Israel is kicking off a public relations campaign with the intention of widening a basis for international support of a military offensive on the Gaza Strip.

See, I pretty much want to find the geniuses behind this cunning plan and, on behalf of Shir's sister and her colleagues, and the people of Palestine, and the people in the West who are not really loving the growth of Islamist terrorism, punch said geniuses repeatedly in the face. It would be my Gandhi impression.

Teppy, I hope your innerds calm down soon. I've had that before and it totally sucks.

I just got in from running a couple of errands. Dear god it is so very cold out. -4 is the actual temp. -35 to -40 is the wind chill. That is just wrong wrong wrong.

And, I was planning on leaving for Memphis today, but there are ground blizzards all about and making whiteout conditions along the interstate that I take. Police are saying not to travel unless it's absolutely necessary.

I can leave tomorrow.

Yeah, but you know, in the end all comes down to this: how do you protect the towns surrounding the strip (which Palestinians never claimed as their territory) from the rockets? How do you protect Israel from suicide bombings coming from Gaza Strip?

(It's fine, no one has answer to this, at least not one which don't involve deaths and terror and depression of other people. Surely not my country, Palestine, U.S. or any other part of the Big Fun at the Middle East).

Ugh Steph, what a brutal flu. I for one am glad that you have The Boy there taking care of you.

And Shir, I don't even know what to say. I certainly have no answers.

Teppy - feel better soon. Innerds need to remember that they are supposed to function without notice.

Shir - I got nuttin. Just lots of stay safe~ma for your sis and everyone else as much as possible.

I am so sore. All my muscles hate me today and I have a ton I have to do around the house. I've been doing 30 minutes of chores, 15 minutes stretching, 15 minutes goofing, lather, rinse, repeat. So. Tired. I'm down to cleaning my bathroom, folding one more load of laundry, and making my bed. I think. Oh, heck, still have to vacuum the whole place. And then there is the kitchen. Bless.

Hypothetical question for the romantics:

How would you most like to receive a love poem?

Shir, I might have a comment on that, but right now probably would be a very hard time for you to hear criticism of Israel. So I'll just wish safety for your sister, and safety for the Palestinians in Gaza who suffer every day and are in much more danger than any Israeli civilian, and who are not even allowed to leave.

How would you most like to receive a love poem?

Not sure whether I qualify as a romantic, but I'm going to go with: (a) it being a good poem; (b) it being from someone I fancy. Provided a and b are in place, method of giving not so much an issue. If either a or b are in doubt, the whole business becomes one mighty cringe.

Gris, I think getting a love poem of any kind rocks, but I'd epecially love it handwritten so I could keep it and reread it.

ETA: But really, what Fay said is key.

If either a or b are in doubt, the whole business becomes one mighty cringe.

Ha. I kind of like bad poems, actually, though I can see (b) being pretty important at least.

This isn't something I'm actually considering, by the way. I was just having a conversation about love poems yesterday, and was thinking about how they could fit into modern society. What I think is especially interesting is the idea of love-poems-as-courting, especially in my generation, where courting seems, unfortunately, pretty dead. And letter-sending even more so.