music: Be Good Tanya's, and now David Sedaris' Santaland Diaries

colors: red, green, black

mood: crappy

thoughts: Last night while I was going into Walgreens on 51st and Telegraph, there was a man with no legs, propped into a wheelchair, who was crying -- actually more like wailing -- because of his condition. His health didn't look so good, and he was entirely dependent on the random charity of others. I gave him a dollar as I walked out of the store and after saying "merry christmas" to him, I felt horribly odd and extremely depressed. NOT a merry christmas for him, despite what I'd wish.

There are more beggars and people without homes in the bay area than in Wisconsin -- in my estimation, by a factor of 50 to 1. It makes me so sick that our country is being pushed more toward individualism, and that safety nets are being removed, or at least the webbing is becoming significantly more sparse. That man fell through, is what I'm saying. Even if there is some assistance around for him, how does he get to it? Ride the bus? With what money? Wheel himself for miles to pick up a check? Just a guess, but he didn't look well-educated either, so probably not easy for him to work through the system's hoops, filling out forms, etc. The system is not designed for him, in fact it's designed against him.

Today, I am reading about billionaires buying ever fancier and larger submarines and jet fighters to outdo one another.

Meanwhile, those of us in the middle are on the hamster wheel, buying each other flannel shirts and socks for xmas, putting a flat screen HDTV on the credit card, or saving up for retirement.

I just did a google image search for "ugly devil", and came up with this site. The dichotomous situation above, combined with the glibness and obliviousness of these Christians (and secular Americans as well) is making me ever angrier. Let's not even talk about the vitriolic form of Christianity that is helping keep the southern red states red. I've got to find a way to overcome this anger, lest it consume me.

Well, my ugly devil search just came up with this one, from this interesting page.

Well, my CD player just switched to Melvins, so my ire is at least being mitigated slightly by the new soothing sounds.

You can judge a community/nation by how it treats its poor. The judgment just can't come too soon. More news at eleven.

chant/prayer/mantra:
Pray for us. Pray for me. Get it right.


pax hominibus,
joel