One late evening in Pacifica, another lovely sunset slipped by...

...as humanity muddled on.

Folding wetsuits after another day out surfing the woman shakes out her hair in the fading light, a guy unfolding his spare bed for a friend who dropped by, dogmatic scientists and blow-hard industrialists bickering about CFCs and HFCs on the radio, analysts writing books examining the evolution of terrorists as a global profession of people who would perhaps like to blow up the world to make a point, governments quietly planning to blow up the world to make a counter-point, the Catholic church using insurance money to pay damages to children victimized by smiling priests in suits, a girl lying bundled in bed turns desperate as another insurance company denies coverage for her need of pain medication, an overweight man with a twenty dollar cigar nestled in the inner pocket of his cashmere jacket lurches into a gas station cursing at the thought of re-fueling his custom-ordered 2007 Mercedes S500 with special accident avoidance technology, the cost of a barrel of oil rising steadily till it reached about the same amount of money a person in sub-Saharan Africa and remote parts of India has to eat for a year.

Happy Holidays, all.