Grilled Cheesus

This week on Twitter for a brief shining moment "Grilled Cheesus" became the top topic. Some of my favorite tweets are below.

Denial of Cheesus:
"I can't accept Grilled Cheesus as my Lord and Savior. It's not that I'm an Atheist, I'm just lactose intolerant." Not Gary Busey (@GaryJBusey)

Praising Cheesus:
"My life is complete. @TillamookCheese is following me. Praise the Grilled Cheesus for this miracle!" M. S Vich (@MischaVich)

Being Forsaken by Cheesus:
"I tried to make a Grilled Cheesus, but alas, the sandwich has forsaken me and instead I had a V8."

Michael Allen (@chaoticbuddhist)

God's Total Quality Management Questionnaire

4. What factors were relevant in your decision to acquire a Deity?
Please check all that apply.

___ Indoctrinated by parents
___ Needed a reason to live
___ Indoctrinated by society
___ Needed focus on whom to despise
___ Imaginary friend grew up
___ Graduated from the tooth fairy
___ Hate to think for myself
___ Wanted to meet girls/boys
___ Fear of death
___ Wanted to piss off parents
___ Needed a day away from work
___ Desperate need for certainty
___ Like organ music
___ Need to feel morally superior
___ Thought Jerry Falwell was cool
___ My shrubbery caught fire and told me to do it

Check out all of God's Total Quality Management Questionnaire.

Happiness

Do you ever wonder why we are so bad at predicting what will make us happy? Maybe you don't have this problem. In fact, I hope you don't. Since I've recently read a book on the topic (Stumbling on Happiness) it seems there are quite a few of us, though.

The biggest shame is that what makes me happy now are things I never would have predicted. Why is that a shame? Well, because I couldn't plan ahead for it - I was busy investing myself in other things. If you had told 16-year-old me tonight's happy evening would be spent listening to my husband singing folk songs while I sipped hot cocoa and the dog slept on my feet I would have thought you were mental. My vision then of what I thought would make me happy was completely different (ok, there might have been cocoa and a dog). First off, I was never one to dream of marriage or domestic bliss. It wouldn't have made my top 100 list of concerns back then, yet it has nearly dominated my life since meeting my romantic, energetic, outrageously intelligent husband when I was 17. Second, I had never heard of folk bands like Brother's Four and The Kingston Trio, music that he had grown up with while I was fed rock, blues, and R&B. So I wasn't even capable of correctly envisioning tonight's entertainment or imagining why I would enjoy it.

Because of tonight's deep happiness I have developed a formula: your attention span / (predisposition +  something unexpected). In tonight's example there are multiple pieces to my predisposition that fit in: love of music, a tendency to be quiet and contemplative (thus enjoying a "night in"), and a desire to see the people I love being happy. The something unexpected comes from both enjoying what I call "living in each other's pockets" (being in constant company with one another), and from him sharing something I didn't know before meeting him. Seriously, I don't think that things I can come up with on my own ever delight me as deeply as things I gain from others. Lastly is the first part of the equation. The importance of attention span has taken me the longest to learn. As a child I was blessed with that contemplative nature and not many responsibilities so I had attention span to spare, but starting in my late teens I was constantly on the go - too much to do and no time to do it. Come to find, if you don't have the energy to be present you can't be happy. Probably the most important point of Stumbling on Happiness is that happiness needs to be enjoyed when it's here.

While I've been typing up my reflections my husband, unaware of the direction of my thoughts and pleased that I have "indulged" him in being able to perform some of his favorite music, has tried to make it up to me with one of "our" songs that served as the first dance at our wedding, "What a Wonderful World." What a wonderful world indeed.

I hope that your day has some measure of the happiness that I've enjoyed tonight.

Book Review: Immortal

Immortal is probably the modern (and historical) fantasy you've been seeking

By the end of the first chapter I was fairly convinced that Gene Doucette had found this manuscript between seats on the subway because it had clearly been written as a collaboration by some of my favorite authors while they were sharing a bottle of whiskey. He has the wit of Douglas Adams, the sarcasm of Jim Butcher, the droll plotting of Spider Robinson, and the sly twists of Neil Gaiman, just to mention a few. But don't think that this means he seems imitative because he doesn't. "Immortal" was clever, fascinating, and endlessly entertaining.

I'm tempted to quote all the clever parts (which I highlighted because they were that good) but will let you discover them for yourself. As an example, one of my favorite bits from the first chapter: "I was suicidal for two solid centuries once. That was during the early part of what they now call the Dark Ages, in medieval Europe. Suicidal tendencies were de rigueur at the time, and I’m nothing if not trendy."

If there is a God, which is something that main character Adam sincerely doubts, then Mr. Doucette will write a series and get a TV show.

GoodReads links:

Immortal by Gene Doucette

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

View all my reviews

Reminder for Author Interviews

In case you missed it, the author interview series "FreshVoices" and "Blooming Authors" have migrated over to their very own blog at Writing Insight. Didn't want you to miss out on the fun.

Beards

So... beards. What do they say about the character of a man?

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

We all know the Wil Wheaton #GenCon story: He came. He saw. He took some dice.

And because of our Mission he got a Dragon Chow dice bag! He picked the caffeine molecule one, and got one of GeekSoap's D20 dice for his collection.

If you're not familiar with Wil, here are some of his books:

I Touched Wil Wheaton

Now that Wil Wheaton has instituted a "no touching" policy for cons (go to this post and scroll down) and therefore stories of actually touching him will go to an all-time low,  I want to brag about the fact that *I* have touched him before. Well, alright, it was more of a glancing blow and a quick check to make sure we were both still standing upright, and it happened years and years ago, but I think it counts. Doesn't it?

Ok, so let me set the scene. It was the early 90s on a weekend before Halloween. My brother was a bartender at a local hotel that was throwing a party and said we should come by. My boyfriend (now husband) and I aren't really party people but we like to go out and see what's going on before being geeks and going home to spend the rest of the night reading or gaming. We were lingering on the edges, meaning pretty much hanging out the hallways between the lobby and restaurant, trying to decide whether we wanted to wait to see if more of the costume contestants were going to show up because some of them were pretty good. We knew that some actors were staying at the hotel as part of a film that was in town, but we weren't sure which ones and sort of assumed they would be laying low when there were so many people around.

Well, it turns out lingering in hallways can be a somewhat dangerous hobby when young men with access to caffeinated sodas are roaming them. The only warning was some chaotic laughter that rose above the din of the party right before a pack turned the corner with their water guns. Oh yes, a thundering herd of young Hollywood stars hopped up on sugar, caffeine, and freedom - and armed with super soakers if I remember correctly. (I'm assuming sugar and caffeine, it may have just been youthful enthusiasm.) Wil Wheaton came around closest to the corner, almost on top of where I was standing, and did that oh-my-God-I'm-about-to-run-over-you dodge while I flattened up against the wall. Although we both rolled pretty well on our dex checks the Giant DM in the Sky decided that with the turn, momentum, and proximity we couldn't completely escape contact.

A shoulder bump, hey-are-you-okay-pause, and then he was gone.

If only we'd known we should have invited him over to play D&D. Princess Sidra of Redmond really could have used some extra help right then, too.

Mission: Dragon Chow Dice Bag for @WilW

About seven hours ago Wil Wheaton tweeted "I'd like to test the theory that you can't have too many dice. If I see you at #GenCon, would you give me one gaming die?" Don't know about you but my first thought was, "Dude, you are going to end up with a LOT of dice."


Then it hit me. I just happen to know one of the best dice bag makers around and she will have HER dice bags at the G33Kmade booth at GenCon. Let's commit to getting at least one of @GeekyLyndsay's awesome Dragon Chow Dice Bags into Wil Wheaton's hands before the end of GenCon!

We need to get you kids together:

Wil "Batman" Wheaton

Dragon Chow Dice Bag

Seriously.

Dragon Chow Dice Bag

Wil "Happy Face" Wheaton (Clown Sweater)

I'm Freakin' Fascinating

Denise Brody wrote a great, but what I consider ill named, article. I say this because I'm EXTREMELY glad I read it, but almost didn't because the title was a turn off for those of us already on Twitter have a writing-good-time: "Twitter Does Not Sell Books. This 5-Point Plan Does."

But please, do go read it. You'll be glad you did. And then you'll also understand the title to this post.

My Life in Comics

Did you hear? I was interviewed by ComicBooked.com! Check out A (Not So) Silent Interview with Sue London wherein it is revealed what Superhero I'm married to.

And in case you missed it, I've been interviewed before. Keep up with my interview series on this page.

Bloggerversary: 7 Years Old

I traveled back in time 24 hours just to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the Thoughts. Don't worry, it was great for racking up the frequent flyer miles anyway. For those of you who have been with us this whole time - well, wow. Thank you so much! For those who are new - thanks for joining in, we hope it's fun and you stay with us for awhile.

To infinity and beyond!! Or, er, never give up, never surrender! Oh, uh, I mean... that frood really knows where his towel is! So let's go where no one has gone before and, um, stuff like that. Have I really been doing this for seven years? That's like 49 in dog years. That's a long time. You'd think I'd be better at it...

Send Sue to Celebration V

Hey, it's worth a try. Anybody want to chip in to get this geek to Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando?

Or buy stuff through the Thoughts Amazon Shop to help out:

More Free Books! Promise by Kristie Cook

Confessions of a Bookaholic is giving away a signed copy of Promise by Kristie Cook + bookmarks! Enter here: http://bit.ly/clHmX2

You can also read our interview with Kristie on Writing Insight.  

Or buy a copy from Amazon:

How To Find Jesus In An Emergency

Do you remember when the Worst-Case Survival Handbook was big and it was funny because, well, it kinda wasn't trying to be funny? Problem solved. With The OTHER Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: A Parody it really IS supposed to be funny. Let's try a sample:

How to Find Jesus

Finding Jesus can be critically important in an emergency. The key is knowing where to look.

1. Don't Panic Many people, after realizing they have lost Jesus, become panicky. This can be very dangerous. Instead, take a few deep breaths, relax, and think: where was the last place you had Jesus? Go there.

2. Look Around Be thorough. Did you look behind the couch? He might be there. Don't just glance around the room, either. Lift things up. He might be in the clothing hamper, for instance. Check there. He's probably right where you left Him.