2:33 a.m. - 2005-07-08
blown away but not blown up
Today was a weird day, so please excuse my tendency towards melodramatic speech. I'm also a bit tipsy.
I don�t know if it was because I didn�t really get what was happening when I first heard about the bombs that went off in London, or if it was because I was surrounded by innocent children horsing around at a playgroup, but the news didn�t really sink in until I saw what was happening on the television. Terrorists had struck in London, only minutes away from where I work and live.
As the day went on, I got phone calls and emails from friends and family, making sure that I was ok. I suppose the idea that I could actually be affected by something like this never really occurred to me before. But then I realized that I had been traveling on the same tube line that was attacked an hour and a half earlier, and that my brother takes that same train to get to work when he decides not to work from home. I guess it could have been me or someone I know, but fortunately it wasn�t.
I�ve been watching the news all day. The English have a certain way about them that makes this whole event seem almost subdued. When witnesses talk, they tend to be calm, though understandably emotional. This is what happened, and I survived it is what they seemed to say. The media en masse didn�t get caught up in the drama of it, but simply gave the public the facts so we could be comforted by feeling that we knew what was going on. There was a dignity about the way London reacted to the tragedy that made it bearable.
And then I see the American coverage of the event later on that night, and I�m disgusted. Americans have a way of sensationalizing these sorts of incidents that contrasts so dramatically from the sobriety of British coverage. For Americans, it�s all about how this affects them. Major US cities were both comforting their citizens by celebrating their public transports� systems infallibility and, at the same time, exposing their weaknesses, all depending on who you were talking to. Talk about mixed messages. There were numerous mentions of �copycat� bombers, as if every threat that the world faces is directly linked to the security of all Americans. The government even raised their security level to �Orange� (whatever that means) because of the London bombs. It makes me want to slap their leaders in the face and yell �It�s not all about YOU!�
I saw on one of the American broadcasts that, at a British Embassy in the States, Condoliza Rice wrote in a book of condolences, �They will not have died in vain.� Sadly, though, I don�t think this is true. The fact is, the world at large will use this attack as a means to fuel the fires of fear and suspicion that make this world the terrible place it is in this day and age. Anti-terrorism bills will be passed in congress without dissent, trampling the basic rights of those who are unlucky enough to be branded a terrorist; racism against Islamic groups will be heightened by all the talk of Al-qaeda; fear will become the primary motivator in peoples� lives, making them suspicious of strangers and friends alike.
There is a lot of talk of �letting the terrorists win� and what that means. The way I see it, they�re doing it as we speak, not because they are striking fear into the hearts of the common man, but because they are breeding an environment of complacence amongst the general public when it comes to their government. We look to our leaders to protect us. But when it comes to men like George Bush and Tony Blair, instead of instilling a sense of safety in their country, they use the atmosphere of terror that these events create to promote their own agenda, and the people let them do it.
Maybe I�m just rambling here. Maybe I�m not making any sense. I admit I�ve had a couple of glasses of wine so far tonight. But there�s a part of me that not only grieves for the lives that were lost today, but also for the future � a future that is dominated by fear and led by those who would encourage it.
As for me, I choose not to be afraid.
11:51 p.m. - 2005-07-07
what the f%�$#?
I'm watching "Training Day" and one thought keeps running through my mind again and again and again. So I thought I'd share...
I don't care how many times he swears or says the N word, Denzel Washington is still a Dork in gangsta's clothing.
Word.
3:29 p.m. - 2005-06-14
movin' on up, to the east side...
Never a dull moment in the rollercoaster of life that is the world of Wakko�I have no place to live next month.
Weeeeeee!
Last October, four young professionals decided to rent a house together. They found a lovely house in a pleasant neighbourhood and all was good. That is, until one of them got a job in France and had to move out at the end of the year. Along came me, who needed a place to live and decided that the house was nice enough for me to take over the room. My name was put on the lease, and I was assured that if I wanted/needed to leave, all I would have to do is find someone to replace me on the lease. All was good again.
That is, until last Friday.
The back-story: another flatmate, let�s call him Gianni (because that�s his name), landed a job in Germany and needed to leave at the end of June. Fair enough, he just needed a replacement flatmate. Gianni looked and looked for someone to take over his room, but had little luck. The main reason for that being that the lease was up at the end of September, and so the room would only be available for three months. Undeterred, Gianni went to the landlord and explained that he might not be able to find someone to replace him in the house, but that he still wanted his share of the deposit back when he left. He handed the landlord a letter stating that he was leaving and then took off to his native Italy for a vacation.
At the same time, I told the landlord that I was planning on leaving the house at the end of July. I had found some friends that I wanted to move in with and, after much discussion, we agreed that we would move into a place at the beginning of August. Then landlord was very agreeable and everything seemed hunky-dory.
Then, last Friday, the other Italian flatmate, let�s call her Claudia (and you can guess why), ran into the landlord as she coming home from work. He explained to her that since Gianni was having trouble finding a new flatmate, and since I would be leaving soon as well, maybe it would be better if we all moved out at the end of June. Technically, by giving him a letter stating his intent to leave, Gianni broke the lease for all of us and the landlord was, in the politest way, trying to kick us out of the house so he could get it rented whole again.
And that�s when things got interesting. Claudia, Gavin (the fourth housemate) and myself tried to figure out what to do. We suggested to Gianni that he might have to lose his part of the deposit since he started this whole mess to begin with. Through a series of heated emails, he declined the offer. Claudia decided that she was fed up with the whole mess and, in a very dramatic and Italian way, declared she wanted to leave as soon as possible. Gavin decided the same thing, albeit in a much more civil manner akin to his Irish upbringing. The next day it was decided, though not necessarily by me, that we would inform the landlord that we�ll be leaving at the end of June and confirmed that we would indeed get our deposit back.
Unfortunately, this decision left me in a slightly awkward position. See, in about two days, I�m heading back to Canada for a much needed summer vacation. I don�t arrive back in London until the 3rd of July.
Do you see the dilemma?
And then there is the issue of where to move to. Remember when I said that my friends and I decided to move at the beginning of August? Well, because of leases and vacations and various other factors, that was the earliest time we could manage it.
And so, there you have it. I have no place to live next month.
I�m trying to look on the bright side of the situation, however. I�ve decided to live nomadically next month, I�ve got family and friends that I can stay with for a few days at a time, so at least I won�t be paying rent. I�m storing most of belongings (which I�ve been frantically packing away for the past two days) in my brother�s attic, so there�s no problem there. And finally, I don�t have to worry about finding someone to replace me on the lease. All�s well that ends well.
I hope.
