What's Real and What's Actual

Somewhere, tucked in the microscopic cells of my brain, the daily minutae of my life are, I thoroughly believe, are somehow entertainment for some higher being. Either that, or I need to address this inescapable need to somehow take the boring tasks which fill my day and put them on a grand(er) scale.

The last few days have been blurry -- and no, I'm not referring to needing to change out my extended wear lenses. Lots has been happening, but most of what's been happening is deadline-induced excitement at work or the random stuff I get done when I'm a) conscious and b) not in the office. Mainly, it's been a lot of work stuff and a lot of coming home/passing out. The weather's been relatively agreeable, so that hasn't been too much of an issue; it's just the question of having lots to do and not much time in which to accomplish it.

Of course, the biggest thing on the reality menu is the revelation that al-Qaeda was/is plotting to blow up airliners traveling from the UK to the US. That's an actual; the real part, of course, is the tandem of knowing that one day we will be prohibited from bringing anything with us on an airplane. On the one hand, people have decried the fact they can no longer bring hair gel, toothpaste, perfume/cologne and contact lens solution with them on a plane. However, since they can bring these things with them -- stowed under the cabin in the belly of the plane -- it's not quite the monumental inconvenience as was originally suggested.

That's not to say, of course, that this isn't another chink in the collective armor of nations who don't train children to be suicide bombers and martyrs. Is this latest non-incident significant? Pretty much. Is it somewhat disconcerting? Absolutely. Is it going to mean air travel as we know it will hereafter be an awful, dreadful experience we must endure if we will ever go anywhere for business, pleasure or both? Not particularly. I'm still eager to fly westward to San Fran in a month or two, and hopefully Kaia will be landing here within a few weeks. I think, basically, that this entire situation has been a bit overblown, but the key to understanding the situation is acknowledging that there will never be another day when some number of radical muslims don't concoct new ways of attacking the West.

On that note, I was downtown this afternoon driving around between a few different destinations; normally I'm on foot, but today I took the car and was going from place to place as expeditiously as possible. As I head west on Fulton Street to the water, I came upon Ground Zero, and while -- with the trailer for Oliver Stone's "WTC" somewhere in my head -- I recall 9/11, I also noticed the whole site had become a combination of a tourist attraction and a mini-mall. There were people selling American flags, USA t-shirts, America bumper stickers, and hot dogs and pretzels. And what I noticed, for better or worse, was that the majority of people who were selling this crap -- to mostly people from outside the metro area, natch -- were from other countries and other cultures. Unfortunately, I did not fail to notice the irony.

The more things change, the more things remain the same.

There's more happening and I'm sure I'll head back here soon; for a change, however, I figured I'd be brief, to the point, and get out leaving the audience wanting more.

Or less -- I'm not completely sure.

But when and if I am, I'll be sure and let you know.