Drums

we justify war
with the constant reminders
of those already dead


Is it even possible anymore to avoid talking about war? Fear is slowly seeping into every segment of our lives, steady doses drip-drip-dripped into the IV of information that I find almost impossible to disconnect. I'm horrified at the callousness of some people. The same president who is rabidly against abortion (it stops a beating heart, ya know) is planning a bombing attack on a city the size of Los Angeles. Talk about hundreds of beating hearts that will come screeching to a halt - and they will be the innocent ones. Those in power are the main ones who have the ability to stay safe, to escape the area, and to end up alive when the bombing is over. See Bin Laden, Osama as a wonderful example of this.
And to use 9/11 (15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi's by the way. None of them were Iraqis) as a 'reason' for war is to make the implied assumption that only American lives are worthy, because we plan on killing far more than 3,000 Iraqis. To use the Kurds as an example ignores the fact that the gas they died from came from Iran, and that they were in the middle of a war zone. Of course, we plan on killing far more innocents than 5,000 too. But they won't be American innocents - so why should it matter? I'm against the war because I'm for life, and that's all the reason I need.

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I'm making plans for planting a garden this year. I live in an apartment, so that makes it a little more interesting, but I have a huge wood floored balcony. If we go to war, I'm going to need a place of peace to come home to, and greenery=peace for me. So far, I'm going to plant tomatoes, strawberries, turnips, catnip (can't forget the little ones), cucumbers, basil, thyme, mint, parseley, and summer squash. I might be over-extending myself a little, but I figure that if I plant just one or two plants of the spreaders, there should be plenty of room for the rest. I've never grown a garden of my own, and really - only once or twice helped grow a garden when I was younger. But gardens have always been a place of peace and serenity to me, and I miss having that in my life.
I went to my consultation with the tattoo artist yesterday to start work on the bing one. She appeared to think that what I wanted was a disticnt possibility, and I'm excited about that. I've also settled on what I want for my 'little' tattoo - a representation of the Element of Fire. I was considering getting something that was more part of who I am already, but something held me back from that. Last night it struck me that the thing I am missing (if you go by elemental descriptions) is Fire. I'm very well grounded/stable so that covers the realm of Earth. I'm intelligent and intuitive, which covers the realm of Air. I'm emotional (heaven knows) and comfortable with that - which covers the realm of Water. However, as I wrote in an earlier entry - I'm missing the Fire. I don't have that deepset blaze of passion and willpower - and it seems so appropiate to emphasize that. Now that I know what I want though, I don't WANT to wait until I lose another 20 pounds. I'm debating on getting it the week after my surgery - which would happen to be payday as well. Decisions, decisions.