Sweetie, as selfish and awful as this may sound, you have every right to be safe and comfortable in your own home, freaking out about gas prices with the rest of us. It's your version of reality, and no one should make you feel guilty about it; that's such a dangerous road to go down, and once you start, there's not many places to turn back, as abject depression feeds more abject depression.

I have to pull myself out of that cesspool of hopelessness every time I hand money over at the supermarket or Target or whatever, thinking about the amount's South African rand equivalent, and what that could buy for a child. It's such a vicious cycle.

So while awareness is never a bad thing, paralyzing horror is most definitely not. And the media is feeding us horrific imagery nonstop, which, while good for the Red Cross and other relief organizations, is not so good for our psyches.

Also: You've most definitely helped by donating to the Red Cross, no matter how inconsequential it may actually feel to you. Seriously, that's way more than a lot of people are doing. Most are drowning in apathy or rendered dumb by the feeling of, "That's terrible. Too bad there's nothing I can do," and then put down the paper, turn away from the TV, go back to their Cheerios and drop the kids off at soccer practice later.

But I know it's frustrating and guilt-inducing to watch destruction on such a massive scale. We're all feeling powerless and angry at the Bush administration for their response to this -- or lack thereof. But that's a tangent for another day.

I'm sorry I've kind of just started randomly ranting -- I hope hope hope this helps somehow. *huggles* And I hope AnimeFEST was absolutely amazing!