monday, september 17

11:45 AM
LIFE AS USUAL--Usually I'm out the door before anyone else in the house is stirring. Today I stopped to do some dishes and tidy up a little. My little one, Norah, stumbled down the stairs, swirly-headed and bleary-eyed and started watching a ballet video with the headphones on. But when I slid open the glass door to go, she left her nest on the couch and demanded a hug. It's the greatest thing you could ever learn.

By the time I reached the freeway I realized that I left my cell phone at home. Today, then, is a day of freedom from interruption.

The office was quiet when I arrived. Three people called in sick with car troubles. Others just trickled in. They are speaking more softly. The freaking deadlines of one week ago seem to have vanished.

I wonder if I really want things to go back to "normal?"

2:35 PM
FTRAIN--At a time when so many feel united against a common enemy, Paul Ford shares an angst-ridden account of the way his own life has been set adrift by all this.

sunday, september 16

4:36 PM
Christ, why do you allow wars and massacres on earth? By what mysterious judgment do you allow innocent people to be cruelly slaughtered? I cannot know. I can only find assurance in the promise that your people will find peace in heaven, where no one makes war. As gold is purified by fire, so you purify souls by these bodily tribulations, making them ready to be received above the stars in your heavenly home.
—Alcuin of York (c.735-804)

saturday, september 15

11:14 AM

All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.

Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.

From September One 1939 by W. H. Auden