I refuse to let a blackberry get me down

Yeah, I know, I've been on a jag about the violence in the world and how much it bugs me, blah blah, blah blah BLAH. I'm sure it's becoming tiresome. Not so many cute stories about my dogs, or books I've read, or funny things overheard, or even slightly indiscrete stories involving my clients. (On that score, suffice to say that I only have two clients at the moment, one of whom has hired me for a full year and the other of whom can pretty much guarantee I never work again in this town if I screw up. So I'm not inclined to rock the boat.)

Life is simultaneously great and baffling. My life is great, incredibly great when I look at what other people endure, and it's hard to get my dander up about bad tech support calls, or my peculiarly bad luck with buying DVD players, or the fact that my favorite work shirt - the linchpin of my limited professional wardrobe - was ruined by a falling blackberry while out on the clothesline and what kind of reward is that for being ecologically responsible, I ask you?

I'm trying not to beat myself up so much about how much I procrastinate. I'm on a bit of a health kick, with lots of fresh produce and more exercise. I gave some extra money away to charity last week because really, other people need it more. I have the Daily Show every night to reaffirm that I'm not insane. I have Enrico and my parents and my sister and my dogs.

In other words, my life is particularly great because so much in the world is baffling, and if it doesn't give you some perspective on good fortune and gratitude, then you're just not paying attention.