There is sympathy here, believe it or not.

When I was young and wide-eyed, all of twenty-three years old and on the verge of graduating from UCSB, I took an Oceanography class to fulfill my last GE (I know a senior with GE's -- what can I say, the phrase "quantitative relationships" frightened me). The professor was so old-school geek that it was almost laughable, except that she was fun and eager and so *excited* about the subject that you just couldn't help but be excited too. Well, turns out I developed a deep love for Oceanography and boy would I have loved to have made it my minor. This class was fun and Prof. Sea Urchin told us on the first day of class that she would tell us ten things over the course of the semester that would save our lives.

I only remember one.

If you're at the beach and you see the water recede incredibly fast from the shore, run hell-bent-for-leather (and what does that really mean?) for high ground. A tusnami wave is about to come in.

What with everything, I can't help but remember that that is the only one of ten tips that I ever recall. And I feel bad for all the people who don't know. Because when tsunami's show up there's little warning and unless you know what to look for you're toast. They're fast - this one was travelling at speeds of 500mph.

And then I watch the news.

And I am reminded of why I'm not supposed to do that. For those of you not aware, including you Channel 11 anchorwoman, water is not "murderous" and waves are not "killer". This is not The Wizard of Oz and we are not talking about the scarecrow. Tsunami's don't have brains or intentions. Neither do earthquakes or tornados or forest fires. Let's get this straight people, natural disasters are not out to get you. Yes, it's unfortunate. Yes, it's a tragedy. But it's not something you can do all that much about. You survive and you pick up the pieces and hope to be better prepared next time. 'Cause you know, there's always a next time.

Filling the hours between now and New Year's

If your're one of the sad and lonely few who don't own Sims2 (unlike me and trajictale) or if you're just sick of the LJ and the boob tube, I offer you more fic recs. The first set are still The Best Fic of 2004.

The following will probably be culled and included in next year's list. These are all the results of the very awesome 2004 Yultide Challenge.

( Multi-fandom recs AHOY! )

ALSO!!!!

My car hasn't floated away yet but that really isn't saying much. In the meantime, someone please send a life raft. If the rain ever ends, I still need to get to the market for toilet paper. Thank you in advance.