what can i say?
03.20.03 @ 5:25 p.m.
I meant to add an entry last night and earlier today, but my parents' ISP didn't want to let me get online, which was really annoying. So instead of updating, I played Snood for over an hour, watched an episode of Perry Mason, and (the joys of an empty house) held a one-woman production of Tommy in the shower. :) (This involved hunting down a stereo to drag into the bathroom and a lot of dust and cobwebs.)
Downtown looks locked up with antiwar protests, though Dad was able to get my sister from the airport and drop her off wherever she's staying. With her aunt or her mother or something. There's also a "Support Our Troops" rally going on in Portland, mere blocks from the massive peace protests, and I'm quite surprised all hell hasn't broken loose. Fighting in the streets and all.
The war is at times very surreal, especially last night before any bombs actually fell and all the newscasters were climbing all over each other in an effort to be more poetic than the next guy. I have to say that Dan Rather has disappointed me with a distinct lack of crazy in his coverage. That's my entire fondness for CBS news coverage, seeing what kind of crazy shit Dan Rather comes up with. It's perversely comforting to find that the networks aren't all committed to their mantra of "continuing coverage."
I had so many things to say, but now that I'm actually writing, I can't order my thoughts. I've spent a lot of today (what wasn't spent singing along with Daltrey and Townshend at the top of my lungs) studying for Anthropology and idly watching the news. I hesitate to write about the war because I still feel ignorant and uniformed, even if I've been watching the news for the last two days mostly for the sake of having something on. The paranoia disguists me, the way the news jumps on a rumor of counter-terrorism warrants served in Portland this morning. People are so scared and maybe I'm a little too cavalier about everything, but I don't see the point of getting so upset, not out here. Not in rinky-dink Hillsboro. Two of my mom's students are being sent to Mexico to stay with relatives over Spring break for their safety. People panick on the West Coast because of North Korea.
Maybe it's not completely baseless. The only American soil attacked during World War II was the forests on the Oregon coast. The Japanese tried to set fire to them with some sort of balloons. I learned that from reading The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin, an Oregon science fiction writer. The two books of hers that I've read are excellent. Still, I don't feel at all threatened and admit to some bemusement when it comes to the people who are so very scared. Portland doesn't seem like a worthwhile target to me. I'll be glad to get to the beach where hopefully all this stuff won't be so pervasive. Last time we went it was on the 9/11 anniversary. We were glad to be away from it all.
Rachel just IM'd me, and so I'll give up writing for now. In all honesty, I don't have much to say. I can't adequately express the feelings I have about war and the coverage, and frankly, I'd rather escape from it all. Besides, I have to study if I don't want to fail Anthropology.
EDIT: PS- Liz- There's a lot I've wanted to say (more like several small things) in response to your entries lately, but unfortunately this computer is a dinosaur and I have to update the browsers tonight. Long story short, I can't write in your guestbook. I agree totally with the "never name something Operation blah blah" comment, I was in fact thinking that same thing just before I read it in your diary. I agree with a lot of what you've said lately. Ahh, I can't even remember what I wanted to say. I've become stupid and inarticulate in the last few days.
Previously
fuck it @ 08.01.05
fanciful imaginary sea voyages to come @ 07.20.05
*dies* @ 07.19.05
more ootp @ 07.17.05
harry potter: driving our children into devil worship @ 07.17.05
