Fighting Words

Life is fragile.     Life is fleeting.          Life is beautiful.                   Life is hard..... I have had so many reminders of these facts in the past week, it would be hard to write about anything else.  My mind is all over the place, and my heart is torn apart.  On Friday I witnessed some of the most precious and devastating moments shared by a family, and I know those memories will be burned into my mind forever.  My best friend since I was six years old stood vigil by her mother's hospital bed when I walked in, her sister sat in a chair at the foot of the bed, and her father- a man who was the kind of husband they write fairy tales about- was lying next to her in the bed, his forehead pressed to hers, his arms around her, his lips uttering the promises she needed to hear before she could find h...

I have a lot on my mind today, but I cannot articulate it all here.  It is all too much to put on paper.  But I have been meaning to post a paper I wrote about the War on Drugs a couple years ago, because I feel like it deserves more exposure than it has had thus far.  There's no need to preface it with anything...it speaks for itself.  (Names have been changed to protect the individuals involved) *************   On November 22 nd , 2011 at 11:03PM, 23-year-old *Taylor Hopp got the best heroin of his life.  Taylor had been hooked on heroin for over two years, but in the months leading up to that night he had attempted to quit using several times.  He tried to get into treatment programs for months, and finally did in June 2011.  But, after three months in a suboxone program, Taylor’s girlfriend of three years left him.  Taylor began to drink daily, and eventually he lost his job and his insurance, and subsequently, his suboxone program. ...

Most people that know me are probably expecting some serious anger from me regarding the results of last night's election.  Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not mad.  I am a lot of things, but angry is not one of them.  I am discouraged.  I am sad.  I am disappointed.  I'm also still wondering how this even happened, how the two worst candidates from both parties ended up squaring off against each other when no one even liked them.  It's ridiculous.  Democracy, it seems, is a joke.  Then again, those of us who are even slightly educated and informed have known this for many years.  Our country belongs to the wealthy...it is a plutocracy, in all actuality.  So along with not being angry about the election, I am also not surprised.  This is what I've come to expect from the American people, as brainwashed as they are by the corporate media and pop culture.  Sheep...that's what our society has been reduced to...a bunch of ove...