Keeping up with the news has ceased to be a healthy endeavor for me. I'm burnt out on war updates, which I've been watching at home on CNN and MSNBC and other cable news stations. I find myself sitting in front of the television telling the reporters what idiots they are. "And how does this soldier's mother feel, after having seen her son being questioned by Iraqi's on television? Was she frightened, angry, in tears?" Now there's a well thought out and deeply penetrating question. "I'm here in Baltimore with a father whose only child was one of the soldiers killed in the helicopter crash earlier." Yes, very clever Mr. Reporter. You tracked them down and broke in on their grief. Give yourself a medal. "I'm here embedded with the troops on the U.S.S. Constitution." Embedded? Where the heck did this "embedded" come from anyhow? Embedded with battalions, embedded on ships ... embedded in what? Sand? Concrete? Why this need for jargon? Why can't they just leave out the word "embedded"; the sentences work just as well. "Well Peter, I can't tell you where we are or what we're doing for security reasons." Yeah, we've got the idea already. You know something we don't. Neener, neener, neener. It's hardly necessary to preface every paragraph with that little tidbit anymore. For Pete's sake, guys, just stop asking them questions you know they can't answer. It's like you've got your own little secret society going there, and you have to keep proving it by displaying the secret handshake and decoder ring every few minutes.
Like I said, following the news has ceased to be a healthy endeavor for me.
In my continuing effort to play CD's in my office, I purchased a set of $10.00 speakers for my Sony Walkman. I have to say, I'm quite pleased with the results. Granted, it isn't the same fidelity that I get out of my stereo system, but it is certainly adequate for my purposes here at work. I get good volume, and they're small enough to tuck out of the way next to my computer. Today is the first day I've given them a workout, and I just grabbed some CD's off my shelf while leaving the apartment this morning, without paying particular attention to which CD's I grabbed. On of the ones I grabbed was Christine Lavin's "Shining My Flashlight On The Moon", a CD I haven't listened to in quite a while. It was a shock to rediscover it ... this should be on my top ten of favorite CD's and instead it's been sitting abandoned for months. One song I never really noticed before jumped out at me as I renewed my acquaintance with this set of music. I think I'm just going to pretend she wrote it just for me, and pull it out on those days that things start looking bleak to me.
© 1997 Christine Lavin
This is the darkest hour
of your longest night
you've never been this powerless
or prayed this hard for light
wish there was something I could do
to pull you through
but the only who can handle this now
is you
This is as bad as it gets
if you can make it through this
I'm willing to bet
that you will make it through anything
the world will throw your way
this is as low as you've ever been
if you can reach deep down
tap the power within
I know that you will find the strength
to make it through this day
This is the coldest night
of your bleakest year
it's hard to fight
all the forces that have brought you here
between the anger and pain
amid the losses and gains
there's a space
if you can find it
you will rise again
This is as bad as it gets
if you can make it through this
I'm willing to bet
that you will make it through anything
the world will throw your way
this is as low as you'll ever be
if you can stop for a minute
and listen to me
I know that you will find the strength
to make it through
this day
Nothing in your life has prepared you
for such a troubled time
but you're not one to give up or give in
when your life is on the line
This is as bad as it gets
if you can make it through this
I'm willing to bet
that you will make it through anything
the world will throw your way
this is as low as she goes
if you can reach deep down
tap the power that flows within you
I know that you will find the strength
to make it through this day
and then I know
you will be OK
you'll be alright
don't give up the fight
you can make it through