a lot to say, a lot to do.

ok. first. my book list .
1. Chasing Ghosts: Failures and Facades in Iraq: A Soldier’s Perspective by Paul Rieckhoff
2. In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing by Lee Woodruff and Bob Woodruff
3. Against All Enemies by Richard A. Clarke
4. Jemez Spring by Rudolfo Anaya
5. Alburquerque by Rudolfo Anaya
6. Pistol: the life of Pete Maravich by Mark Kriegel
7. Between Worlds: the making of an american life by Bill Richardson
8. Butterfly Boy: memories of a Chicano mariposa by Rigoberto González
9. The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam
10. The Naming of the Dead by Ian Rankin
11. The Slynx by Tatyana Tolstaya
12. Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

a few words about a few of these titles -
Infidel. go read it. it's the story of a Somali woman who became so politically involved that she now lives under armed guard because everyone and their mother want her dead.
Alburquerque was one of the finest books i've read in a long while. there's politics, boxing, love, healing and roots searching. what more do you want?
Chasing Ghosts - a revealing, non-fictional account of Paul Rieckhoff's tour in Iraq. he's now the founder of what used to be called Operation Truth and is now IAVA. (Iraq and Afganistan Veterans of America) he's on Countdown and Hardball a lot. smart man.

here's the news...


the bush administration will not try to assess whether the troop increase in Iraq is producing signs of political progress or greater security until september. AND officials made clear that the White House is now gradually scaling back its expectations for the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

american military commanders in bagdad are building a 12-foot-high, three-mile-long wall separating an historic Sunni enclave from Shiite neighborhoods. is it working? hmm, not so much.

Marilee Jones, the dean of admissions at MIT resigned amid a bit of a scandal. seems Ms Jones fabricated her own educational credentials. Officials of the institute said she did not have even an undergraduate degree.

Roberto Bolaño featured in The International Herald Tribune. if you've never read him, pick up By Night in Chile. it's truly amazing.

certifying coffee in Chiapas
Trader Joe's sells Fair Trade Coffee. just FYI.

watching The Simpsons can reduce the stigma attached to mental illness. i knew there was a good reason...

did anyone watch the 'debate' on thursday? i thought Obama and Clinton both said a whole lot of nothing. i wasn't impressed. Richardson obviously doesn't understand the meaning of one sentence answers or 60 second responses. he has the most all around experience, and actually answered some of the questions though. John Edwards, who i really wanted to like, did not impress me at all. he didn't seem able to think nimbly on his feet - and i don't mean that in the knee-jerk politico-spin kind of way either. Dennis Kucinich acted like that embarrassing relative you have - the one everyone rolls their eyes at, you know? he said some strong things that no one would come close to saying though. i found that i liked Joe Biden more than i thought i would. he got the only laugh by answering a long winded (which is funny in this context) question from Brian Williams about his verbosity with one word. HA! (as Chris Matthews kept saying) Chris Dodd was decent when he had the time to speak. but Mike Gravel was the show stopper. he said that some of his colleagues at the debate scared him. yup. that's what he said. he also said that he felt like a "potted plant" up there since hardly any questions came his way. we'll see...

so june is coming up fast and i have a lot to do. sell the stuff i don't want to take to florida, toss out what i don't want be reminded of, donate books and music - if anyone has any ideas about that, please let me know. i'm trying to donate some stuff to prisons, but that's slow going. oh yeah, i have to find a place to live and a job. nothing serious, really.
i'm having kind of a hard time thinking about being so far away from my kids - i mean they're grown, but still. i can't believe i'm going to be living in florida.
my dad is going through some alternative therapies since he stopped the chemo for the tumors in his lungs and adrenal gland and is doing radiation for the ones in his head. he sounds alright some days, but i know he's in a fair amount of pain. he still makes jokes though, thank goodness.

i'm off to price rental vans vs. moving vans and see what i can afford. enjoy the day, people. it's gorgeous out.