Kathy's Song

I'm at work. I suppose that means I should be working. Unfortunately my mind is drifting. Ironically I'm listening to Simon & Garfunkel's song Kathy's Song. They just sang,
My mind's distracted and diffused
My thoughts are many miles away
They lie with you when you're asleep
And kiss you when you start your day
Although my mind isn't lying with anyone, or kissing them when they start their day. It is many miles away. Millions of miles away from Silver Spring, Maryland. It's traipsing up and down the internet, searching every nook and cranny for something. I'm not sure what it's searching for, but I have discovered a few interesting things.

First, Augusten Burroughs has a new book out. A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir. It takes place before Running With Scissors, and documents his relationship with his father. I've been feeling it out on Goodreads. It's in a different light then any of his other works. Much darker, pushing you to the brink time and time again. One reviewer even said "Gone are the sharp one-liners, the exaggerated portraits and the wacky antics. In their place is a chilling and terrifying depiction of a soulless sociopath who can barely contain a murderous rage toward his youngest son and mentally unstable wife. It’s more Stephen King than David Sedaris." It's received mixed reviews; I might ditch work early to go buy a copy.

Second. David Sedaris also has a new book out. This isn't exactly new information. I discovered that a few weeks ago when I wondered into Borders at 9:00 at night after locking my self out of my apartment. It's called When you are Engulfed in Flames. This makes me so excited that I just might poo in my pants. I very nearly bought it on said trip to Borders; but I found Diana Wynne Jones new book House of Many Ways. Of course I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that on the shelf. Nestled safely between the Dalemark Quartet and Howl's Moving Castle. (As expected, it was not the greatest book ever written, but made for a delightful Saturday none the less). So as I was saying, my mind has been wondering down the veins of the internet and stumbled across a When you are Engulfed in Flames give away. So of course I entered. Thus far 100 people have entered for a chance to win 1 of 5 copies. And bonus, if I win, I'd also get a copy of...well I can't remember, but Two for the price of none! Can't beat that!.

The third thing I discovered is the following piece of information. I found it on a Xanga, and they apparently nabbed it from a book. So I'm going to share it here.


If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following.


There would be:
57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both North and South America
8 Africans

52 would be female
48 would be male

70 would be nonwhite
30 would be white

70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian

89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual

6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be from the United States
80 would live in substandard housing

70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death
1 would be near birth (ready to deliver)
1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education
1 would own a computer

"When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for both acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent."Philip M Harter, MD, FACEP Stanford University, School of Medicine

My mind has grasped the significance of these statistics, but my heart is still coping with the ramification and the need. Actually, I hope it doesn't cope. Because that would mean that it has accepted these injustices, and I don't ever want to accept that. I'd rather my heart got off it's fat ass, moved out of the richest County in the nation, and did something meaningful.

Stephen Grellet said
I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore that I can do or any kindness i can show to any fellow human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it for I shall not pass this way again."

But how, what and where?