Prolix never solves anything....

For the Moment I say..for the moment.

I have three things running through my head at the moment:1.I'm hungry and I should be at the grocers getting dinner and lunches for the rest of the week. 2.American culture thrives on Violence as Entertainment whilst other countries Live in a culture of Violence that pervades their Everyday Existence. And while poverty is simply a recognized aspect of other cultures, in america,there is a stigma that goes beyond social aspects. There is the prejudice one is faced with in the store or in the emergency room for example. 3.Karen Armstrong is absolutely the coolest woman in print.

Issue One: Dinner will be light..salad. Like...spinach,radicchio,butter lettuce and romain coupled with almonds,roma tomatoe,avacadoe,celery,cucumber,orange pepper,brocolli. The dressing? Olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Some bread and some Iced Tea should do the trick...amen and amen..I'm hungry.

Issue Two: I was watching an episode of CSI a couple of weeks ago and they showed a man stabbing himself. Stabbing himself. And millions of us watched it. I had the notion that over time...that has to have some kind of effect on people. How violent is our everyday life becoming? Has it changed over the last 3 decades? I've stopped watching the evening news because it is nothing but murder after murder. after murder. And everyday when I go into work...I meet the mothers and the sisters of these people that have been killed. There were two teens killed last weekend...I sold the mourning dresses. I met the cousin of the mother and baby that were killed in a fire that the ex-boyfriend set. He had just been released early from prison--where he was serving time for assaulting her.

So at this moment I focus on the blood on the ground. I see ages of humanity filling the earth and filling the rivers....

I know. its not new. It isn't. read the Old Testament. Read Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee.

Humans have bloodlust---I have tried in my lifetime to understand it. But I can't. I guess I keep thinking that if I figure it all out--there will be a solution. I comprehend learned behavoir,cycles of poverty etc etc...but...how is it stopped???

I know one thing. let the drug dealers and drug addicts out of prison--oh that reminds me of a great book!!! If you are in the least bit interested in the modern prison system and its failings please read Life On The Outside by Jennifer Gonnerman. She is a writer for the Village Voice, (which I recommend you read). Her book takes a look at a specific female ex-con that made the unfortunate mistake of selling cocaine to a cop...she had never sold or dealt before...she needed the 2500 bucks for her and her four children.

Should she serve 16 years in jail? Get a job you say? Selling drugs should be a job. These people do it well. And the government lets their informants sell as many drugs as they want and they get as rich as they want---anyway--its a great read and I'm so happy I found it (thanks ny times book review).

Anyway.

I should really go shopping so that I can eat something.

love and peace

the girl with the paint in her fingernails that is reading The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong