Happy New Year…I guess. Seems like the more I learn, the more depressed I get. This is not a good time, I believe, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Maybe not big-story terrorist attacks so much, but just a slow degradation of environmental, political, and social issues that will test us more severely than Osama ever has. If nothing else, 9/11 has opened our eyes. It remains to be seen if they stay open. As Adbusters so brutally points out: 35, 615 children worldwide die of hunger each year. Minutes of silence: None. Plans for international response: None. Plans for saturation network coverage: None. Stock Exchanges: No effect. Alarm level: Low. Primetime news reports on possible perpetrators of the crime: None. Sad, and in need of some real thought and action on my part (since, that’s all I can control…). And here’s another factoid to leave with from Harpers: Number of Pop-Tarts dropped on Afghanistan as part of US airborne food aid in the first month of bombing: 2,400,000. Jesus.

This is a year that I am not unhappy to see go. A lot of stress and strife. But some good memories regardless. The kids blossoming. Ft. Lauderdale. Back to school. Weblogs. Paint. Guitar. There is hope…there has to be. Breathe.