Blindsided

"Bad things happen to good people all of the time."

I just said that to Mark two days ago after we were in a car accident and his car was pretty badly damaged. He reminded me of it today when he gave me some bad news.

Let me start by admitting, I don't believe in Karma. I don't think that things I do add or subtract points from some giant cosmic scoreboard. However, I do believe in using events in my life as wake-up calls.

I try to be a good person, but I'm not always very good at it. I often fail in trying to treat other people the way that I want to be treated. I have a hard time remembering that when someone is in a bad mood - either just this moment or perpetually - that they likely have something else going on that has put them in that place. I forget about being sensitive, understanding and gentle even though I expect people to display those characteristics toward me.

I just found out that an acquaintance of mine died suddenly. I didn't know her very well and at least a few of my interactions with her seemed to indicate to me that she was at least a little surly. That didn't make her unlikable, just difficult to deal with on occasion. She was good at what she did and people respected her work. Now she's gone and I'm a little shell-shocked. I should have been nicer, more helpful, more... something.

Lost on "Lost"

I love "Lost" - usually.

I've watched it since pretty early on and have been white knuckling it for a while. I hung in there for last season, which was a little rocky and I'm trying to stick with them to finish it all out. I admit, though, they're testing me.

Okay, so the island moves not-so-randomly through time. Or is it the people moving? Eh, who knows? Dead people come back to life on a fairly regular basis. Or do they? People disappear for months/years on end and then reappear in perfectly good health. That's normal, right?

So why does it bother me that not only was John Locke's still dead body recovered, but at the same time he was 100 yards away helping Ben kill Jacob who has been around for quite some time but still appears to be less than 40 years old. Whew. It was all just a little too easy.

Oh, don't get me wrong. It was cool, but my mind is a little like scrambled eggs right now.

---------My scene interpretation-----------------------

Ben to Jacob: Grrrr. You never talked to me. You never showed yourself to me.

Jacob: Well, I was a little busy traveling through time and all over the world trying to talk to these yahoos on the plane and keep them on the straight and narrow, or arrange hit and runs, or offer support when injured, or grab a candy bar from a thieving vending machine. So, I had a few things on my plate.

Ben: Well, I didn't like it. Die! Die!

Jacob: Aww, man! By the way, they're coming.

John: Just for good measure, I'm going to push you in this conveniently placed fire pit too.

Ben: Wait, what did he say? Who's coming?
--------------------------------

Then, there's Juliet. She's a little manic and totally indecisive, but she's not a bad lady. She gets totally shafted (heh heh) and falls what seems like really far down a shaft because she somehow got lassoed by a piece of chain when the magnetic stuff started to happen. (For the record, I know I'm not being particularly technical here, but cut me some slack.) So, she falls down this really long shaft and ends up bruised and bloodied, but no broken back, neck or anything. She starts hitting the undetonated nuclear weapon with a rock to make it explode. Sure, no problem.

That's just a little of what was on last night's episode. I still have it on my DVR so that I can torture myself, I mean, watch it again. I don't know why I can suspend reality for all of the other insanity that goes on with this show. I know it's sci-fi and it's still more believable than "The Hills" but this was a tough one to get my head around.

So, I will be there next year trying to find out how this whole package gets wrapped and tied with a bow. One thing is for sure, it won't be boring.

A Twit When It Comes To Twitter

Okay, I admit it. I don't get Twitter.

I know that part of the problem is that I don't have a smart phone. In all honestly, my phone is pretty smart, but not a genius phone like a lot of you have. I can make and receive telephone calls, use bluetooth and even play music or take picture. That's not enough in today's supermodel world of smart phones. Nope. Because I can't tweet.

It feels dumb even to type it. Tweet. Really?

Maybe I'm just too chatty and can't find a way to say what I want to in 140 characters or less (Is that right? I think that's right). I mean, I use Facebook now but that's a really new thing for me too. I find it hard to come up with pithy statements to use as my status and that only gets updated on a semi-regular basis. But I just don't see my life as interesting enough to keep people up-to-date on my every tiny thought or activity.

I guess the service is great for all of you guys with your fancy phones who need to know at this very minute everything that everyone else is doing. My life events are just not that big of a deal to me let alone everyone else.

The worst part is that I'm in IT. I should be psyched about this kind of stuff.

Eh, maybe this is the final proof that I'm getting old.

Well then, scram! And turn that music down! Meddling kids... :)