I haven’t been sleeping well this last week. The neighborhood stray keeps showing up at 3:30 or so in the morning, stressing the cats and awakening me. Usually I’m able to fall right back to sleep, but I haven’t been as successful this week. The brain just has a hard time turning off right now.

There’s too much going on right now at work for a vacation to be convenient.

But work is so stressful that I really need a vacation.

And, of course, our vacation is designed to keep us moving for 10 straight days. I hope I won’t return home more tired than I left.

The Supreme Court is going to go ultra-conservative. People will forget (or forgive) Bush’s inadequacies. The Democrats will kow-tow. The Republicans will grovel. Few will notice. Fewer will care.

People from Louisiana and Mississippi have lost everything. People are lying dead in the streets. Others are waiting to be allowed to start cleaning up and removing dead bodies. No one will let them. Animals are dying. Animals are in shelters. People are in shelters. Life just seems so sad for so many.

And while we pay attention to those who’ve been hit by major upheaval, minor upheavals uproot smaller pockets of people all over every day. No one throws a benefit for them.

I just feel so … weary.

Mum’s been waiting for this post for an awfully long time — longer even than I have been.

Rudi and I have been prevented from doing this for some time, but we’ve finally taken the next step… (more…)

Given I hadn’t heard about Blog Day 2005 until this morning, I’m unprepared to nominate five recent additions to the Blogosphere. But I can share with you five blogs from around the world that I think deserve a daily read:

Keep the Coffee Coming: Kat shares music (folk on weekdays, thematic choices on weekends), photos, and memories from her Cape Cod home.

Delicious:days: Nicky writes from Munich, blending a love of food with a clean design and phenomenal photography.

Blog of a Bookslut: Jessa in Chicago and Michael in Albuquerque (at least I think that’s where he’s from) provide weekday updates on the literary world-at-large, adding their own witty insights to each entry.

Count Your Sheep: Adrian from Mexico City draws this sweet web comic about Katie, Ship, and Laurie. Technically, I shouldn’t count it as a blog, but Adrian also includes little notes with most days’ comic, so we’ll classify it as a blog at least for today.

The Traveler’s Lunchbox: Melissa in Edinburgh describes lovely dishes — whether at home or abroad — and makes my mouth water on a regular basis.

After you’ve checked out my suggestions, investigate what other bloggers think are worthy reads.

I’ve been looking at photos from the Gulf Coast and would like to extend my heartfelt sympathy to all who are suffering. My parents’ house used to flood — just a few inches, but enough to wreak havoc — and that doesn’t even begin to compare to the total devastation I’m seeing in some of these shots.

Please know our sympathy is with you.

Today I bought my cousin Caroline some ornaments for her wedding. They’re nice enough, but I’m not overly thrilled. It just wasn’t what I imagined when I came up with the idea. Some of them are definitely fun — hiking boots and a string of hearts — but I just wish I were more pleased with them as a set. Maybe over the next week or so I’ll find that one perfect ornament that pulls the rest of them together.

This is the problem I face every time I buy presents — I get an image in my head and when reality fails to live up to imagery, I’m disappointed. I guess I have to work on that…

Sam and Alexis’ wedding invitation arrived in the mail yesterday. It was beautifully designed — the sort of thing you’re actually delighted to have grace your mailbox.