When we lived in Jamaica Plain, we lived on the top floor of a triple decker. We had this great roofdeck.. and we had great neighbors that we shared it with for several years. One year, Ciara and Jenny grew a forest of tomatoes up there. We laughed alot because there was barely room for anything but tomatoes. There was alot of tomato sauce that year. We shared many a beer and cigarettes on that roof deck with Ciara.

We just found out that Ciara was killed in Afghanistan. It is possible that she was killed because she was a lesbian. One bullet through the head, in a non-combat situation, wearing civilian clothing, near the church she worshipped at. There has been a call from Senator Kennedy and Senator Kerry for a full investigation. There is no way she committed suicide.

Dave and I are very sad to hear this news. Ciara was.. awesome. She was sweet and kind and helpful. She gave so much of herself to everyone around her. Including all the animals she used to feed from our front porch (this only became a problem when the skunks wanted to be fed, haha). She especially loved the bunny family she shared with her partner Jenny, the bunnies even had their own room.

Although we havent spoken to Ciara in a couple of years.. we definitely thought about her and treasure the time we were able to know her.

We lost contact with Ciara not long after moving to Salem, but I've thought about her and Jenny over the last few years and wondered where they ended up. Hearing this just makes me very very sad. My deepest sympathy goes out to Ciara's family (who she spoke of lovingly and often) and to everyone else who's life she touched.

I hope that her death is properly investigated. According to her family, Ciara made some comments before her death that seemed to indicate she had uncovered something in Afghanistan that put her life in danger. It's also possible that she was murdered because she was a lesbian. Either way, I hope there is some measure of justice. Ciara deserves at least that much.

Feeling vaguely unsettled today... mostly because of the date, I think. Not much to be done about that. It will pass, as it does every year, most likely without incident.

Alex is getting bigger, smarter, and funnier everyday. Also stronger and faster. I'm dreading the bitter winter months when it won't be as easy to take him outside to blow off steam. Sure, it's fun to play in the snow, but lately our winters haven't been that snowy. Mostly just cold, which really isn't that much fun. I'm sure we'll figure something out. Lots of trips to the museum probably.

In the picture below, Alex enjoys a hammock on his first camping trip in Maine! The dirty face is from rolling around in pine needles....

I love music, but if I have to be honest, it is rarely a medium that reaches deep into my center and holds on. More often, it's a river that flows around me and maybe helps to carry me downstream for a mile or two. It makes the journey a little more pleasant. Occasionally though, a song comes along that grabs me by the collar, punches me in the gut, and then rearranges my head. Even if just for a few minutes, it alters my brain chemistry . Usually I can't even tell you how or why. What can I say... I never really learned the right language to explain the way my mind works.

Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" is one of those songs. It's been covered by a bazillion artists, including Jeff Buckley, John Cale, Rufus Wainwright, Bob Dylan, Bono, Bon Jovi, and Nerdcore artisan Beefy. While some of those covers are quite good, none of them resonate in my brainbox in quite the same way as Cohen's original 1984 recording. It's something about the timber of Leonard's voice paired the backup singers, and the way they deliver the simultaneously sad and exultant poetry of the lyrics.

You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

I want to thank Katrina for introducing me to Mr. Cohen's music back in... oh... 1988. For that, I forgive you for camping out to get Grateful Dead tickets... heh.

So that's one little piece of what's kicking around in my busy head today. Another piece would be Warren Ellis's first novel, "Crooked Little Vein", which I'm about 40 pages from finishing. That deserves it's own post... maybe later today or tomorrow. Wouldn't that blow your mind? Another blog post?

Little dude digs those swingin’ cats!

(from “God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater”, 1965)

- Kurt Vonnegut 1922-2007