Today I’m baking bread and cookies. I got up early and made the bread dough before work and did the kneading on my lunch break – good timing cos I had a bastard customer right before I went to lunch. He made me so angry that my hands were literally shaking. I just wanted to scream! Instead I took deep breaths and helped the customer – and then came home and abused my bread. The bread looks OK – I haven’t tried it yet – but it is making my kitchen smell remarkable.

State of the Union address tonight. President Bush is saying good things – but will there be follow-through?

I spent today reading Another Girl at Play. It is such an amazing site – but also somewhat depressing for someone like me, wanting to follow her dreams but not knowing what they are – dying to live a creative life but stuck in the routines of a job that I don’t dislike but that systematically and thoroughly stifles the creative urge. Go there. Read the stories. They’re amazing. You will feel better about your dreams – and maybe, just maybe, you’ll get that glimmer of hope that’s needed to break out.