Good Sunday night to you, Reader.  Still no sign of Baby #2, but I can tell she's ready to meet the world.  With any luck, by next Sunday I'll be blogging from the hospital with a new little one in my arms.  Until then, I'm doing all the tricks to speed up the labor process (do your thing, spicy curry!)

So I'm on maternity leave. And in all honesty, I find myself struggling with the downtime.  I subscribe to the New York Times on-line,  and now that I'm laid up, I've had more time to stay informed.  The news this week has been heart-wrenchingly painful to witness.  At the end of the day, I shut down my computer with a sense of doom.  Health care is in jeopardy. Freedom of the press is in jeopardy. Science is in jeopardy.  Even human empathy is in jeopardy.

(I'll take 'Destroying Things' for $200, Alex.)  

I've been thinking a lot about what I can to help the world that is crumbling around me.  I asked my heart for guidance.  And what I got back from it was this: BUILD UP.  Build up people who feel broken.  Build up the positive in my environment.  Build up courage within myself.  Build. Make good things. Create like crazy. Keep building.  Repeat. This is what I can do to combat destruction.  

And so I'm of course going to create in the way I know how.  I'm making music.  Until the arrival of Baby #2, I'm going into songwriting mode.  Yeah, songwriting won't stop my Facebook friends from verbally destroying each other.  It won't allow dozens of my friends to keep their health insurance.  But at least it bucks the current demolition trend, and that feels more important than ever.  Reader, however you are--wherever you are--I hope you too find your own way to get bold, make good stuff, and build up during these strange times. I'll see you next Sunday. -Em the construction worker