Welcome back from the hiatus. Redesigned — again — with no fewer than 10 domains pointed at it, and almost 10 years old. Have been going through a lot of my old stuff and realizing how much I miss writing about things other than politics, about the poison that’s filled the newswires. I truly had hope that Kerry would be elected and that I might start recognizing this place again. I felt I couldn’t stand another day of waking up to this, and now face another 4 years. There are words in other languages that say this better: depaysé, for one. De-countried.

Too much information running through my brain, too much information driving me insane.
— The Police, in Ghost in the Machine

Really, it’s gotten to be too much. The constant feed, all day every day that I’m at work and only slightly less so on the weekends. Trying to detox, trying to consume less-to-none of what so constantly enrages.

Making up the categories for this thing, I realized that most of everything from the past year would go into one very angry file.

Why have I wasted so much energy on this man and his pack of wolves? This bile? Poems go unwritten, photos go untaken, friends go unreplied.

It’s because of the need to bear witness, to make sure somebody is paying attention, to make sure somebody is taking notes and getting this shit down. And a lot of us are.

After calling no fewer than 6 neighborhoods, 2 states and 1 tent home in the past year, have more or less settled in for the moment. Am very much in the mood to batten the hatches, fortify the walls and take time to enjoy my beautiful, sane communities.

In case ya missed it, this issue is great: The Urban Archipelago