Random quote of the day:

Girl: "What kind of sandwich is that?
Guy: "Ham on challah."

But I digress...

I overheard that, not surprisingly, on the bus, which I spent way too much time on today. Do bus thermostats only have two settings, Off and Raging Inferno? I could feel that ridiculous heat sort of curl up into my nose, feel it curdle my feet and chap my skin. I hate that feeling. And I hate having to stand on the bus with my arms outstretched like some ill-crucified god, all my soft, vulnerable underbelly exposed. After dark, when the only light on the bus was from the red Exit signs, I just leaned my forehead against the window, to feel the cold.

I've been spending a lot of time immersed in humanity lately. Too much time, I think. Last night I watched about 3 straight hours of one of those "real life" ER -type programs on The Learning Channel, and I just sort of zoned out on other people's pain. I don't mean that I didn't feel it, not at all. It was just so real, so visceral, so much more authentic - I guess that's the word I'm searching for, I can't really find the right one- I was crying for these people I will probably never meet, and who hopefully have moved on from these traumas. They showed the pulling of the plug, a death so quiet, so subtle, so deceptive... The boy had been shot, something gang-related...One of those things you hear about on the nightly news that you don't really think about because it happens so often. I was shaken so deeply...went to bed with the tears still in my eyes. Happy Halloween everybody...hope all your treats are yummy and your tricks are successful...