Considering none of this became public until yesterday, it's amazing how fast people are moving.

That's good, right?

Given the maps of closures we've seen, the friend with the fireplace and plasma screen is looking better all the time.

I live within the area where streets are going to be closed, so I can pretty much walk to anywhere I'd want to be. The security checkpoints for the parade look like a pain -- the parade gets pretty close to my apartment, but the closest checkpoint to actually get in to view the parade is several blocks further away.

Oh, it's very good. It shows how much people care about the program and don't want to see it demolished. I just hope the school board sees that and does what the community wants.

And, frankly, we need to move fast. The "new and improved" middle school schedule is being presented to the school board on the 26th and they will vote on it on Feb. 2nd.

Sigh.

People in the Upper Galilee are being asked to stay within shelters this morning.

Good luck~ma, ChiKat.

Bonny, Shir, Kristin - all of you are in my thoughts right now. I wish I could think of a better secular equivalent to 'In my prayers' - in my heart? It sounds cheesy (and indeed rather gruesome) but it's about right.

Anyway. Love and hope and peace in various forms to all of you and your loved ones.

In completely trivial memememe news:

(1) I think that I have a new OTP (for the first time since Season 1 of Smallville, oh gloriously glittery rose-pink-tinged days of yore) thanks to the arrival of Castiel in Supernatural. That would be my button being pushed like crazy right there; much as I love SPN, and although I can understand why people are aboard the Wincest train, ultimately it isn't my beautiful cake. But Dean/HotAngelGuy? Holy mother of blaspheme, I am SO there.

(2) I can haz Wii! Woohoo! Much merriment ensued. Although I was sad that my Clone Wars Jedi warrior game didn't work, and that the shop had run out of PotC games. Still, much fun!

(3) I am wearing this lovely taffata skirt to teach in. (And a black t shirt and a complimentary scarf, obviously. Not just a skirt.) Although, since the model in that photo is from the planet of the giraffe people, and I am five foot two and a bit, on me it's closer to ankle length. Which is how I like my skirts - if I don't need to pick it up in handfuls when I go up a flight of stairs, I don't feel like there's enough skirt going on.

(4) The winter chill here in Bangkok is sufficient to neccesitate the kids to wear cardigans, and indeed I've been wearing a warm scarf over my shoulders atop the T shirt all day, and have even switched the AC off several times! (And on again, when it warmed up.) Which means that it's strawberry weather! Hurrah! I bought a bag of fresh strawberries on the street at lunch time, to go with the strawberry cheesecake I made for breakfast and the basket of strawberries sitting in my fridge. Hurrah!

Fay, I'll bet you look smashing.

Mmmmmm, cheesecake.

I thought about saying, "Mmmmmmmmmm, Peace," but that's just too weird.

ChiKat, yay for all the rallying to save your department.

Mmmmm, strawberry cheesecake. And I'm in favor of mmmmm peace as well. Peace should be yummy, I assume. I mean, I'm dying to visit Damascus and Beirut and have hummus there, and I'm not even a hummus person.

Fay, that skirt looks WONDERFUL. I love the color.

As for the "in my prayers" expression: as a person who defines herself as mostly secular, I'm having troubles with that as well. Mostly at times like this I think it could have been easier, or more comforting, if I were brought up more religiously and could use praying. But I think that the times I think of my sister, or my friends, or the most pray-ey incident recently, when sirens caught me and my parents in a car in Be'er Sheva and all I could think/feel was "please God, not here, not now", especially for my sister's sake. And I'd like to believe that counts as well, although I'm sure it's mostly my survival instincts (I'm including emotional survival) "talking". Because "I'm taking you in account (wrong term?)" sounds too cold, but that's actually what I'm doing, from my hyper-rational perspective. I'm including something extra in (into?) my personal account.

That makes sense?

Heh.

Seems like sirens were heard in Jerusalem as well few minutes ago. By mistake.

I'm saying "seems like" because I NEVER HEARD ANY FREAKING SIRENS. I only know of it because they announced the "oops, it was a mistake, you can go back to routine" now. Oh, how nice of them, they keep repeating it.

F'ing situation. And I'm hungry.

F'ing situation.

Wrod.

Shir, I hate to sound like a dumb block of wood, and this is truly a question that reflects my ignorance, but when Israel warns the people in Gaza to get out, where can they go?

My DH adds this morning, with his sad voice, "the magazine this month has nothing on the Middle East. There is no arms control in the Middle East." (He's the managing editor for a non-profit that publishes something called Arms Control Today.)

ION, his alma matter is having a conference here in DC in which Jeffrey Eugenides is appearing and for once I'm sorely tempted to be a alum-spouse.