Potpourri

I watched the Academy Awards the other night and cheered when the geeks at Weta won awards for King Kong. Richard Taylor is a geek icon and I was happy to see him and his crew win again. I thought Jon Stewart was hilarious as the emcee for the Oscars. I find it amusing that several critics could not understand his humor and many of the artists in the audience were puzzled as well. Then you have to understand that Scientology exists because Hollywood people like John Travolta, Tom Cruise, and Lisa Marie Presley are hoodwinked by this cult. Stardom doesn't necessarily equate to brains. A critic I read was saying that part of Hollywood's problem is they take themselves too seriously. There is a distinct lack of humor in this town. Jon Stewart brought his irreverent sense of humor to alien grounds. Some like George Clooney and Jamie Fox were laughing at the jokes but then both of them have outrageous senses of humor.

You have to laugh at the world or it will get you down in the dumps. Humor can be found everywhere if you are open to looking for it. That isn't to say there aren't important and heart breaking things happening in this world which need our attention because clearly there are. You need to be able laugh though in order to keep your sense of balance. I think Oscar Wilde said it best when he said, "Don't take life too seriously. You aren't getting out of it alive." He was a funny and talented man who had a great deal of tragedy in his life.

I noticed the troll is back yet again on my newsgroup. Sigh. Fortunately we have an ally in our battle against this demented individual. His ISP is showing zero tolerance to trolls and all we have to do is send his latest identity to them and they will shut him down. It is good to see that ISPs are finally taking some responsibility in stopping these annoying creatures. I am strongly for the free exchange of ideas but deliberate attempts to sabotage a newsgroup with lies is an abuse of freedom of speech. Freedom of speech means the speaker also has the responsibility to speak in a manner which does not cause great harm. The riots that ensued when the cartoons were printed that mocked the Islamic prophet Mohammed is a good example of this. Yes the papers had the freedom of speech to print them but they neglected to realize that responsibility to look at  the consequences of their action. You don't mock the symbol of a huge group of people's religion. Would these self same papers print a series of cartoons mocking Christ? I doubt it. The responsible publisher would have realized that, as in all "religious" wars, the people who commit terrorism are not following the teachings of Islam any more then Ian Paisley or Pat Robinson are following the teachings of Christ. Neither Islam nor Christianity have teachings that preach hate and destruction of other people. "Religious war" is an oxymoron perpetrated by morons. It is contrary to religious teachings as found in the Bible or the Koran or the writings of Buddha.

As I mentioned a few days ago I sometimes feel I'm working in chaos which by no coincidence is the name of my new picture. I suppose I could have just put up a picture of where I work but that would be tacky. Besides they do keep Merlin in premium cat food, litter, and bottled water. I have mentioned that my cat is spoiled haven't I? This picture will actually be the cover art for the fifteenth story in my fantasy series. It is a good thing for writers everywhere there isn't a "Story Characters Union" or we would all be is big trouble. The things I put my poor characters through.

Things are rolling along fairly normal in my life. I signed up for Match.com but so far no one who really peaks my interest. I continue to dream about getting married and will the guy who was looking at wedding dresses for me last night please come and introduce himself? I hate to marry someone I've never met. ;-)

Life goes on and Spring is rumored to be coming. The temperature continues to yo-yo in the Midwest so we never know how to dress. It snowed the other evening and is supposed to be up in the 60s by Friday. Dumb weather.

We have just started the most important time of our religious calendar with Lent which culminates in Easter. For Christians this is the time of year when we take a reflective look at ourselves and see what we can do to change ourselves to be worthy of the great sacrifice that Christ made for us. I know that I still need to work on patience and not allowing things to get to me and make me angry. I know I'll never be perfect but I figure that as long as I know what my faults are and continue to work on correcting them then that is the best I can do. I am grateful I have a compassionate God watching over me.