on destiny

destiny is a tricky thing - not all of us know exactly what it holds for us, but for some, the red arrows pointing in a certain direction are inescapable.

take the strange case of unity mitford, one of the 6 talented, lovely, and thoroughly mixed-up mitford sisters. according to the book "the sisters: the saga of the mitford family," unity mitford was conceived in swastika, canada, while her father mined for gold there in the early 1900's. looking for a name that would counteract the peacable moniker "unity," her grandfather gave her the middle name "valkyrie."
seems pretty obvious then why, though british, she became one of hitler's closest supporters, and attempted suicide when she heard that the nazis had been defeated.

i was thinking about the strange symbolism handed to us by the 2008 primaries, and the role destiny has played in it. strange that barack obama should clinch the democratic nomination, making history by becoming the first black candidate for the presidency, on the eve of the assassination of robert f. kennedy, who was such a staunch supporter of the civil rights movement when he ran in 1968...