Leah had such a blast at her surprise party tonight. I think it's the first surprise party I've ever been involved in where the recipient truly had no idea. The look on Leah's face when she walked into Sophie's house and started following the clues to find all her different friends was priceless. The guests were mostly her theatre pals and boy, what a bunch! If some of those kids don't end up winning Tony Awards, I'll eat my Ethel Merman soundtracks! How did ten years pass so quickly? While nothing gives me greater pleasure than watching Leah grow and change and mature, I also feel that there's a bit of grieving that I go through each day as I am constantly saying good-bye to the Leah that was and getting to know the Leah that is.
In one of my most neurotic moments ever, I was driving home from Leah's school the other day when I was suddenly gripped with the fear, "What if the Earth were suddenly to spin off its axis?" I then realized what an insane thought that was. So now I hear today that the earthquake/tsunami in Asia this weekend was so strong that the Earth DID noticeably jiggle in its axis! The reports out of Asia are more horrific with every passing hour, and I've been riveted to the ghastly first-person accounts of people being hurled every which way without a moment's warning. The death toll now is almost 60,000 and they say it's going to go much higher. I don't think there's ever been a natural disaster this huge, certainly not in my lifetime.
And now did you hear about NASA upgrading the risk factor to the highest level ever (1 in 300 chance) of a huge meteor decimating our planet on April 13, 2029?? They still say it's unlikely and that this number will continue to change, but OY, why do we need to know this? As Leah would say when I'm obsessing: "Dad, it's in the future, there's nothing we can do about it now." I'm really not THAT worried about 2029, but it's just such a bizarre, specific date. Kendall is less than pleased that I brought this to her attention. Oh well, at least I'll be 70—but Leah will only be 35. Stop it, Danny, NOTHING is going to happen! Don't we have enough to worry about right here in 2004? I also learned today that tsunamis ARE possible on the west coast and that of all the Pacific states, California is the least prepared. There's good news. Just breathe...
thank god you have a blog so every time i want to tell someone about my great writer friend danny, i'll have an easy referral proof at hand. of course, it helps that you are neurotic and lovable and sometimes just loony and have no boundaries on what you let people know about yourself.
Posted by: tracy moore | December 29, 2004 at 02:58 PM
Ha, thanks Tracy! Well, at least this blog will provide proof that I'm neurotic and loony! But just in case you were quaking in your boots, I saw on the NASA site this morning that after increasing the odds of that meteor obliterating us in 2029 to 1 in 37, they've now called the whole thing off because of some new computations. Oy, should NASA change its URL to letsfuckwiththeirheads.gov?
Posted by: Danny | December 29, 2004 at 05:27 PM