all our crying voices, they can't turn it around

Back and broken from spring! I mean, returned from spring break. Ireland was grand, simply grand--though a bit on the cold and rainy side. Locals said that the weather was the coldest it's been there all winter. Yep. That's to be expected, I suppose, whenever I travel someplace. Torrential rains in LA, snow in Las Vegas and Alabama, 50-degree days in Hawaii, nor'easters in New Haven... I've learned to pack sweaters. Lots of sweaters.

Also, I've been catching up on my many sundry Internet reads from the past week (it's AMAZING how much reading material accumulates when you're not vigilantly scouring the 'net on a daily basis), and saw the blurb on Reuters about the shooting/suicide at a party in Seattle wherein the gunman killed six people before taking his own life. It's a sad, confusing story, particularly after hearing of two suicides of acquaintances in the last three weeks. What it it about March and suicide? In March of my senior year of high school there were two suicides within a week of each other, a sophomore and a senior. Is it that the beauty of spring re-emerging from the bleakness of winter is simply too much for an aching heart to take? Or is it purely coincidence? I'm not sure, and I haven't dwelled long enough on this connection to really make anything of it, but I did find the final line of the Reuters article startling and inappropriate:

"Neighbors said the house was a party spot for young people with dyed hair, body piercings and elaborate makeup."

...and? And this makes them more likely to get shot by their friends? More likely to lead a sordid lifestyle that ends in tragic death? More deserving of their fate, somehow? Ridiculous. Equating the behavior of a severely disturbed individual with his physical appearance (or that of his late friends) is grievously unacceptable stereotyping that does not enlighten the substance of the story in any way, and I certainly expect better reporting from a world-wide news source.

On a lighter note, I really did have a great spring break. Relaxing and lovely. I'm just realizing that it's coming to an end, and I'm feeling vaguely crabby and unsettled. Not to mention, I'm sure, the nascent tree pollen that will fire up my allergies any day now. grrr arrrgh.

Back to the reading for class I should've done a week ago. AWESOME Saturday night. *throws metal sign and bangs head*