Detour Ahead

Let me guide you to a couple of interesting things I've found on the 'net lately (or not so lately as the case might be).

Need a laugh? Tony Calabrese is your guy. His "Fugetaboutit!!!" website has some hilarious stories. To pick only one seems an injustice so here are two recent favorites "Cover That Up!" and "Them"

Side Note: One of the many cool things about blogs and the internet is that when the Michael Richards thing came to light I did two things: 1) blog about it, and 2) sent Tony an email asking him for his opinion, since he's a professional. Being the kind gentleman he is, Tony sent me a nearly instant response which was both thoughtful and thought-provoking. Remember that I'm an absolute stranger who lives thousands of miles away.

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Animal lover who wants a heartwarming story? Try this Thanksgiving Story from the WillaWoman. This is her blog's description: "I am The WillaWoman and this is my blog. Before I was disabled, I never wanted a dog. I thought they tied you down, like kids (I didn't want any of those either). Boy, was I wrong... about dogs, that is." Other than that I don't know much about her. No matter what: mad respect to her for training wheelchair service dogs.

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Like pictures? Check out Walking On Scorpions. He's got a good eye. Plus he laughs at with Red Hat Ladies now, which I take a tiny bit of credit for. He reminded me of how much I like the Blind Melon song "No Rain," and introduced me to the work of Elliott Smith (1969-2003).

In addition to the quality of his music, Elliott Smith needs to be recognized for illustrating the five words which may someday save your life:

Never Pull The Knife Out

If that sounds cold, then okay, but truly those are words to live by.

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No list of thank-you's or redirections would be complete without recommending a visit to two more places:

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The Smussyolay. Read I'm Hungry and you'll know why I like reading her stuff. She's a younger, Midwestern, female Spaulding Gray. Okay, so that makes her nothing like the late Mr. Gray except that I like her stories and encourage you to keep an eye on her blog. Good things are coming.

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John Cowart's Rabid Blog. Here's a good place to start: A Long Post Of Random Thoughts About Happy Marriage. Had he not stumbled across my blog and then continued to drop by and leave encouraging words, I'd not have spent much (if any) time reading his stuff. I probably would have instantly written him off as a religious nut, a member of the Evangelical Christian Revolution, and therefore someone to politely but definitely avoid.

Yet that's the thing about truly religious people – he's a nice guy. He's also a real guy. His books have naughty parts (I *still* have to officially review "The Lazarus Project" which I think I promised to do more than a year ago. I have good words, and not just because he's been nice to me).

Nice people are sneaky. They inspire me to be a little nicer. Any demonstration of tolerance (and by this I don't mean tolerance of differing views but tolerance of bad behavior , see: Michael Richards) inspires a little more tolerance in me. It's a trick. It must be an evolutionary survival mechanism*. But it works and it makes little parts of the world a little better. A bunch of little parts can add up to a much bigger part.

I'm all verklempt. But I'm off the pain meds so it's not that I'm altered. I suppose I'm just "off."

* I'm a big Jesus fan (for instance I would fly to Portland to see Jesus with my brother Jason similar to the fact that I flew to Portland to see U2 with Jason) but I'm not a believer in much of anything which seems to fly in the face of science or reason. And, quite frankly, most of the loudest PR guys for most of the major religions are… um… over-hyping their product. If you have a quality item you won't need to trick someone into your tent to get it, do you? Similarly, to paraphrase Dick Gregory, "you shouldn't have to sell Democracy; if Democracy is so great then people will steal it!"

I digress. Go forth and explore, web wanderers!

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Detour sign from University of Washington