I'm sitting here listening to the State of the Union address. Not to sure what to think anymore. I like the national healthcare - but they've been talking about that for years. But we need that (me especially). I'm afraid of war, but afraid of letting things go, like they did during WWII. I want peace so much - every time I see M*A*S*H, I think of what war causes - orphans, widows and widowers, communities destroyed, separated families, not to mention the death and destruction. There are times that I'm thinking of expatriating, I'm so worried about the way things are going here. But no country is perfect OR safe from the terrorists of the world. I'd just love to escape (so to speak) to a little cottage in the heart of the Welsh countryside, have my own garden, and teach voice. Or Ireland. I also love Austria - Salzburg is gorgeous, but my German is not that strong - yet. It seems like things are so complicated here. I don't know. I haven't been feeling good about me today - really rotten. I feel like I am the worst person on the face of the earth - mean, rotten, nasty, and no good to anyone. I see people that are so good suffering, and here I sit - good for nothing. All these children suffering - I feel like such a waste. I have it so easy. I pray for the innocents around the world. I wonder if anyone outside the United States really knows that there are people here that don't want the innocents hurt or killed. I think of how my sister was beaten when she was overseas during the Gulf War, just because she was an American. She had nothing to do with it - she was in high school, for pete's sake, but a bunch of her classmates jumped her on the street corner. Thank goodness for her friends that stepped in.

Ah - here he goes with the terrorist part of the speech. I was waiting for this. Why do people do this - don't they know that people around the world get bad images for others in their country or religion? All I want to do is share the music. I hope Passenger is as cathartic an experience as it was last year. I'd better really go listen to the rest of this. I'm in too much of a funk to write any more.