we've got one of those widescreen tv's at work, and msnbc is on all day long. every time i look up, i am gazing into the eyes of yet another suspected terrorist or a recently slain soldier. since the screen's so wide, the faces are always stretched out as if imprinted onto silly putty and then gently tugged out of shape. soon these distorted faces will pop up in my dreams. right now, they only haunt me at work. it's getting increasingly harder for me to worry about my favorite trivial matters- shoes, what kind of sandwich i want to eat, whether or not i should chop off myhair and dye the remainder orange- when i start thinking about what's going on out there. this is why i've been petitioning for them to change the channel to tlc or the usa network. if i'm totally helpless to all these tragedies, i at least want the right to ignore them.

don't tell me that we're not totally helpless. sure, let's rock the vote. but, if you live in illinois, your vote's going to kerry whether you vote or not (which is better than it going to bush, oh how strongly i want that man to fall victim to a prey of wolves), so why the hell not stay home that morning and organize the old make-up bag? at least until you can move to the australian outback. with no reception or newspapers whatsoever. just a supply of cheesecake and crossword puzzles.