i am joining my sister-in-law in fasting for the victims and their families and loved ones today. i pray that every pang of hunger will be a distant reminder of the pain and terror that many suffered before their untimely deaths, and which many are still experiencing as they battle for their lives. may the emptiness in my stomach be a pale shadow of the void left in the hearts of many through the loss of dear children, fathers, mothers, friends, and lovers.

i began my fast yesterday by attending a prayer meeting run jointly by the irvine united church of christ and the university synagogue. christians, jews, several muslims and at least one mormon sort-of atheist (that’s me) were in attendance. the spirit of peaceful compassion was strong, and irvine mayor larry agran spoke about how nyc and dc had more help than they could pragmatically accept at the moment, and how we needed to serve the global community by strengthening the sense of community locally. he specifically asked that we interpose ourselves between the thoughts, words, and actions of hateful people against our neighbors and friends which may be associated (erroneously) with tuesday’s attackers because they are or appear to be from the middle-east.

brandon got mind on fire listed on surfstation. i don’t deserve to be placed on the list with the incredible artists there. the art links posted there and prayer services i attended help me to grieve. i have a renewed respect for the healing power of both art and religion. here are a few of the links that i felt were particularly moving:

- http://www.bucketmedia.com/
- http://www.soundz.de/
- http://www.ste1.net/
- http://www.merzhase.de/
- http://www.myinemy.com/
- http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/image22/why.html
- http://www.betobeto.net/
- http://www.artichoked.com/
- http://www.digital-hybrid.com/
- http://www.feverish.net/
- http://www.seed-online.net/dave/wtc/wtc.html
- http://www.conspi.com/wtc/index.html
- http://www.tepidwater.com/
- http://plaza.ufl.edu/nyffeler/flash.html

i find it heartening that so many artists and developers were willing to take the time to memorialize this tragedy. my faith in humanity is restored. most of us are good. most of us are good.

is the u.s., and are we, entirely blameless in this tragedy? i am the last to condone the heinous acts committed on tuesday morning, but i want to understand why there is such bitterness and hatred directed at the united states and its people. have we done something wrong? are the attacks directed at us specifically because we love freedom, as president bush says? i find this last concept hard to swallow. brandon’s aunt posted a link to this thought-provoking article::