A Little Good News and a Rant

About a million years ago, Anne Murray had a song out called "A Little Good News" that I loved... all about reporting the good stuff that happens in the world (and it does happen, people).

Today, I discovered a website that tackles this challenge: Happy News.com: Real News. Compelling Stories. Always Positive.

It's about time.

In other news (this is a rant... so if you don't want to hear it, stop reading now):

My last soldier serving in the Middle East that I supported via Adopt-A-Platoon is going home! Yay! I applied for another one, and this guy is serving in Iraq outside of Baghdad.

When I asked for a wish list from him of stuff he wanted or needed, his reply was "nothing for me", but he visits the hospital every weekend, and asked for small care packages for the injured men and women there.

What do they need? Oh... nothing important. Underwear and socks (laundry facilities are hit or miss, so sometimes they run out). Toothbrushes. Deodorant. Eye drops. Lotion. Lip balm.

His biggest request was for those facemasks you wear when you're sanding something -- he says the sandstorms there are atrocious (though he didn't use that word... I'm taking a few artistic liberties here).

All I can think is this: We can send billions of dollars overseas for "relief" to other countries, but we (as a country) can't send a sufficient supply of underwear to our troops. I wonder what this says about us?

The other thing he said to send are letters of support. Letters. I've appealed to my friends and neighbors to write "any soldier" letters to include with the packages I'm sending, and the response has been dismal. It's not like I was asking for money...

I read in the newspaper that the average family spends upwards of $7,000 on Christmas shopping. WHAT?!? Priorities, people. Good grief. People are starving. Do you really need that flat screen plasma TV or the 2-carat diamond earrings?

Makes me sad.

Okay, I'm done.

Incidentally, I did do some writing this weekend. More revisions on Liv Leigh. Still struggling with where and how to start the blasted novel, but I'm really pretty happy with the middle. I need to add one more scene on the end, and then I'll shoot it off to a writing friend who has graciously offered to give it a look and tell me if it's okay or really rotten.

Thanks, D.

I owe you big time.