what seems to be the trouble
is that I have consumed a huge cup of coffee that was really about 4 cups of coffee and then chased it with a 20 oz. Diet Coke, and honestly I am already sort of unusually tense these days, and I really might just have to go home early from work because I can't form a coherent thought, but I did finally update the links on the side and the books page, because apparently the kind of stimulus I need to do both those things can only be found in caffeinated form.

next up: Weasley Brothers for President
Think J. K. Rowling deserves a Nobel Prize? So does he, and I am actually beginning to think this is a damn good idea. I scoffed when someone told me about this a couple days ago, but the more I look at this guy's site and his reasons why, the more I like his idea. A lot. Enough that I might write a column about it, but definitely enough that I'm going to send a letter to Sweden.

Because when you really think about it, there are some pretty diverse reasons that are listed for past winners. There is no reason why that relatively broad range couldn't include something like, say, "for her vivid, imaginative storytelling and her unmatched contributions to the literary lives of millions of readers worldwide." As much as I love the books, I don't think that Rowling will win any prizes based on the sheer skill of her writing. But most of the others aren't honored for the sheer skill of their writing either, and Rowling has contributed a LOT more to literature this year than anyone else that comes to mind -- she's probably contributed more than anyone in the last 10 or 20 years. I definitely think her accomplishments rank on the level of, say, 1956's Nobel winner, Halldor Kiljan Laxness, "for his vivid epic power which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland."

Also, I love this kind of grassroots internet stuff. I think it's the only kind of activism I believe in these days, and it's fun to see its potential power when people start paying attention. Let's do it. No slight to Halldor intended, seriously, but I think Jo should stand a chance.

as Fair and Balanced as your butt
I like this way to combat the idiocy that knows no end. I read somewhere else -- somewhere that I am sure is Fair and Balanced -- that Al Franken's book went from 500 to 4 in its Amazon sales ranking after this whole thing started. I don't know much about "Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them" except that I like the title, but good for him.

I want to write some huge post to end all posts about this weekend, but I don't even know where to begin. It was incredible. I don't think I've ever had so much fun in my life. Maybe I'll do something unprecedented and post some photos of it when they're done -- Fair and Balanced photos that Rupert Murdoch would approve of, to be sure.

fortuitous futures
Several times in the last few days, I have gotten "you will be invited to a karaoke party," and -- true to the pixels' eerie predictions -- I have it on good authority that karaoke might well be in our futures Saturday night.

Leaving for a few days for the joining in holy matrimony of H and K (doesn't is seem like the letters "I" and "J" should be involved in that?). I'm awfully excited, to tell the truth. This is some kind o' wonderful. :)

destiny's child
The all-knowing Scotto just posted something that starts with the Dar line, "sometimes life sends us blessings sent in ridiculous packaging," and it's been playing around in my head all day. Last night's "Sex and the City" episode was about destiny, too, about meant-to-be relationships, and if things happen for a reason, and if life teaches lessons in any kind of meaningful pattern.

I have long held a negative position on this stuff. I don't think things happen for a reason. I think that humans invented these explanations because we can't abide the cold thought that our lives really are ruled by chance: the near-miss, the lucky guess, the coincidence, the accident. I don't really think that life is sending us blessings at all, ridiculous packaging or not... I think things happen or they don't, and that's that.

But.

I'm also really superstitious. REALLY superstitious. Not in a black cat, broken mirror kind of way -- although if I was really being honest with myself I probably believe in that stuff, too -- but in a terrified-of-jinxing-myself way that doesn't jive with this whole no-such-thing-as-destiny outlook. Somehow I've taken the most negative elements from both sides and formed them into one. I'm starting to wonder if there can't be some middle ground.