Woke up this morning and turned on CNN to hear news about a fire at a club in Rhode Island that left about 100 people dead. Rhode Island is not too far from NH. I've driven down there to see shows before. First thing I thought about was my brother in law. I don't think he's particularly a Great White fan, but he goes to a lot of shows with friends or when he wins tickets on the radio. It wasn't totally out of the question that he could've been there. I mailed my sister and found out he's fine and no news of anyone else we know having been there. Not that it makes it any less horrible. It's just so sad that people going out to enjoy a night of music had to lose their lives, end up in the hospital or had to experience what must have been a scene from hell.

So this morning I woke up to news about the club fire in R.I., the story about the girl who was given two heart and lung transplants because the first one was the wrong blood type, the oil storage plant that exploded in NY and the US sending combat troops into the Philippines. Is this normal US news? Have I been living in some kind of numbed out fog in Japan? It's terrifying. And then I walk out the door and it's a beautiful Hawaiian morning and the air smells like plumerias. Sometimes life seems more surreal than real.

It's from a totally different context, but for some reason this poem comes to mind. Maybe I just wish life was so simple that I could live it as if it were a dream. Or maybe I'm just imagining waking up in a burn unit after going out one night to see a show.

Kimi ya koshi
Ware ya yukikemu
Omooezu
Yume ka utsutsu ka
Nete ka samete ka
from Ise Monogatari ca. 980

Did you come?
Or did I go?
I can't remember.
Was that a dream or real?
Was I asleep or awake?