I spent the majority of the night contemplating Gyorgy Ligeti's Lux Aeterna. From the very first time I heard this piece there was something that struck me about it, something that touched me from my very carnal core. Something that was unholy. Listening tonight only proved my first instinct right. That somehow, Ligeti, in this dissonant masterpiece, created something that reveals the human existance.

Still, I am frightened by this piece. It scares me, and I have to take deep breaths to keep myself from changing it on my ipod. The music is that powerful.

At 11:45 p.m. last night, my mom woke me up to tell me that Peter Jennings died. It took me an hour to fall back to sleep, and I cried. Although to some he was just a news anchor, to me, he was a member of my family.

At four years old, it was Peter Jennings who explained to me that the Berlin Wall came down, and East Europe was no longer divided by West. At five, he told me that we were at war in the Gulf, and brought me pictures and maps to explain to my five year old brain the dimensions and realities of war. On September 11, 2001, I spent a day with Peter Jennings, watching the planes fly into buildings, and people falling from them.

He will be greatly missed, and my life will not be the same without his voice coming from my TV, from 6:30-7 p.m. every night.

R.I.P Peter Jennings: 1938-2005