How did I get here?
…
And you may ask yourself
How do I work this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?

I think the Talking Heads ask some pretty good questions to start off September. How did we get here? August was a bang-up month for sure — lots of work projects, the Blogathon, a blog redesign, the best weekend ever, my debut as the tooth fairy and so much more. August was packed full of busy-ness (not to be confused with bidness, naturally), and here we are.

Unfortunately August also brought the immense destruction and unbelievable chaos and tragedy only really now being realized in New Orleans and the surrounding area. I’ve been avoiding the coverage of this, mainly because I’ve had my head buried in work, but probably a little bit on purpose. It’s horrific to see not only the devastation and suffering, but the fear and anarchy taking root as well. It’s hard to imagine the scope and it’s even harder to imagine struggling to live through the nightmare of the weeks and months to come for those affected. It’s easy to feel helpless … hopeless … stunned. It sounds arrogant or ignorant, but I will echo the thoughts of others and say that the scenes I’ve seen over the past few days seem unreal, as if they’re not really happening not so far away. I turned on the news today for about an hour and while I wanted to stay up to date and see just what is going on, I had to turn it off … the commentary and opinions were too much to have overlaid over the top of footage of desperate people in need of help. I cursed both Paula Zahn and Nancy Grace for their smugness and seedy questions, then went to the Red Cross and donated what I could. It seems like so little, and I feel sick. But I do believe every little bit will make a difference to these people who literally have nothing and worse, are in real danger in so many ways. If you can give anything monetarily or offer your goods and services, I urge you to do so. If you can’t offer financial assistance, consider volunteering or giving blood. The blogger network for awareness and charity, Strengthen the Good, has a matching fund set up here; CoffeeCup Software, whose products I use and enjoy, has initiated an effort to collect assistance and goods for those refugees that will be relocated to the Houston area (CoffeeCup is located in Corpus Christi). You can find more information about this effort and how to help here.

Thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected, their families and those providing aid and assistance to everyone. May September be a month of kindness and healing for those who need it.