I see forgiveness sort of as giving up the right to revenge. Any punishment that can be dealt to an offender becomes the right of the Divine - to teach, or heal, or simply take revenge as Ze sees fit. That does not mean I protect such a person from the natural consequences of their actions, or pretend that one who harmed me is my friend. I dunno how close to genuine forgiveness that is, but in some cases it's the best I can do. And I don't know if that is of any use to you, JZ. You feel what you feel. May there be healing for all broken hearts. May there be repair for all bent, broken, and twisted minds. May love and peace fill up those who do not have a surfeit of them.

One of those cute apartment blocks that's essentially bungalows around a central courtyard.

On my Tom Waits tour we end up in the alleyway in Silverlake where shot the video for "In The Neighborhood" (which was his old neighborhood). One of the locals came out their door to inquire what we were doing and showed us how she and her cousins had all bought properties that shared back yards and the fences were taken down.

So there was this very cool extended, multilevel open garden with lights strung over it and play spaces for kids and benches for sitting and a BBQ pit. Probably like five houses pooling into a common area. It was really cool and lovely.

JZ, there's a line in Gaudy Night where Harriet says that you can't like someone better just because they're ill or dying.

I see forgiveness sort of as giving up the right to revenge.

I like that. Well phrased. I've been musing on the subject of forgiveness a lot the last few months, mostly in the context of my grandmother. To me, forgiveness always felt the same as saying that it didn't matter; they did me no real harm, everything's all right. That's what forgiveness always is to people like my grandmother: they don't care how you feel, they just want to be absolved of all wrongdoing. Forgiveness means they don't have to change. I've had to learn new definitions of forgiveness before I could figure out if I could forgive at all.

Amidst all the serious talk about forgiveness and what we want to do with our lives, I just want to mention that Beverly has me cackling about poop demons and that just now I totally forgot that I'd left up a French sex toy site on the big monitor, which is entirely work related but perhaps inappropriate for visitors.

I killed Natter with sex toys.

It's PMM's birthday today, right?

Oh, man. It looks like a police officer was killed this morning in a shootout with a wingnut with a gun (who was also killed). That's so rough.

t edit Apparently this was the first officer killed in the line of duty since 2000. Dang.

Well, I had a much-needed uplifting conversation with a longtime community activist after the grants class I taught this morning, and then came downstairs to pouring rain and a police officer death.

Also, I am so tired of the soupy humidity and pouring rain this week.

Oh, msbelle, you'd fit in so well here!

Oh, hey. There's a gas leak outside and we're not allowed to leave the building.