Redemption

Good article (with a lame-ass title) out of USA Today: Budding Friendships Fill Out the Family Tree.

I love my family very, very much, as previous posts will attest. But this is a good time to raise a glass to the 'friend'. A friend is someone you have met, sought out to spend further time with, and learned much about. It's quite possible you know more about your friends than most family members. And in turn, these are the people who know you the best, and who are still there after the scary stuff. These people are with you almost every day, many times on days when family cannot be there. In my case, many of my best friends are co-workers, a fact which I know is both an anomaly and makes me incredibly lucky. This is a symptom of another benefit of friends: you typically have much more in common with friends than with family. That means more agreement, and more "getting along", less stress and fewer heart attacks. All good things.
I don't write this to belittle the family. Heck, it's 3 days before Christmas- family is very important. I for one can't wait to get home and see the whole clan. But if you find yourself without family, I'm betting (unless you are a real ass hole) you have friends who have stepped in to invite you home with them.
For my part, I send out a very sincere "thank you" to all my friends who have helped me through a somewhat trying year. You know you are. I don't say it enough, but I love you.

the world according to blog

I know that I have just been out of it for awhile, but blogs are everywhere now. It seems like all of a sudden but don't kid yourself... it's been building. When almost every major news media webpage has a section of links devoted to "notable" blogs (and do you really want to know what pompous ass hole decides what is "notable"?) you know some kind of virus is eating through the pop culture main stream.

What actually amazes me is that it seems not to be a fad. Blogs are such a great idea (obviously, I am a fan) that I never thought that they would completely go away, but perhaps that we would lose the edge, the newness. Eventually they would fall by the wayside in our busy lives and disappear. Oh wait- that's what happened with my last blog...

But here I am. And here you are (as far as I know the only person ever to read my blog) so obviously the concept is working. I just don't get why. Of course I think I am fascinating. I love to read my BS. But I am not fooling myself that anyone else out there cares. There are a very small handful of people whose thoughts I would like to read on a regular basis- and most of those people don't even have blogs. So I have to assume that, like me, millions of people are publishing their useless, pointless, silly thoughts out to cyberspace, only to have them ignored by the masses, confirming the pointlessness of our existence.

I'm not as sad as I sound on my blog.

BTW- this is very funny: the word "blog" is not in the blogger spell check. Go figure.

Show her to the shrink

So I am thinking that anyone who reads this will think me incredibly crazy. I am not, I don't think- let's call me open-minded. I'm sure I might one day read this and wonder that I sound like such a spaz. But what else is blog for but writing down thoughts at in-opportune times for you to laugh at later?
When you fall in love, I think it's just an illusion. I know this isn't breaking news but stick with me, I'm on a roll.
It's an illusion, a reaction, a farce. Fake. You see things- many things- differently. Things that were important become fleeting and things that were small are suddenly significant. It's like being brain-washed, isn't it? True, not that I know really, but this is what I hear.
Why do we look for that to happen then? To lose control of what we want and how we perceive things? Haven't you lost some piece of yourself? Wouldn't you rather keep your wits about you?
It's all chemical, love is. It's in the brain. We have scientists looking for cures for all kinds of things; why aren't they looking into what love is, what causes it, how the body deals with it? That's a grant for study I can get behind. And if we know all that, can't we have an antidote to love? I think there could be a big market for it. The ad campaign would be legendary. "Forget that lousy cheatin' scum- take our antidote to love". I mean- that doesn't even need an ad campaign really- that sells itself.
And the next step? Something to induce love, right? So suddenly the whole world is happy, and in love, and there's world peace. Bam. Right there. Utopia. Love for everyone. Somebody hand me the Nobel Prize.

Yes. I am aware this last "love-for-everyone" bit negates all previous commentary about having control, and wits and brain-washing being bad. But for world peace? Come on people. Sign up today!

I'm going to take a nap. All this craziness makes me tired.

Ruminations on God from Penn

Read "There is no God" by Penn of Penn and Teller.

And before you comment, I know that a comedian isn't the authority on the existence of a higher being. And he isn't claiming to be. He just happens to have some interesting comments, some of which I agree with.