#6

I loved the conclusion of I Know This Much is True. So many ends were wrapped up, and in surprising ways that made it even better. The death of his twin really helped Dominick find himself. He was able to forgive himself for mistakes made in his childhood, forgive his mother for favoring Thomas, forgive Ray for being too hard on his stepsons, and even forgive Thomas for all the embarrassment he caused. Ray and Dominick become closer after Ray's leg is amputated due to gangrene. Their time in the hospital and physical therapy really strengthens the foundation that they never had. Dessa is proud of Dominick's progress, and they two of them start dating again. When they realize that the old spark never left- Dominick proposes, and the ex couple gets married again. Dominick and Dessa become friends with Thomas' social worker Lisa Sheffer, and her partner Monica. The two couples collaborate to form a women's help shelter in the Tempesta's old house, and name it after his mother, Concettina. The most important part of the end was the conclusion to Dominick's search for his father. He goes through many theories including his mother being raped and his grandfather and his mother committing incest. Ray finally tells him that his father was Nabby Drinkwater, a half-colored half-Wequonnoc indian, which makes his friend Ralph his cousin. This also solidifies his income for the rest of his life, seeing that a casino was just built on Wequonnoc land. I love the fact that Dessa and Dominick got back together, and they are finally able to adopt a child and belong in a community.

#5

Thomas kills himself. He was raped at the mental institution along with many others, but tested negative for HIV. Because of the "unsafe conditions", Dominick is able to get his brother out of Hatch and released to live at an assisted living center for a week until he can get a spot at a more permanent hospital for his kind of treatment. Due to the low security at the temporary facility, Thomas is able to break out. He goes to the river where Dominick, Leo, and Ralph Drinkwater used to work, takes off his shoes and socks, and jumps off of a tall cliff into the water. His body is found later, and Ray goes down to identify it. Dominick is faced with really strange emotions, from sadness, to feeling like an entire half of him is missing, to relief and happiness. Doctor Patel is trying to convince him that its okay to finally let go, to rid himself of the huge responsibility he put upon himself. Before Thomas' death, he always wondered if part of the mental illness had soaked into him too. The fact that their one cell split apart and became two people TERRIFIED Dominick. He always wanted to differenciate himself from Thomas, be better than the "retard brother". Now that Thomas is dead, Dominick can cope with his own feelings and stop carrying around those of his twin. The other part of being the only son left is Ray's confession and guilt. He knows that how he treated the boys was wrong, and now carries the remorse of trying to "toughen them up". Dominick and Ray become close, especially after Dominick finds out that Ray has been planting tulips on Angela's grave for ten years.

#4

This section of reading takes us back to Dominick and Dessa's breakup. She needs time to heal after Angela's death, and so she takes a cruise by herself. With her time to think, she believes at first that she can go back to Dominick and things will work out, but once she sees him in the airport, Dessa realizes that she can't cope with his grief and needs some time on her own. After crying in front of his students, Dominick quits his job teaching and becomes a housepainter. The two spend time apart, but always meet inconspicuously at gas stations or funerals or visiting Thomas in the hospital. This section of the book now becomes about Dominick finding himself while Thomas is at Hatch and the burden is lifted. He starts visiting Doctor Patel, an indian therapist and anthropologist. In her office she has a statue of the Hindu god Shiva, who represents destruction. Dominick at first is confused by this, but Patel tells him that in her office they need to destroy his old walls and figure out who he is. "Remodeling".
Dominick gets very angry at some of the things she suggests, and has a hard time dredging up bad memories from his childhood to figure out his life now.

#3

"I Know This Much is True" begins the same way as In the Time of the Butterflies. We meet Thomas right after he cut his hand off, and then explore his childhood in order to learn more about him. Thomas was always Concettina's favorite. Their mother would fix Dominick a snack to keep him occupied, and then she would "play nice" upstairs with Thomas. They would read books and play dress up, feminine things that Dominick just wouldn't do. The favoritism was very obvious though, and he was very distraught when his mother died. Accompanying the death in their family, Ray starts sleeping on the couch downstairs and Thomas gets worse. Even though Ray and Concettina started their marriage partly out of convenience, there is no doubt that Ray loved her and wanted to keep her safe. She had a harelip, or birth defect, and he was the only person who told her she was "just as kissable as anyone else". The death of the person he was closest to hurt Thomas, and all of a sudden even more people or things were "out to get him". Another death that occurred during this week's reading was the most significant one in the book. Dominick's ex-wife Dessa and his daughter dies. This occurs in a flashback, but describes the way that he finds her in her crib. She was only three weeks old when she died, and Angela stays with Dessa and Dominick in their worst of times. In his anger and blindness after the death of his first child, Dominick gets a vasectomy. Dessa is overwhelmed by his unwillingness to talk about his feelings, to cope with his anger, and leaves him. She says he "sucks all the air out of the room". Those words stay with Dominick in every relationship thereafter, and he never falls out of love with Dessa.

#2

In this week's reading, we learn more about why Thomas and Dominick Birdsey have big problems of their own. Their mother won't tell the twins who their father is, but she married Ray Birdsey when they were young. Ray is a war veteran two times over, and almost all of his interactions with his step-sons were to "toughen them up". He took control of their mother's life, deciding what she would cook for dinner, how much money would be spent on the boys' college education, and each day would count out the money she would need for the day, never more. Ray has tried to exhibit total control over his new family in all aspects of their lives. Although a good guy at heart, he is definately a promoter of tough love. On the morning after Halloween, Dominick sneaks his candy into church. This is exceptionally rebellious because Ray is very religious, and serious about church behavior and attendance. During mass, Dominick slips Thomas a roll of Necco Wafers, and the crunch gives him away. Ray beats Thomas up in the church parking lot--just demonstrating his fatherly power. During his hours in therapy, Dominick is always wondering if the abuse from his step father is what triggered Thomas' schizophrenia and his own problems with anger management. I think Dominick also blames himself for being favored by Ray. It was almost like the anger that should have been taken out on two was taken out on just one twin, and Dominick feels responsible by not pulling his share of the weight.

#1

The beginning of "I Know This Much Is True" is interesting. It begins with Dominick's brother Thomas cutting his hand off in a library--what a kick start into describing the mental illness. Thomas has been hearing voices in his brain since he was nineteen years old. They tell him that he is God's messenger, and that he needs to get the people's attention before war breaks out between Iraq and the United States. When questioned about his self-mutilation, he replied that he wanted Saddam and George W. Bush to "wake up and stop fighting." The paranoid part of his Schizophrenia is also very strong. He is always afraid of something, be it communists or members of al-Quaida. The illness is so bad for Thomas that he can't eat normally in a McDonalds, he hides from terrorists in the bathroom and orders a Happy Meal for the Little Mermaid toy. The difficult part for Dominick is the fact that he can't understand why Thomas acts this way. He USED to be normal, he USED to have a regular brain. Dominick has trouble being patient so far, but undoubtedly loves his brother very much. After Thomas cuts his hand off and the story becomes public, the media has a field day. The incident could cause criminal charges, and so instead, Thomas is sent to Hatch, a state mental hospital in Connecticut, for a period of two weeks. During that time, he will be observed by the staff and reevaluated. If the people working with him decide he is stable, he will be released to another type of low security nursing home. If not, Thomas must stay in Hatch for a year. Dominick feels like that would be a breach of his promise to his mother, and goes on a rampage to keep Thomas out.

I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE

For this quarter's outside reading, I chose to read "I Know This Much is True" by Wally Lamb. He is one of my favorite authors-his books are the kind you never forget. I read "She's Come Undone" a little under a year ago, and I'll never forget the story of Dolores' problems with sexual abuse and her weight. The story has the same theme as a book we read earlier in the year, "Animal Dreams". In each book the character is struggling to find themselves and hopefully my new book will be the same. The inside cover hints at the story; I'm really excited to learn more about it. The main character Dominick has a twin brother that's a paranoid schizophrenic, and makes a promise to his mother on her deathbed that he will take care of him. The story accounts the struggles of taking on another person almost like a son, as well as switching back between his grandfather's memoir. This should be a great read.

#15

When John Thompson was 18 years old, both of his arms were ripped off by a spinning power takeoff shaft on his father's farm in North Dakota. It is estimated that fewer than 10 people have had successful arm reattachments, so Thompson is very lucky. He credits this luck to his surgeon, Allen Van Beek. The doctor grew up in North Dakota as well, and can relate to this particular patient because he was run over by a tractor when he was thirteen. All of Van Beek's hard work on John Thompson and many others has paid off, because this week he was one of the Sioux Award recipients. This award recognizes great accomplishments made by UND alumni, and is very much deserved. Thompson overcame the odds of him having two arms again, much less partially functioning ones. Miracles can happen to ordinary people, and in this case a tragic accident turned into something to celebrate.


Walsh, Paul. "Twin Cities Reconstructive Surgeon Honored". Star Tribune. 19 October 2008. 22 March 2009.
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#14

The article I chose for today is about the love between a husband and a wife that is strong enough to get through anything. The article is written by the husband, and he describes the accident his wife was in about fifteen years earlier. In a car crash she was paralyzed from the waist down. This creates some unusual problems that occur on a daily basis, like bowel movements in her sleep, the inability to have sexual intercourse, sores that took months to heal, leg spasms, and even flying on airplanes or going into public bathrooms. Even though the lives of both of them and their children have been altered completely, the husband is still so in love with his wife and talks about how proud he is of her when she finished a marathon in a wheelchair. Their family has changed their lives, but make sure not to be afraid to ask for help. They are grateful to have their mom in their lives and don't fret about what she can't do.
The determination and support in this family shows what love truly is.


Martine, Lang. "In a Charmed Life, A Road Less Traveled". New York Times. 6 March 2009. 17 March 2009.
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#13

A bombing this month outside of Baghdad killed another 33 people. When we hear these things on the news every day 33 people doesn't sound like a whole lot, but in reality, the death toll of the war in Iraq is larger than anyone can imagine. American and Iraqi deaths alike, they should not be happening any longer. The bombing was a frightening clue that Jihadis and Baathists may be uniting to threaten the Iraqi capital-and officials are worried. Many recent attacks have been on Americans with relatively high security, showing that they were planned out and coordinated far in advance. Some members of the former al Qaeda supporters as well as those of Saddam Hussein are rumored to have banded together and are planning to destabilize Iraq and the US military that occupies it. Suicide bombs, car bombs, regular bombs, machine guns. Everyone needs to work together to bring back peace to both of our countries because the war has lasted too long.




Santora, Marc. "Bomber Kills Dozens in Iraq as Fears of New Violence Rise". New York Times. 10 March 2009. 15 March 2009.

#12

For this week's blog about colonization, an article was hard to find. Which is why I stole it from Claire because she has good ideas. In Darfur the youth are known for the rebelliousness. Young men are called "Shabab", which literally means "young men" in arabic. The Shabab work against the Sheiks of Sudan, fighting for what they believe is right, and violently killing those who stand in the way. Sheiks in Darfur have been found dead in numerous ways; shot at point blank range, a nail hammered into the forehead. These hotheaded youths have been growing up in a time of war and colonization by other African ethnic groups. It is no wonder that they are accustomed to violence considering it has been around them forever. Since the boys are opressed and live in camps such as the Hamadiya, people fear an uprising of a Shabab military group. There is the possibility, but Darfur does not need any more violence in its midst and this should definitely be controlled by anyone in power.






MacFarquhar, Neil. “Angry Youths Become a Force in Darfur.” New York Times. 20 December 2008. 11 March 2009. .

#11

Deforestation has always been a problem around the globe, but things have gotten especially bad on the island of Sumatra. The charred stumps and barren fields have been destroyed by paper and palm oil companies. not only does it affect air quality, but it affects the animal population and Sumarian people's livelihoods. One man said that a year ago he could earn up to 100 dollars a week catching shrimp, but now he is lucky to earn 5 dollars a month doing the exact same thing. Uses for the coveted palm oil include cosmetics and beauty products-but more increasingly it is used for biodiesel. Even the actual cutting of the trees is harmful to the environment, carbon stored in the trees is emitted into the atmosphere causing 20% of all greenhouse gasses.
More attention needs to be focused on the things that will have long term effects on our planet, and hopefully the Indonesian government will take action.


Gelling, Peter. "Forest Loss in Sumatra Becomes A Global Issue". New York Times. 6 December 2007. 8 March 2009.
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#10

The article I read is about the tough temptations for alcoholics during the holidays. When everyone around them, friends and family, are getting into the spirit--it can be hard to refuse "just one". With things such as eggnog martinis, Christmas Eve can tend to get a little out of hand as it starts to get late and people keep drinking wine. For the author, Jim Atkinson, the holidays also carry memories of mingling with drink in hand; and what it feels like to be drunk. It has been sixteen years since Atkinson had his last drink, and he remembers that it always took him much longer to pass out than his friends. Maybe in college this was something to brag about, but later in his life he reflects on how that led him to his alcohol problem. During the holidays family and friends should be considerate of party guests with alcoholism, and offer "virgin" versions of cocktails and other beverages.


Atkinson, Jim. "Its the Holidays. How About Just One?". New York Times. 8 December 2008. 3 March 2009. .

#9

The popular Bollywood movies in India and the middle east are a big part of culture in those countries. So big, that an Israeli arms dealer used the film style as a promotional video describing the benefits of Indo-Israeli defense trade relationship.
The advertisement was shown at Aero India 2009, and a company representative was questioned about the nature of the video. He said that the purpose was “to help build familiarity between India and Israel and Rafael.” Some critics have responded well to the attempted methods, while others have criticized it more harshly. Stephen Trimble, on his DEW Line blog called it a “catastrophic collision of Bollywood and the arms industry, and dared readers to watch the video “and, if you’re able, immediately erase the awful tune from your brain.”
I'm not sure how effective it would actually be in creating a weapon-trade alliance, but it might be a good start in winning over the people's favor of the agreement. Although the video is obnoxious, it does compare to Bride and Prejudice that we watched in class.


Mackey, Robert. "Israeli Arms Dealer Tries Bollywood Sales Pitch". New York Times. 10 February 2009. 1 March 2009.
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#8

In the Bronx, New York, there is a place called Urban World that has a sort of "open mic" program for teenagers to recite poems or spoken words for others interested in the same thing. Spoken word comes from hip-hop music and African beat poetry, so naturally most of the performers at Urban world are African American. In the New York area there are also competitions for spoken word, with prizes such as $30, 000 in scholarship money, a laptop and a printer. One girl entered in the contest for the scholarship money has been expressing herself in poetry ever since her mom died of cancer at age 45. It's a good way for her to get feelings out, while she has a serious audience that is intent on hearing her story. Spoken word artists must also be versatile-its not all just rap about sex and drugs. A favorite saying from participants is "You gotta be shakespeare and tupac."


Robbins, Liz. "Teenagers With Souls Of Poets Face Off." New York Times. 2 March 2009.

#7

Almost everybody I know has a cell phone. Even some fourth graders. It's unbelievable the influence of technology today, on people of all ages. The cell phone has now started to take over even the map industry. Richard Saul Wurman says "The map underlies a man's ability to perceive". But instead of on paper, maps have now appeared on Google, where you can type in a street address and see a picture of the house from its street view. Directions are available via cell phone, as well as MapQuest or GPS systems for your car. Another recently launched program from Google is a system called Latitude, which helps you find restaurants, malls, parks, and even exactly where your friends are, using the signals from their cell phones. Parents could use Latitude to know where their kids are, but it could also be a dangerous way for scary people to track you down. With new technology and change comes new precaution, but ultimately change can be a good thing, improving the way we live and our efficiency.

Markoff, John. "The Cellphone, Navigating Our Lives." New York Times. 16 February 2009.

#6

In Africa and Asia alone, almost two million girls and women are suffering from a post labor condition called a fistula. Fistulas happen when the uterus is too small for the baby, allowing other organs and tissue to be crushed by the skull. The tissue dies, leaving a hole in the bladder that urine uncontrollably comes out of. Some women also have it in their rectums as well as nerve damage in their legs. In tribal villages these women are often rejected because of the smell or the work that must be done to wash their garments-just adding to their pain. Lucky for some Tanzanian girls and women, the African Medical and Research Foundation or AMREF is funding about 20 operations to repair fistulas. These girls now have hope for a regular life without a condition that affects every part of them. Operations in remote parts of Africa can be risky, because of a low blood supply, untrustworthy electricity and a small team of doctors. Even the smaller chance of success gives hope to the women who have struggled with fistulas since childbirth.

Grady, Denise. "After a Destavating Birth Injury, Hope". New York Times. 9 February 2009.

#5

Hindus as well as catholics believe that life starts at conception. This creates a conflict with stem cell research, something that potentially can be very helpful, but allowing the research is against some religious beliefs. Our last president George W. Bush restricted government funding for stem cell research, appeasing conservative republicans but outraging some scientists and biotechnicians. Ultrasounds may help indian women abort female children, as a girl is still considered a burden to the family. Technology should not be the solution to India's ethical problems though, and many scientists are working on cloning endangered species such as the Indian cheetah. Some believe that an ancient story about an Indian mother putting the flesh of her pregnancy into 100 pots and having 100 sons thereafter is a sign that the cloning and research is okay, well others argue that the story always meant darkness and problems were ahead. The biggest argument in this case is wether or not religion should get in the way of something that could greatly help others and other diseases, such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, and Parkinson's.


Mishra, Pankaj. "How India Reconciles Hindu Values and Biotech". New York Times. 21 August 2005.

#4

Approximately 300 women held in immigration detention centers in Arizona are struggling from various health issues. Women need more medical attention than men when it comes to their bodily well being, and as illegal immigrants--are not getting it. The 300 women reside in Arizona, while there are over 3,000 women in such detention centers nationwide. The study was released January 13th, and immigration officials immediately criticized it, saying the research was "unsubstantiated". The women were treated aggressively even without a potential flight risk-which caused some internal damage. Women suffered from ovarian cysts, lack of prenatal care, lack of cancer treatment, and were sometimes put in cells with federal prisoners. Those especially affected by the harsh conditions were pregnant mothers or new moms who had their children in the detention centers.
Gender roles in prison can seem almost ignored, the two sexes have both done something wrong, and therefore are treated as such. This story reminds me of the semi-recent discovery of the way that women need to stretch to get warmed up before being active. Many olympic level women athletes were being warmed up the way that men usually do, when their bodies are entirely different. Treatment for women is also complex and different.

Frosch, Dan. "Report Faults Treatment of Women Held at Immigration Centers." The New York Times. 20 January 2009.

#3

In my Spanish III class, we started watching a movie called In the Time Of The Butterflies, about the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. I missed the end for a choir field trip, but I went home and rented it. I watched it two more times I loved it so much. The main characters are three sisters who become a huge part of the revolution against Trujillo. They create alliances with many churches and spread the word of change to many other Dominicans. Trujillo has a weird obsession with the oldest sister, Minerva. She uses this to her advantage and becomes the first female to attend law school. The sisters are shot at, attacked, ambushed and imprisoned, but they never give up on their goals. Eventually they are ambushed and beaten, but the message and their efforts live on. People in the Dominican Republic are killed if they speak out against the government, which is a culture much different than ours. In the United States, free speech is an amendment of the constitution, and anyone can go to law school. We are lucky to have such freedom in our country, but it highlights the strength of women in a dictatorship.

#2

A small Yup'ik village in Alaska struggles to stay populated, keep the salmon populated, and meet the high costs of gasoline, heating oil and food. Gas is $6.59 a gallon, heating oil is $7.06 a gallon, and a box of Cheerios costs $8.29. Another struggle of the 700-person village is the fact that voting ballots aren't in the Yup'ik language. The town elder, Anna Nick went to Anchorage to demand the ballots be in her language. "I want to know what I'm voting for", she says. Akiachak's residents live with extreme cold, and make do without running water or indoor plumbing. Their police chief bathes in water from the Kuskokswim river, and uses a honey bucket as a toilet. Although the facilities are very primal in Akiachak, the residents are happy with what the have, are trying not to give in and move to Anchorage. They are proud of their history, and would like to stay together.


Barry, Dan. "Remote and Struggling but Still a Bit of America." New York Times. 5 October
2008. 2 February 2009.

#1

On Monday an earthquake struck China, and at least 3,000 have died, while another 4,500 are missing. China has had many tragedies before, and now bloggers and others are speaking out about why the government ignored warning signs of the earthquake. Considering China's oppression with foreign news websites around the time of the Olympics I doubt they will be too happy about the obvious opposition. Some obvious warning signs for the earthquake that struck the Sichuan Province were the cows, throwing themselves against their enclosures in obvious angst. Ponds inexplicably drained, and toads swarmed the streets. Some bloggers even say that several warning signs from a local seismology bureau were ignored by Chinese authorities.
Even the seismometer was invented in China, a device to measure the tremors of the earth and determine if an earthquake such as the one Monday were about to happen. It is surprising to me that considering the amount of earthquakes and other disasters in China, the authorities aren't taking more precautions.

Jacobs, Andrew. "Superstitions About Quake Meet the Web, Irritating Chinese Authorities." New York Times. 16 May 2008. 2 February 2009.

#15

A 14-year-old girl was sold into marriage by her father to an 18-year-old guy named Margarito Galindo. The reason for the marriage? Galindo was instructed to pay Marcelino Martinez (the girl's father) $16,000 in cash, 160 cases of beer, 100 cases of soda, 50 cases of Gatorade, 2 cases of wine and six cases of meat. Apparently all those involved were from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, where such a deal would be honorable and legal. Unfortunatley for them, in California, its not. The marriage was arranged through a third party, and the daughter moved in with Galindo, but her father called the police when the payment was not delivered. According to authorities, the girl went willingly but a marriage never took place. Galindo and Martinez did involve in sexual relations though. The Greenfield, California police are now trying to spread awareness to the large Oaxacan community that arranged marriages between young girls and older men are NOT okay in the United States.



http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/13/daughter.for.sale/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

#14

iTunes has recently announced that it will be removing the DRM restrictions from its online music store. Each downloaded itunes file contained extra software that stopped it from being duplicated multiple times or put on other music players. It seems like kind of a moneymaking ploy though, because songs WITH DRM are $0.69, and songs without are $1.29. DRM was never popular with the music industry, and now iTunes is charging customers extra to have music without it. I'm sure eventually things will work themselves out, but for now it just seems like kind of a scam. I was happy with the consistent dollar-a-song. Another thing I noticed before I read the article, was an option on my iTunes that offered to strip the DRM from all of my music for $107. I wonder if anyone actually would spend the money to do that. We'll see if iTunes makes more or less money off of this change.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7813527.stm

#13

Carl Pohlad, the longtime owner of the Minnesota Twins baseball team died today in his home in Edina. He has been a big part of Minnesota, as well as our smaller community of Edina. Pohlad owned the Twins as well as banking, bottling, and real estate companies. Forbes Magazine estimates that he is the 102nd richest man in the world, and he lives in our very own town!
Pohlad never retired, but was also very modest with his wealth. He returned a Rolls Royce he received as a birthday gift because he thought it was too ostentatious. It seems to me like the most successful people these days are the ones who had to start from scratch. They are respected for going from nothing to everything, just like Pohlad did. His mother did laundry for others and his father was a railroad brakesman. The wealthy people who inherit their money are often times just made fun of. Paris Hilton for example...




http://www.startribune.com/business/37106499.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU1E::Dy_oacyKU

#12

Recently in the Twin Cities questions have been raised about the salary of Joe Dowling, director of the Guthrie Theater in downtown Minneapolis. This information has become public during the recession where other nonprofit theater and arts groups are struggling. Dowling recieves $682,229 in salary and benefits each year, and Kate Barr (Executive Director of the NonProfit Assistance Fund) is wondering, "What basis of comparison are they using for setting this compensation?"
Although Minneapolis is a great city for the arts, many of its organizations are struggling to bring in enough funds, and the extremity of one man's pay seems a little over the top. In fact, he is earning more than some of his peers in New York.
Another argument is that he works for a top tier organization, so to keep top tier employees, they must pay top tier salaries.
I don't know how legitamate that is; Joe Dowling is overpaid.



http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/36945579.html?elr=KArksUUUU

# 11

Today ( Sunday, January 3) At 4:35 AM, an earthquake struck Indonesia. It had a magnitude of 7.6 and stretched about 95 miles.
It occurred near the north coast of West Papua and killed at least 2 people. 35 are injured, and a sweep of the rubble revealed nobody else trapped inside. Four large buildings and many, many houses collapsed, leaving destruction and homelessness. Initially a tsunami warning was issued, but lifted soon afterwards. I can't imagine what it would be like to live in one day where everything turns to nothing so quickly. I'm not sure that Indonesia has as many resources for disasters like we do in the US, and I hope they get some foreign aid for the victims of this tragedy.

A poem from a child in the middle of it would sound something like this:

Earth shaking legs quaking
get in the doorway.
broken glass
from pictures I won't see again
mom holding dad's hand
crumbling plaster
mumbling prayers
neighbors screaming
thunder from the ground
squinting my eyes
clenching my fists
and sudden silence
and eerie calm.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/01/03/indonesia.earthquake/index.html