red onion

I worked for a woman today so she could attend the anti-war protest in New Orleans at Louis Armstrong Park. She called me at work breathless and excited because they "took over the street" and marched to Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter. She said about a thousand people attended, which is a very good turnout for New Orleans. I just looked at online pictures of protesters all over the globe, and I cry out to my brothers and sisters in unison against war.

At work today several of the age 20-something people I work with were nervously joking about the government's advice to buy duck tape and plastic. One young man who is pursuing an education in nueroscience burst out laughing at the thought that the governement wants us to believe duck tape and plastic will save us from poison gas. One said he has actually thought of buying a gas mask. I've been having fantasies similar to the Survival series, seeing myself and my family and closest friends living in a rural area, surviving off of the land again, away from the awesome cities whose social structures will be the first to go if things go to hell in a handbasket. I felt sad today for the young people, who haven't had a chance to live out their lives yet, and are faced with such a massive crises.

Rosebud and I got together and watched an old movie, one of the old GoldDigger movies with Joan Blondell and James Cagney. To watch Cagney dance is a monumental joy. Many layers to the film as it demonstrated the cut-throat competition of Hollywood and theater, and the "battle of the sexes". Yesterday we watched Chelsea Halls , a film of the current inhabitants of the old hotel. It was directed by Ethan Hawke and filmed in digital, with a grainy, raw quality that I appreciated. The movie had incredibly beautiful shots, a simple and very human story line that placed characterization above plot, and fine acting. I highly recommend this movie as an antidote to current events.

I find myself examining my life acutely right when I am with Rosebud. Watching Chelsea Halls, and its brutally and beautiful honesty added fire to this "exercise". The signs of selfishness standout all too well at the moment.