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in between the glamourous duties of my life (things like cutting 3 weeks' worth of coupons, doing 5 loads of laundry, changing sheets, and other assorted domestic-goddess tasks), i have been riveted by the never-ending reports about the capture of the alleged snipers. i will not believe that these are the guys until all sniper-like shooting stops and these guys are totally caught with the goods, but i am not ashamed to say i have been praying for this capture for weeks.

the fact that some intelligent and intrepid soul stopped to realize that this was a car in question stymies me. i usually have such an incredibly low hope level about people willing to stick their necks out for others. (only because i do and i do and mine gets stepped on or chopped off, every single time.) yet this person did it.

additionally, for some wacky, kooky reason, one of the alleged culprits sought out clergy and talked not only of his recent exploits but of exploits in alabama as well. thank G-d the clergyperson told police. this may be one of the few times i can say i am so glad there are clergy walking the earth.

but if the culprit claimed to be G-d, then why on earth would He need clergy? ok, so i am being a bit cheeky here. but you know, i am so very annoyed by these bastards. i am sure when all is said and done, we will hear about how these poor people were somehow fucked with during their formative years. because someone, somewhere mistreated you in some way during your life, you feel the need to take it out on others. gee, i never got picked to be a popular kid. gee, kids picked on me because i was short/tall/fat/thin/different race/different religion/different planet. etc etc.

boo fucking hoo.

there are millions, probably billions of people who experience this stuff every single fucking day, and somehow, they rise above it. i remember being taunted when i was young because of my religion/ethnicity. i never decided that mass murder or mayhem was a career option for me. why? probably because my parents would have killed me. but seriously, what makes some people rise above these things and others not?

if anyone can recommend a book on that sort of issue, i would be most appreciative.

in the meantime, bully for those who stuck their necks out!

in case anyone is interested, a friend gathered these from the washington post. if you are so inclined, be generous.

“Sonny's Kids,” a fund to benefit needy youths, was set up in memory of James L. “Sonny” Buchanan, c/o Sandy Spring Bank, P.O. Box 10666, Rockville, Md. 20849.

Sarah Ramos Memorial Fund, for Ramos's husband and young son: Sarah Ramos Memorial Fund, 14904 New Hampshire Ave., Silver Spring, Md. 20905.

James D. Martin Educational Trust Fund, a fund to benefit Martin's son. PO Box 10547, Silver Spring, Maryland 20904.

The Lori Lewis Rivera Family Fund, c/o Temple Sinai Nursery School, 3100 Military Rd. NW, Washington, D.C. 20015.

A trust fund has been set up to support the education of Premkumar A. Walekar's two children. Checks should be made payable to Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church, 7700 Carroll Ave., Takoma Park, Md. 20912; mark donations “Walekar Trust Fund.”

A fund was also established for the 13-year-old boy shot outside Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie. Contributions should be sent to: “He's a Fighter Fund,” c/o Riggs Bank, P.O. Box 96758, Washington, D.C. 20090-0560.

National Capital Area Healing Fund, c/o United Way, 95 M St. SW, Washington, D.C. 20024. Donations also can be made through the Web site www.unitedwaynca.org or SunTrust Bank branches in the Washington area.

The Victims' Rights Foundation, Attn: Sniper Victims' Fund, 814 W. Diamond Ave., Suite 200, Gaithersburg, Md. 20878.

A fund to assist victims of breast cancer or violent crime, established by the family of Linda Franklin…Linda G. Franklin Memorial Fund, Mount Olivet United Methodist Church, 1500 N. Glebe Rd., Arlington, VA., 22207

A fund to assist the wife and six children of Kenneth Bridges…Ken Bridges Memorial Fund c/0 Milligan & Co. CPAs, 105 N. 22nd St., Second Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103

as if i am not nauseous enough today.

gentlemen have come to clean the chimney out. we need a new damper in the fireplace ($375 please – cha-ching) because there is a dead squirrel in there.

well, that answers the question from the other day: what is making that g-d-awful smell.

i just realized that there are no electrical outlets in my newly-redone bathroom. there used to be at least one that i know of.

this cannot be good.

i just saw the picture of the woman killed today, and i realize i knew her. i didn't make the initial association when i first heard the name – linda franklin. but i was hoping when i saw the picture — no, that can't be linda from swim class. i ran upstairs to my swim bag where i knew i had her name and phone number. please don't be it, please don't be it. i was literally saying that out loud, over and over.

it was linda from swim class.

i feel sick inside.

linda was a cool chick. she worked for the FBI doing computer security type work, anti terrorist work. we were in a swim class together – water walking – last spring, and she was my walking buddy. many of the women in the class were breast cancer survivors, and she was as well. she had a sensational sense of humor about her cancer, and we really clicked. we talked about breast cancer, about her work (as much as she could tell me, of course) – her work was something i knew would interest BS, and i kept meaning to call her up and try to get together. but life got in my way, and i never got to do that.

i feel sick. and i am merely an acquaintance. g-d knows what her family feels. i read that her husband bent over and tried to shield her body after she was shot.

i have no more words.

whenever you have read my bitching about home depot, you have heard me bitching about the home depot where apparently the ninth victim of the sniper was shot last night. i cannot tell you how many times we go to that shopping center. (oddly enough, there is a michaels on the other side and a shoppers food warehouse as well, both places where others have been shot and killed, though not at these particular ones.) and hearing that the gunman/men escaped east on route 50 makes me quiver.

whenever i or any of my friends are out now, we are always looking through the corners of our eyes for a white or cream colored chevy astro van. i never knew just how many of these #$%#$@% vehicles there were until i started looking for them.

since friday, something has been stinking up our house. it smells literally like shit. it is incredibly unpleasant. BS went up into the attic to see whether some animal went and died in there, but nothing doing. so i now get to call a chimney sweep to see whether something crawled up and died in there. you only smell the smell in certain places in the house: in the front hall, going up the steps to our room, and on your way to the computer. trying to figure out whether that corresponds with heating vents, but the smell isn't near every one. a puzzlement.

jimmy carter wins nobel peace prize.

but seriously, think about it. in my lifetime of living ex-presidents, this is my impression.

*jimmy carter, ex-president, works for peace. he builds houses for homeless people, he nudges nations toward democracy, he tries to better the world. period.

*bill clinton, ex-president, coaches other aspiring politicos and contemplates a talk-show host post.

*george bush, ex-president, whines and whines and whines. and of course bides his time waiting for his son to avenge his humiliation with sadaam hussein.

*ronald reagan, ex-president, makes millions of dollars making speeches and being a pitchman before succumbing to alzheimer's.

*gerald ford, ex-president, plays golf.

*richard nixon, ex-president, spends his life trying to make people like him again after the devastation he wreaked on this nation. oh yeah, and makes millions writing his memoirs.

*too little to remember anything LBJ did, and i think the only other one still alive in the early '70s/late '60s was eisenhower, who didn't do anything in his retirement for the people as far as i am aware.

gee. which one fits your idea of a true patriot and statesman?

no contest.

whoever is shooting down people in our community, please refrain. its boring, and you better hope the police find you before John and Jane Q Public do.

i do not wish to have to explain to my child why i do not let her play outside. frankly, i am thrilled it is raining today so i know we won't broach the subject. but even i am nervous about going out and about on my daily errands. shit. pumping gas has become a risky activity around here; and anytime i see a white van, i freeze. it is bad enough we had the terrorists plow into the pentagon a year ago; now this.