’t think it’s my place to talk about other people here in any detail – here in my little corner of the internet. If I haven’t mentioned particular people at all, it’s likely because I know that they wouldn’t appreciate it. Despite the fact that I have this up here for anyone with a will and a modem to read, I am intensely and fiercely private, and I try to respect that attribute in others.
If anything here offends, I offer my condolences. Like anything else, you have the freedom to not read this. If anything here amuses, then enjoy, and come back often. I might just surprise you…
Today’s rant – The Civil War.
It has increasingly become a part of my life despite my best attempts to ignore it. I tried to stay away, but it keeps coming back to haunt me, rather like broccoli now that I think of it.
Which part of my comps did I do the worst on? The Middle Period (1781 – 1877). What am I doing now? I’m in charge of what goes into the USS Monitor Center. What does my work life revolve around now? The Civil War.
So anyway – I decide to find out why the War is following me around, and I get this book Confederates in the Attic to try to make sense of the whole mess. And it’s got me thinking – why does this war still echo so strongly in people’s lives? What are my own perceptions?
As a historian, I can reel off all of the causes of the Late Unpleasantness – but that’s not what I’m talking about.I’m thinking – Why the romance? Why the still burning resentment over the fact that we lost (yes, I’m in the South). Gone With the Wind can only account for so much. What I’d like to know is why do I feel a melancholy – a sense of loss for something that I didn’t take part in, don’t necessarily agree with, and have tried to avoid for lo, these many years? I think I’ll be having to explore this for quite some time.
Hoop a dooden do!