Ah, the ‘mat. How delightful. ramble with know real beginning middle or end. I’m just sayin’.

Stuff about laundry Well, my sweetheart hit the sack early, and I had laundry to do. so… I subjected my duds to a sudsy spin downtown.

There, I met a doppelganger, but a kindly one… he was sam shepherd to my grizzly adams. a fellow man-mountain intent on having an outfit clean enough to go to work in tomorrow. We talked for a little while, finding a common bond in that we were the only ones there that were male, over 20, but under 100 years old, and spoke English instead of a loud, shrill Creole or drunken Spanish singing. A rambunctious, cross-cultural, multi-aged cacophony, to be sure.

A little back story, first. This is the same laundry where this happened, nearly a year ago. since then, I’ve been primarily going to the other one, by the chit-chat lounge, because that’s right next to the bakery… and fresh baked goods makes people-watching go by so much more pleasantly. Sadly, since I did my laundry tonight, the bakery was closed, so I opted for the ‘mat of Evil. It wasn’t so bad, but it was rather loud in there… I remember now why I usually do my duds in the morning, on the weekend… far more machines avvailable, and the crowd is still half asleep, rambling through some kind of thorzine shuffle, instead of beer-fueled migrant worker-men and young mothers with rowdy,runner-kids, squealing…. but it makes for an interesting study in people and society.

Tonight I saw –
4 kids playing a weird verion of calvinball involving an uno deck, matchbox cars and a lot of high speed running and screaming, saying somthing about not me! not me!

More paper bags coverin’ beer cans than I have ever seen before. Maybe there’s a public ordinance about boozing it up in the ‘mat? I felt sort of out of place drinking my tasty, tall arizona orangeade (obtained at the beer dispensing gas station across the street)

A cute little girl who was the epitome of “how to be good” sitting on the bench, coloring nicely… strange to see her there, across from all the rowdy grownups, but the parents were close, keeping an eye, fortunately.

I had a fascinating conversation with this big guy (name of Mike, by the way), and we both agreed that it was louder inside than most concerts…chatted about books, got a few reccomendations that I’ll be looking into, and maybe he’ll look into house of leaves and enjoy it.

Head count? about 15 assorted kids, 6 drunk men, myself, mike, 12 women. a mob. I swear.. it sounded like 100…I’m glad that just stepping to the back parking lot quieted it considerably.

good news, evil news, and some that falls in between

THIS MUST BE THE PLACE
=======================================
Most Americans enjoy a longer life expectancy today compared with twenty-five years ago.
One of the critical factors in determining life expectancy is knowing where someone lives.
Americans living in suburbs and wealthy sections of cities are enjoying a much more dramatic upside than their counterparts in rural areas or crowded sections of cities.

KIDS IN TROUBLE
=======================================
According to a report released today, between 300,000 and 400,000 U.S. children are victims of the sex trade each year (prostitution, child pornography, etc.). According to the study’s author:
“Child sexual exploitation is the most hidden form of child abuse in the U.S. and North America today. It is the nation’s least recognized epidemic.”

Misc –

According to many economists, we may be nearing an end to the economic slide. But the climb back will be slow-going.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2001-09-10-nabe.htm

What are the chances that the 11-year tax cut sticks around for even the first few years?
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1304-2001Sep9.html

Amid increased violence (including the first suicide bombing by an Israeli Arab), Peres and Arafat plan to hold talks Tuesday.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/468764.asp

A new book gives a blow-by-blow account of key moments of the Supreme Court decision in election 2000. Included in this excerpt is a suggestion by David Souter that he could have convinced Anthony Kennedy to flip if he had one more day.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/626045.asp

First case of Mad Cow Disease found in Japan.
http://cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/east/09/10/japan.madcow/

Blockbuster will reduce the number of VHS tapes in stores as DVDs rapidly become the first choice for customers.
http://www.boston.com/news/daily/10/blockbuster.htm

NUTS NOT PLAYING BACK HOME
=======================================
After her wildly bizarre interview with Barbara Walters and the release of her tell-all autobiofantasy, Anne Heche’s family has taken to the internet (where else) to voice their doubts about Anne’s stories. From mother Heche: “I am trying to find a place for myself in this writing, a place where I as Anne’s mother do not feel violated or scandalized. I find no place among the lies and blasphemies in the pages of this book.” Looks like Anne and her new hubby will be free for Thanksgiving this year.

last off –

What could make a self-thrown Michael Jackson tribute even more weird? Brando.

weeping cherry tree
Made a new icon today, for tales of travelling and general outings.

Today has been gentle… took it off from work, and it has been a lovely day to do so. Soft rains coming down, comfortable atmosphere… poring over these old letters are fun.. contained in a small leather packet, there are some that have ben partially lost due to folding, or having been written in pencil, years ago.

My beloved gifted me with a poem that she wrote last night…from beauty comes beauty… like flame begetting flame. I’m still delighted, and have had warm fuzzies all day long because of it.

Reflecting on all the good things today… I’m really surrounded by so many blessings…I’m well fed, shod, loved, and loving. I have a job that helps to provide for my financial needs… disease free, literate and on the whole quite healthy. My only complaints are trivial, developmental or philosophical… I’m quite comfortable where I am now, and things are getting better daily.

I’ve reaffirmed something to myself recently…this is my journal, not one that belongs to anyone else on my friend’s list. Folks are welcome to come and go, and post what they please, as long as they keep a civil tongue… and if they are critical, they keep a civil, constructive tongue in their head. I’m quite happy with my new policy of “the people I read are like magazines (with a few exceptions)…I’m more than happy to cancel a subscription at any time, with no obligation”.

according to http://www.livejournal.com/stats.bml There are over 300,000 journals in here now, with about 1/4 of that updating at least once a week. I can hardly keep up with the 80 on my list now…I wonder how many excellent, intelligent writers out there I’m missing? (I can only guess at how many not so excellent, not-so-intelligent ones I’m missing… the random journal feature for me is officially marked lemon now. Interests seems to be the search feature of choice for me now.

Cadmean victory

Cadmean victory (kad-MEE-uhn VIK-tuh-ree) noun

A victory won at as great cost to the victor as to the vanquished.

[After Cadmus, a Phoenician prince in Greek mythology who introduced writing to the Greeks and founded the city of Thebes. Near the site where Cadmus was to build Thebes he encountered a dragon. Even though he managed to kill the dragon, only five of his comrades survived with whom he founded the city.]

A couple of months back we looked at the term Pyrrhic victory named after Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, whose devastating losses in trying to defeat the Romans made him lament, “One more such victory and we are lost.” Today’s term Cadmean victory is a near synonym of the former. And this too is an eponym, a word or phrase coined after a person’s name whether from history or fiction.

Found a cache of stuff of my family’s… I though this was lost! I’ll be scanning them in from work tomorrow, if I do go in.

Old Letters… hard for me to read… but I’m a little groggy, and don’t want to wreck them. they’re delicate. Browned, and written in pencil. When I scan them in, I’ll post them.