I'm watching stuff on the tsunami. My brain is bending. Most of my news has been through NPR, without the visuals, which has allowed my brain to imagine the pictures, which was horrifying enough. This is just...insane.

I read someone somewhere who said that the reason the individual stories appeal so much is because we can't really comprehend the reality of the numbers. So we need one person, one story to begin to get a handle on it. All that water.

checks elevation

I heard an interview with Lynne on the collaboration with Jack White. It was neat (sounds like they had a blast), and the snippets sounded incredible.

In case anyone is keeping track, today goes in the not very good day columns.

thwump.

Aw, Lee, what's up?

I'm watching stuff on the tsunami. My brain is bending. Most of my news has been through NPR, without the visuals, which has allowed my brain to imagine the pictures, which was horrifying enough. This is just...insane.

There's one video I saw this morning, which must have happened after a first wave had come in. I don't know which country the video was taken in, but it was of a resort area, and you could see on man trying to help another man get into a building, for safety.

Moments later, the wall of water began pouring over the wall next to them, and the two men were swept away. Just like that.

That image got sort of burned into my mind.

Sorry to hear about your sucky day, Lee.

X posted from Bitches:

ABC is showing footage and interviews from the Tsunami.

Have we heard *anything* from Polter-Cow? Are we likely to?

My understanding is that he was in the north of India, and not near a coast, but I know I'll be much happier when he finally checks in again.

I know that even without a major disaster, he made it sound highly unlikely he'd be able to check in until returning to the states, and his own computer.

Right. Good. North.

I'm just getting to work on mentally processing the tsunamis and their death toll. (bends brain a bit more)

I read someone somewhere who said that the reason the individual stories appeal so much is because we can't really comprehend the reality of the numbers. So we need one person, one story to begin to get a handle on it. All that water.

I keep thinking of the numbers in terms of stadiums, which sounds kind of flippant, but I don't mean it that way. I started doing it at whatever point the toll was around 45,000, and it occurred to me that it was like a sold-out Safeco Field with everybody in it dead, and it's depressing to have to keep going to larger and larger stadiums to imagine the sheer number of people.

And I stopped watching CNN when I got too emotional about the stories of children being swept out of their parents' arms and imagining it was Annabel.