Stress? Me?

Alright, so we're on the final countdown. And only this morning have we finally booked a car, a place to stay, and confirmed our tickets. I think that's pretty true to form for my family. And I was just wondering why I've broken out into a Monet on my face, I look like pointalism in it's purest abstract form. I think I've figured it out.

I finished work last Friday in a flurry of papers and coffee with colleagures and right smack in the middle of preparations for a big ministerial visit that I won't be here for. Woohoo! It was definately an experience - working at an Embassy. A good friend once said that "Making foreign policy is like making sausage. It's not pretty, and if you saw what went into it, you might not want to eat it in the end. " Frankly, I think that we should put that on our pens and stationary.

4 days left in India - and I can't believe all the things I haven't done. I was seriously attempting to squeeze a one day trip up to Amritsar in the Punjab into my schedual - until I realised it was already 11am and I didn't have any serious plans of getting up in at least the next 2 hours. I tell myself that I'm training to deal with my jetlag - if I'm sleeping halfway into my day here.. then I've only got 6 hours of jet lag to deal with, instead of 12. Not bad if you ask me.

In reality, in between bouts of intense shopping (my mother) and drinking sweet lime soda by the pool (me and my brother) I've figured out that I'm ready to leave. People do this strange thing where they tip their heads on the side, assume this really huper concerned look and say "Is it time? Are you ready?" It cracks me up. Just because 90% of the native population of this country is itching to leave, doesn't mean that I am.

There are certainly things that I am looking forward to however - lettuce. I can't wait to have a big salad of romaine or greenleaf lettuce. And not have it taste like bleach or iodine. I can't wait to go to a grocery store.. I think I'm just going to wander around for a little while. I can't wait to buy a bra from a real store, and not from a guy on a street corner who is offering to measure you himself. *laugh*

Alright - I can feel a bout of packing coming on. 9 months in two 70lb bags. I can do it! Take care all. Blogging will be pretty sporadic the next little while. It doesn't mean I'm not thinking about you. ;-)

August Essential Listening

1. Japanese Girls - Robbers on High Street
2. Small Town Witch - Sneaker Pimps
3. Speak Low - Billie Holiday
4. Club Foot - Kasabian
5. Poor Boy, Minor Key - M. Ward
6. Apply Some Pressure - Maximo Park
7. We Run This - Missy Elliot
8. Secret Meeting - The National
9. Midnight Hour - Otis Reading
10. Cold Hungry Blues - Po' Girl

This Side of a Bad Book

I finished (finally) F. Scott Fitzgerald's "This Side of Paradise". And I have to say, despite accolades I've read that it's better than "The Great Gatsby".. it might be one of the most tedious books I've ever read. It's the story of Amory Blaine, growing up through the 1900's. I should have read between the lines - it was the worst "coming of age" book I've read yet.

Its saving grace was in the last 20 pages, in which it transformed into a semi-Socialist "Atlas Shrugged", and some really interesting (and though often rehashed, probably original ideas at the time) points of view. But they could have done without the previous 270 pages. My eyes are sore from rolling in my head. Don't waste your time - read the last 20 pages, and count yourself lucky.

The Reason

I know this may appear to be a little callous. And perhaps it is.

But I'm moved to nausea listening to the "claims for a public enquiry" into the death of the Brazilian man shot in London.

I'm aware, well and truly, that a family needs closure. From airplane crashes, from boating accidents, from the Holocaust. But they're asking, demanding actually, that they be given a reason that their son (who, like all innocent men in death, had the sun emanating directly from his rectum) was shot.

I'm pretty sure that given everything I've watched, that we've all been given an appropriate and full account of what happened - one that should suffice even for a bereaved family. The man was followed from his home (that was, we know now, housing other confirmed terrorists), to the subway; where he ignored orders by the police to stop, drop and confess. He didn't, he ran, he was shot 7 times in the head.

Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Chief, is now under attack for attempting to halt the full and transparent (as if we could have a demi-opaque) public enquiry. The man has a city of innumerable persons to protect, and what people don't understand (and perhaps this is only my personal view) is that not everything, especailly in the world we live in, can be open to public scrutiny. There ARE things that need to be kept private, in the consideration of ongoing investigations, that we have no right to know, and no right to demand we're to be told. I believe in publicized procedures and private results - let me know what's going on, what I can do to protect myself, and then you do the rest of the protecting in accordance to what you find.

I feel for the officers that had to make that decision, and even more for their colleagues who will have to make it in the future. They have been given the order to shoot people in the head, and in these particular cases.. I think that's appropriate. But to now worry that they've made a mistake (which they had) and caused an accident (which they haven't) -will only lead to delayed reflexes. I'm sorry, if I'm on a train and a man with a bomb is getting on, I don't want my policemen moralising the shot to the foot over the one to the head. And I think, if we're all honest - we probably all think that way.

I think it is of the utmost importance that we assign the correct language to this incident. It wasn't an 'accident'. It was a deliberate choice, the pursuivance of orders, and the correct course of action to take. That it resulted in the death of a young man is unfortunate. But it wasn't an accident, it wasn't a blow to civil rights, it wasn't 'malpractice' and it was not some kind of crime.

That the people conducting the 'Public Enquiry' (and I ask.. who in Britain that takes the tube really wants an enquiry?) are suggesting that these policemen be charged with manslaughter is nothing less that abhorrent. That these men are being persecuted, by however few, for doing their job, is frightening. We cannot charge men with crimes when they honestly believed that they were protecting their citizens from what had the possibility (and unfortunate probability) of becoming another terrorist attack. Because if we start prosecuting them.. Then Mr. Bush might as well buy some soap on a rope.

It is a sad thing when we are at a point in our civilization where the death of an innocent man has to be counted in a way such as this. But these are the times we live in, and those are, unfortunately, the consequences. We're all aware of them. That should be the overall conclusion of the public enquiry.

I'm Worse At This Than I Am At Baseball..

All the satisfaction of penguin brutality. None of the consequences.

Po' Girl, Great Girl

I'm hooked - I got this from Ian this morning, can't stop listening. The Po' Girls have just rocketed to the top of my "Most Played" list. This record makes me want to sit and smoke in a rocking chair and drink whiskey and sing and shoot at the gophers with a shotgun. And occasionally dance around the porch in my barefeet. Or maybe with just a single cowboy boot on. Check out "Driving". You'll catch my drift. Or my boot.

Disengagement? Like.. Not getting Married?

If the Gaza Pullout Plan (not another form of birth control) has you puzzled, check out these articles to get you started. They cover most of the political reasons.. For the rest, you might need to bring out the Bible.  Regardless - this is another piece of history. Stay tuned.

Long Weekend Wonder

I'm so thrilled that I had a long weekend.. I worked 12 hour days both Saturday and Sunday, but Independance Day is a national holiday.. and as a result, I got to spend the entire day lazing around in my pj's.

Saturday and Sunday were great, in terms of getting reading done. I was just working security, which entails making sure that the painters don't walk out with generators and confidential papers at the end of the day. Which makes for a fairly easy job. (Generator big - man small.). I managed to finish a few books (as noted somewhere below) on Saturday, and then on Sunday...

Sunday I finished up "Bullet Points" by Mark Watson. Touted as "the love child of Woody Allen and William Boyd" (which is pretty strong hypothetical partentage to live up to..) it really was excellent. The faux autobiography of a psychologist and his somewhat strange career, it's full of humour, humanity, and a little heartbreak. It's incredibly well written - not a light read, but a good one.

Wrapped up "The Icarus Girl" this morning. I'd heard some complaints about the ending - but I think it might have been from people with little imagination. I really enjoyed it.. although I have to say, it's probably the spookiest book I've read in a while. Set in Nigeria and England, I'm glad I read "Things Fall Apart" first - they cover some of the same topics (mysticism, twins and superstitions surrounding them). Otherwise you'd have to do some anthropology research and some cultural digging to close some of the major cultural chasms. Where "Things Fall Apart" really gives you the background knowledge you need, the "The Icarus Girl" leaves you in the dark a little. I imagine you'd get along ok without knowing.. But I found it lent a bit more depth having read something about the major topics.

The workers ended up staying later than they were originally booked on Sunday, stretching our day 3 hours longer, and way past the dinner hour. The really lovely thing is, that they sent somebody out for dinner, and brought a little for me too! They were so sweet, insisting that I not pay, and they were getting overtime for this work, and they wouldn't have if I hadn't agreed to stay late. It was so sweet. So I was given a samosa and some gelabi (these really sweet, deep fried swirls of dough..) and shared dinner. It was fun.

As I said, today I spent the day in my pj's. I found "This Side of Paradise" (F. Scott Fitzgerald's first book) on my shelf, and realised I hadn't read it. It's touted as better than "The Great Gatsby", and semi-autobiographical. It's.. alright so far. Not that amazing. So I read that for most of the morning, and spend the afternoon with a cup of tea catching up on the New York Times and whatnot.

I'm so happy that I got an honest to goodness day off. It's been wonderful to just relax, take more than two deep breaths in a row. I only have 3 1/2 days of work left, and only 13 days left in India. Now comes the hustle. This part is never easy! On the upside, it means that I'm getting closer to seeing Bryan. There's an upside everywhere. You just have to look harder sometimes!

Take care all.

Better Late Than Never..

Here are a few pictures from our amazing trip to Rishikesh..

An Actual Action Guy..

Pictured here in his natural environment.

I Could Be an Action Girl...

At least I look good in the uniform..

Kickin' Back..

After the river riding action..

Happy Independence Day..

August 15th is Independence Day here in India. An astounding amount of militia is out on the streets, the army is everywhere. The PM makes his address to the nation tomorrow, and with the assasination of Sri Lanka's FM this week, I can imagine he's more than a little nervous. If it's any indication of the security risk, not even my parents are going to the parade. Yeeps. This is one we'll watch on TV, thank you very much.

Broken Peaces.

The Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka was assassinated yesterday. They have declared a state of emergency in the whole country, including our beloved Colombo. Relative peace reigned between the Tamil Tigers and the Government after the tsunami - this is the first time since then its been broken. See more here.

A Book A Day...

So I'm at work for another Saturday doing security work - and a long Saturday at that. I've been here from nine this morning, and will be here until nine-thirty this evening. And I'll be back tomorrow. The wonderful thing is - I've already finished two books, and have another 2 to go.

This morning I read "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway. Definately an excellent book - though I found it irredeemably sad. And surprising -I didn't think that Hemingway was religious in any way, shape or form, yet his Christ-like symbolism in the book was so prevelent. I really liked it - you can take it in so many ways, and I'm sure if I read it 10 years from now I'll derive something completely different. An excellent book. Books about fishing usually are.

And just now I finished Kurt Vonnegut's "God Bless You Mr. Rosewater". What an excellent book! Social commentary, political commentary (because sometimes they're seperate) and comedy all rolled into one. What I love is that Vonnegut brings in other characters from other novels, even objects from other novels - it makes it almost like a treasure hunt reading the books. I really enjoyed it. It's my 3rd Vonnegut book - I have a feeling I'll be reading quite a few more.

Something strange - in "The Old Man and the Sea", the fisherman speaks briefly of "Portugese man-o-war's" (from what I gather, something like a jellyfish, painful in its sting). In "God Bless You Mr. Rosewater", they also get a mention. Thought it was odd that the two books that I would read today would both have such an obscure reference in them. Literary serendipity.

Only 4 1/2 hours left of work. I'm delving into "The Icarus Girl" by Helen Oyeyemi. Don't you just feel like you haven't done a whole lot when a 20 year old is beating you to the punch with a prize winning novel?

I'd Hate to See Them Hungry

This little ditty was in the paper today.

Niger Leader Denies Famine

Friday 12th, 2005 - Guardian News Service

The President of Niger has denied reports that the country is facing a famine, saying his people "look well fed".

President Mamdou Tandja admitted that a devastating locust invasion and poor rains had created a food shortage, but said that it was not unusual for Niger or the entire Sahel region on the southern edge of the Sahara desert.

"We are experiencing, like all the countries in the Sahel, a food crisis due to the poor harvest and the locust attacks of 2004." Tandja said in and interview with the BBC. "The people of Niger look well-fed, ad you can see."

Well Fed?

Via the "Indian Express"..

Only in India - a few days of headlines.

"Scientists draw up rice Genome Blueprint"

"Councillors seek 1 Cow norm for Delhi households"

"Labourer Dies at Work"

Oh Jimmy Hoffa..

Check out the raging TELUS union debate here. Don't you just love the comments? Personal attacks are so much more effective than honest deliberation. Bravo to those of you with a brain and a mouth - that happen to be connected.

Damn this Confuser

I've got all these pictures from Sri Lanka that I've been wanting to put on my blog. I didn't know that to hook the camera up you need such a specific cord and so on and so forth - it's just painful. This damn computer will be the death of me. This computer, my computer at work, the fax machine, the photocopier. None of them like me (least of all the shredder, of all the dangerous things) and all do their best to jam, fail, short out, run out of toner, and just generally not WORK when I'm in the vicinity. And now, as I'm writing this, my computer screen appears to be having an fit, and is flickering like a blinking eye. Help me HAL.