The Good, The Bad, The Really Ugly, and The Really Sad

This has been sort of a weird day. My feelings about things are kind of all over the place.

The Good: My favorites won in both of the reality shows that wrapped up tonight. Chip and Kim vanquished the last two couples in The Amazing Race to take the million dollar prize. I've been rooting for them for a while, so it was nice to see them take it all, especially as it meant Colin and Christie didn't win. On Big Brother 5, cutie pie Drew won a half-million dollars. It wasn't as tense or exciting a final show, but it was a good ending. On a more personal note, I took a chance on doing something I normally wouldn't do and while doing it may not have been a huge success unto itself, I felt good about it. Sometimes it's the little steps we take that stand out.

The Bad: I'm still in "Hang In There" mode at work. I really, really don't like being in "Hang In There" mode, especially for as long as I've been in it.

Mixed Emotions #1: I'm lucky to have a job to be hanging in at, when so many people are still unemployed and underemployed, or have a lot worse working than I do. So I feel bad when I get annoyed about things, because I have it pretty damned good overall and my little problems are pretty damned petty in the large scheme of things. And, hey, I am hanging in there. I haven't given up yet.

The Really Ugly: The continuing beheadings in Iraq. The continuing car bombings in Iraq. The never-ending senseless violence right here at home. Words fail me.

The Really Sad: The huge number of casualties in Haiti due to Jeanne. That country has had such a terrible year, at a time when they should be celebrating a long, hard-won history of independence as the world's first black republic. The devastation that this one storm has brought, when we're already hung-over on hurricane and storm damage in our own country, leaves me feeling a little wrung-out. The numbers are just so enormous, and so many of them didn't have to die. Deforestation is to blame for the severity of the damage, which hasn't been addressed because it's such a poor country and has been in political and economic turmoil for so long. In the space of a few days, the death toll in Haiti has risen to almost 2,500 for the year due to natural disasters. Think about that number. Unbelievably sad. The conditions are horrific. And it's not going to get better for them any time soon.

Mixed emotions #2: Blogging takes center stage in the current issue of Time Magazine. What I'm conflicted about here is that I'm not certain whether this is a good thing or not. Does the blogging world really want it to become so mainstream? How do you ride the fine line between fad and marginalization? But again, it pales in comparison to the sad and ugly stuff above to such a degree that I can't even believe I'm spending time pondering it.

To top it all off: I've never even seen the movie The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.