Laga, that smell is everywhere down here. Thankfully not next to home or work. Stomach grumbles would be unbearable.

This kind of stuff has been happening all over the place lately. I've seen a lot of articles about various incidents, and it seems to be on the rise, but it's kind of hard to tell what the scope actually is, since everything gets reported and identified differently.

Mostly random musings: I have a shirt from the Alternative Spring Break program I did in Israel a few years ago. (It says "Israel 2007 Alternative Spring Break" on the front and "I t heart Trees" on the back.) It's one of my favorite shirts -- it's comfortable, it fits well, and it's a really good color on me. Plus, it's a reminder of the work that I did there. We cleared brush in forests near the Lebanon border (during the fighting, forests had been hit and caught fire, and we were clearing undergrowth so that fire would spread as quickly), we planted some trees (I planted a pistachio tree!), and we painted murals on the walls of the bomb shelters at schools and day care centers, so that they'd maybe be a little less scary when the kids had to go down there. (We did a rainbow and flowers on one wall, numbers and letters (Hebrew and English) on another wall, Winnie the Pooh on another, and then some famous places in Israel on the last one, though those ended up kind of scary-looking, because the only colors we had left were black and purple, and everything sort of looked burned-out. I really hope they painted over that last wall.) All in all, I'm proud of the work I did there.

Anyway. I wore the shirt a few days after the Gaza bombing started, without really thinking about it, just pulling on the first clean shirt I saw. And one of my classmates, whose father is Palestinian, looked at the shirt and then at me with a kind of pointed look. He didn't say anything, but I felt kind of uncomfortable about the implicit messages my shirt might be giving. I haven't worn it since then.

So now, I'm kind of wondering whether I should start wearing it again. I didn't want to wear a shirt that said "Israel" on the front while Cast Lead was going on, because I knew that that would be the association in people's minds, and I didn't want to give the impression that I was in favor of it. But the only message the shirt actually says is "I Love Trees." There's nothing on the shirt that I object to or disagree with, I'm just worried about the implications that other people might take from it.

Am I overthinking a shirt? (I also have an Israeli Army shirt that I only wear as pajamas -- I'm not comfortable wearing it in public, but it's made of this incredibly soft material, so it makes good pajamas.)

I think perception is as important as intent. You know the shirt is not intended to be offensive but if you think it's likely to be perceived that way maybe it should become "inside clothes".

Spike Change quotes of note:

From Villians, 6th season:

SPIKE: Bitch is gonna see a change.

SPIKE: Get nice and comfy, Slayer. I'll be back. And when I do ... things are gonna change.

From "two to go, 6th season:

SPIKE: Things have changed.

From "Smashed" season 6:

SPIKE: It's about the rules having changed.

From "Wrecked" season 6:

SPIKE: Maybe, but we've been through this, haven't we? Things have changed.

I like this one

SPIKE: It's about the rules having changed.

At the moment, I'm more in the mood for "Bitch is gonna see a change."

I keep looking for the dog. It's going to be a long week, isn't it?

I also like this bit from School Hard:

He carries The Anointed One over to the cage. Vampire#2 tries to stop him, but Spike kicks back and knocks him out. He sticks The Anointed One in the cage and closes and locks the door. Drusilla watches as Spike starts pulling a chain, lifting the cage up from the floor.

Spike: From now on, we're gonna have a little less ritual... (stops pulling the chain) ...and a little more fun around here.

Which would be

Spike's Bitches 44: a little less ritual...and a little more fun

I thought we used that one. It's okay to use it again, though.

At the moment, I'm more in the mood for "Bitch is gonna see a change."

Maybe:

Spike's Bitches 44: Gonna see a change.

I like this one

SPIKE: It's about the rules having changed.

Hmm:

Spike's Bitches 44: It's about the rules having changed.