just rambling

here it is almost Friday again and i'm still knitting on the bottom panel of the cardi, and still trying to get the damn tax stuff
finished, and still doing my daily Greek lessons. sadly, i dont feel like i'm making a lot of progress on any of those things!
yesterday was a strange day..... the smallest things annoyed and frustrated me. i suppose it's at least partly due to Mercury in retrograde. got a bit of an attitude adjustment in the evening knitting/tv time when i found a couple of good programs on
PBS. i tuned in to the 2nd half of a program on Afganistan as they were talking about the destruction of so much of the old
culture and art of the country by the Taliban. there was a Russian archeologist who had excavated some ancient sites during
the 1970's and uncovered lots of gold, some of it as jewelry decorating the body in tombs. it had been placed in safes and
hidden from the Taliban, and they opened the safes as the Russian man watched. he was able to account for all the treasures
he had unearthed 30 to 35 years ago. as the excavating season was coming to an end he had finally (after many years)found
the buried Sleeping Buddha and had uncovered the toe of the statue, but had to close the site and wait til next season. what
an exciting thing for him to look forward to and how agonizing it must be to wait after finally making the discovery!! it was
appalling how much of the art and history of Afganistan was destroyed. it made me think of all the Tibetan Buddhist
art and treasures and religious history which was destroyed and looted by the Chinese government. and the next program on PBS last night was an Andrea Bocelli and figure skating program, which i totally loved. loved his music so much that i am
right now downloading his "Andrea" album from iTunes!!

Here's a recent photo of Rachael -

She has been in the Peace Corps in Tanzania almost 1 1/2 years and has signed on for more time... about 6 extra months, i
think. For anyone who doesnt know, Rachael is the youngest of the Twisted Sisters, is the daughter of my dear friend, Pam,
is an extraordinary young woman and is a "daughter of my heart" and good friend. i love her and miss her so much!! and am
so proud of her!