Last Night a DJ Saved My Life

One of the things that always makes me feel better when I start to feel lost and confused or lonely and alone in this world is music.

The item/possession that I miss (the only one!) is my guitar.

On my worst nights (Rijeka in the rain, for example), I am ao grateful for my iPod (thanks Toshi). I almost never use it at home, but on this trip it has been a lifesaver. Here are some of the most helpful snippets that have kept me going and inspire me on a daily basis (not just when things are tough!):

U2 (my favorite Irish dudes) remind me that "I AM NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD. THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN THROW AT ME THAT I HAVEN'T ALREADY HEARD. I'm just trying to find a decent melody, a song that I can sing in my own company."

Ani DiFranco reminds me that "I am not a pretty girl; that it not what I do: I am not a damsel in distress, and I don't need to be rescued!" (good old Arnie...)

Metallica (The Black album: the music I listened to when I first heard about what was happening in Bosnia in 1992-1993) helps me to remember that "wherever I may roam, where I lay my head is HOME!"

Erykah Badu reminds me that "you've only got one chance," but Michael Franti counters that "it's never too late to start the day over, it's never too late to pick up the phone."

Buju Banton tells me that I have to "walk like a champion, act like a champion" if you want to be somebody.

GNR (Guns N' Roses) in their song titled Civil War address the very issues I will spend my life fighting for (against?).
"Look at the hate we're breeding, look at the hate we're breeding,
look at the lives we're leading, the way we've always done before.
My hands are tied, the billions shift from side to side,
and the wars go on with brainwashed pride for the love of God and our human rights.
And all these things are swept aside by the bloody hands time can't deny,
and are washed away by your genocide.
And history hides the lies of our civil war
Did you wear a black armband when they shot the man who said,
'peace could last forever'?
and in my first memory they shot Kennedy and I went numb when I learned to see,
so I never fell for Vietnam,
we've got the wall in DC to remind us all
that you can't trust freedom when it's not in your hand,
when everybody's fighting for the promised land.
And I don't need your civil war, it feeds the rich while it buries the poor.
the power-hungry selling soldiers in a human grocery store (ain't that fresh?).
I don't need your civil war....
Look at the shoes you're filling, Look at the blood we're spilling,
look at the world we're killing, the way we've always done befoe
look in the dark we've wallowed.
look at the leaders we've followed, look at the lies we've swallowed,
and I don't want to hear no more
My hands are tied and all I've heard has changed my mind,
but still the wars go on with a brainwashed pride
with no love of God or human rights
Cause all these dreams are swept aside by the bloody hands of the hypnotized
who carry the cross of homicide and history bears the scars of our civil wars"

The Boss (Springsteen for those who are out of the loop!) tells me that "everybody's got a hungry heart." I said it before and I'll say it again (I stand by my original statement at approximately age 3 years): "I do not have a hungry heart. I am too little to have a hungry heart!"