Distracted

Am I the only composer out there who is finding it tough to settle down and write music because of anxiety over the US election? The two terms of the present Bush administration have sometimes made it hard, and often awkward, to be a yank living abroad. The usual charitable distinction between individual citizens and the policies of their countries has frequently been forgotten in the last seven+ years. While any new administration will have its work cut out, and is bound to offer some major disappointments when actually creating policy, the possibility of finally having even the slightest movement, if even just a change in tone, is so welcome that I simply find myself killing time (writing little exercises in style imitation, for example, a couple of which have appeared here, fussing with music fonts, making large batches of tamale for the winter or playing rounds of Liverpool Rummy with the family) rather than getting on with the more essential musical work. Honestly, since my ballot has already been sent away, I'd probably be happiest going into cryogenic suspension and getting unfrozen sometime after all the votes have been counted and we really do know that this era has come to its end.