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This post is going to be a little different than the normal format. Why? Because I’m not stating a well thought out opinion, I’m asking for one! It has come to my attention that I am out of the good coffee loop! Oh, so what do I do? What do I do? Where will I go? Well, that’s why I’m coming to YOU, dear faithful readers. What are your favorite coffee roasters and why? What coffee makes you excited? And heck, are there coffees I should totally stay away from? What coffees are like drinking sulfuric acid? What coffees are, well, you get my drift.
Before everyone lists the shops and roasters everyone I already know about, let me list a few that I know about:
- Starbucks - they used to be excellent. It’s OK if there’s nothing else around.
- Stumptown Coffee Roasters – again, they used to be good, and they still are I guess. But I’ve noticed a major slip in quality recently. I think they’re on the Starbucks path.
- Dutch Brothers – worst. coffee. ever.
- Pete’s – not the best, not the worst. I do have to say they’ve stayed consistent at least.
- Portland Coffee Roasters – Pretty decent. I would rate them somewhere in between Pete’s and Stumptown.
- Blue Gardenia – They very well might be the best coffee out there right now, but there’s only a few places one can get their coffees.
- Folgers, Maxwell House, et al -coffees that use robusta beans are worst than Dutch Brothers!
- Trader Joe’s – Decent coffee, limited selection though. And not used at any coffee shops
- Panache - Let’s just say they’re a half point above Dutch Brothers.
- Illy - a little too mass-produced. But it’s decent espresso.
- Longbottom – ew. Ick. Gross.
- Seattle’s Best Worst - I think you can guess my opinion here.
There’s a few others I know, but trying to think of every name of every coffee is a bit of a daunting task. So have at it! Give me your opinion, dear readers! What are your favorite coffees and where do I get them?
Several weeks have passed since the Lost gave us it’s final farewell. Most fans of the series have formulated strong opinions of favor or disdain. Overall I have a favorable opinion of the last episode. One reason for my opinion is that the series finale did not pander to the audience by answering every unanswered question in the series. But while I see the unanswered questions as favorable, it is the very reason why many fans of the show were disappointed in the ending. This particular issue is probably the biggest hot button of the series finale. I’ve had many debates with a co-worker who keeps saying “when I read a book, I don’t want any loose ends at the end.” It is my argument, however, that this viewpoint totally misses the point of the finale! Of the entire series even! The questions left unanswered in Lost mimic not only life, but also religion.
As a writer, I tend to hate the fact that every detail in a story has to mean something. Life is simply just not like that. Life is a chaotic spill of random events, which sometimes interlock, sometimes hold significant meaning, and sometimes mean absolutely nothing. Consider the following: You’re driving to work and you’re running late. You look down and discover a mysterious rash on your arm. In real life, you might put some Cortizone on the rash, and think nothing of it. In a work of fiction, this rash would probably have a meaning. This rash would later be revealed to be a deadly disease or a mark of greatness. Writer’s choose their details for a reason. Writers usually don’t insert random events just for the sake of inserting random events. Random events confuse people! But random events are all a part of life. Random events are in fact reality. Going back to Lost, the writers insert many random things that apparently have no meaning. Why were the numbers so prevalent and what do they mean? Why was Desmond able to see Charlie’s future? Why was Walt Special? Was it the island, or was it the smoke monster that healed John Locke’s legs? Why didn’t Kate grow any leg or armpit hair? OK, the last question was more about aesthetics and sex appeal, but the other questions will never be answered. They remain huge mysteries. Well, guess what? That’s life. We never find out what the rash on our arm is, and we don’t really care because the cream took it away. But Lost is a work of fiction, therefore it should wrap up into a tidy little package, shouldn’t it? Nope! Arguably, one of the key themes in Lost is life and death. What better way to emphasize this theme than to emulate something that happens in life? What better way to emulate life, than with random happenstances and unanswered questions?
But the unanswered questions are not just about life. The unanswered questions go hand in hand with another prevalent theme in Lost: the theme of spirituality and religion. There’s a reason that mysticism is a synonym for spirituality, religion, and the like. Mysticism shares a root word with mystery and mythology. Mysticism indicates a sense of not knowing the whole story. And that is precisely the sense we get with Lost; we don’t know the whole story. We don’t know where the island came from, we don’t know what the island is capable of, and we don’t know why the island behaves the way it does. We know some things, just as in all myths we know the basic concepts. We know the island is a cork that keeps evil from flooding the Earth, just as we know in the book of Genesis that it was God who created the Earth. But just as we don’t exactly know how God created the Earth in Genesis, we don’t know why the island exists in the first place. We can speculate all we want to, but we are never going to have all the answers. This is the nature of religion; this is also why having some of the big questions remain unanswered works so well in Lost. These unanswered questions emulate mysticism, and thus adding to one of the major themes in Lost.
I’ve been reading all kinds of comments online since Lost ended, indicating that JJ Abrams is a hack. Such comments state that JJ Abrums relied on MacGuffins; that he intentionally led the viewer on so the viewer would keep watching. Well, considering my stance on the intentional fallacy, I am not about to say that Abrums did anything of the sort intentionally. But even if Abrums was just being a jerk to the viewers, even if he was just trying to string us along for six years, in the case of Lost, it worked. In the case of Lost, MacGuffins served a purpose to illustrate it’s key points. Besides, said commentators also state that JJ Abrums does this in everything he touches. While that’s certainly an exaggeration (ahem, Star Trek had none), even if it were true, it doesn’t matter. If JJ Abrums did this in everything, then that would cease to be a plot device used to hoodwink the audience, and start to be Abrum’s style and form.
It happened again yesterday….I wandered into the kitchen at work for a caffeine fix. I poured a cup of coffee, tasted it, and almost spewed a mouthful of hot liquid all over the floor! Now, no offense to my coworkers, they’re generally brilliant people who do their jobs well, but they would make the worst baristas ever. Seriously, it’s not all that difficult to make decent coffee, but there are some basic rules they really need to learn and follow.
 So what are these rules? Well, I’m sure if you’re reading this, I’m probably preaching to the choir, but I’ll tell you anyways. Number one. CLEAN YOUR FREAKING EQUIPMENT AND CLEAN IT THOROUGHLY!!! The coffee at work is usually made with a coffee press. Said press is washed several times a week with soap and water, but it never gets clean. Why? Well, it’s because the press is never taken apart. The whole thing is dipped in the soap, rinsed, and called good. WTF! And even IF they did clean the press properly, they haven’t actually replaced the filter in the year and a half I’ve been working there. Those filters don’t last forever!
Ahhh but clean equipment is only one part of the equation. It is only the first stone in a long trail of stones leading you across a sea of burning hot lava that will surely kill you if you fall in. Wait, where wast I? How did I get on that tangent? Oh yeah, number two: the beans. Ok, dear beloved co-workers if you are reading this, please know that you do usually buy decent beans. They are almost always fair trade, and they are almost always roasted to match their natural flavors. Kudos in that department. But…….THEY ARE ALMOST ALWAYS GROUND FOR AN AUTOMATIC DRIP! Not cool, not cool at all! So what’s the big deal? It has to do with the amount of contact the beans have with the water. In an auto drip, the beans need to be ground finely because the water drips from above and travels through the beans. Gravity is pulling the water away from the beans, so the beans don’t have a lot of contact with the water. It is why espresso is ground so finely too – the water is forced rapidly through the grounds, thus making the contact with the beans minimal. But, with a coffee press, you have the water and the beans mingling in a stew for FOUR, count them FOUR, MINUTES! More exposure to the water means more bitterness! Oh, it also means more caffeine – so if you’re trying to cut back on the caffeine, that’s an added bonus to having the right grind.
Number three is closely related to number two, because it ALSO has to do with the beans. I’m half tempted to show pictures of what I found in the cupboard. Five, yes five, bags of coffee dating back to the end of last year! Last year! That’s six months people! In a cupboard! Exposed to air and everything! Ewww! Just ewww! They don’t put expiration dates on coffee, because technically the stuff could last almost forever, but maybe they should, because while coffee won’t spoil, it will loose it’s flavor! Think about it this way: you leave a half empty bottle of soda on the counter for six months. What’s it going to taste like? If you leave an open bag of chips out for six months, they are going to go stale. Technically, the chips or the soda are going to cause you to get sick, but they are not going to taste good at all! The same thing goes with coffee. If you leave it out, exposed to air, it is going to loose it’s flavor! At the very least, keep it in the freezer. The freezer isn’t perfect, but it will keep the coffee from going totally stale.
Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, don’t just let the grounds sit in the water. Plunge the pot after FOUR minutes! This goes right back to the grinds people. The more exposure the grounds have to the water, the more bitterness is going to seep out of said beans! So leaving the grounds in the water for an hour? EWWWWWWWWW! I know people who drink folgers who wouldn’t even drink that swill! The recommended time for brewing in a coffee press is FOUR minutes. This is a time frame that has been tested for hundreds of years!
If any of my coworkers find this, especially those that happen to be those that make coffee, please don’t take these comments personally. See it as constructive criticism. You’re all brilliant people who I respect very much, but you just don’t know how to make coffee! Heck, if you want, I’ll teach you how to make coffee. We’ll have an office wide seminar on the subject! Ok, ok, maybe that’s taking things a little too far. And maybe I need to mellow out a bit. Maybe I need to just go quietly back to my office with my mini one cup press and perfectly brewed coffee. Or maybe I should cut back on the caffeine altogether. But regardless of my need to chill out, coffee is something that should be enjoyed. So please don’t take this article to be mean spirited and/or back stabbing. Think of this article as a way to help you enjoy life more.
And there’s not a whole lot of new content right now. BUT….there is news. I just opened up a new geek poetry website. I might concentrate on that site for a while, and come back here as my my mood changes. But fear not, fellow readers, I am not leaving you. Aaronjedwards.com will not die anytime soon.
For now, please enjoy Geeky Poetry!
Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Anne Coulter. How many of you just booed? Probably most of you. If you didn’t, and you wanted to, feel free to go back and read those names again and boo, I will wait…ready? Did you boo? I’ll bet a few of you went back to boo a second time, but I digress. I usually try to stay clear of politics on this blog – save for when a political viewpoint comes up in another topic – but I feel something needs to be done about people like the aforementioned three. I do not advocate taking away their constitutional right to free speech and I do not advocate any sort of punishment for their views. They have the right to speak their minds and they have the right to their own opinions, just like anyone else in this country. But geez, when these three open their yaps, people get mad. Limbaugh, Coulter, and Beck are always trying to pick a fight. It is almost as if they would rather be professional wrestlers instead of political commentators! Well, maybe a career change should be in order for these three (and others like these three) – maybe they should become professional wrestlers.
Oh, but who would they fight? That’s easy. We could take some young wrestlers trying to make a name for themselves and dress them up as issues the aforementioned three favorite pet peeve issues. Imagine Rush Limbaugh going against health care – literally. Imagine Anne Coulter going against gun control in a no holds bare, three round match. Glen Beck would not have to verbally slam churches that preach social justice, he could just body slam churches that preach social justice!
Oh, but this isn’t fair! Why does it only have to be the conservatives? Where are the liberals? As far as I’m concerned, they can join the party too. I have no problem with Randi Rhodes stepping into the ring; she’s tough enough. Perhaps Michael Moore or even Janeane Garofalo wouldn’t mind throwing a few punches at corporate America. Oh, and it gets better; the conservatives could even go head to head with the liberals! I don’t know one liberal who would not want to throw a few punches at Rush, though better not throw any pies at Coulter.
And, the action does not have to stop at political commentators. Imagine inviting politicians into the ring. I could just see it…a fight between Al Gore and George W Bush! Heck, if we had this system in place, we could have had the whole hanging chad thing settled outside of the courts! Winner takes the presidency! Ok, ok, maybe that’s a little too far – political office should be won by voting, not violence, but you all get my drift.
The older I get, the more politics sickens me. I really don’t mind it when people speak their mind. Heck, I’m famous for speaking my own mind. There is, however, a line to be aware of when speaking one’s mind. Some people just don’t care about the other side. If one side says chicken is delicious, the other side will say chicken tastes like crap. If side A says the sky is blue, side B will say the sky is orange. Moreover, both sides always have “proof;” both sides always have to be right. It is almost as if some of them are (cough) making it up as they go along (cough). It is almost like these full-grown adults are behaving like children on the playground! Furthermore, some of these people are so ingrained in what they believe that they’ve forgotten that beliefs can change. I would love to put a tap on Rush Limbaugh’s brain and see what his real thoughts are. It would be hysterical if Rush is a closet socialist. What if Michael Moore really does not care about the welfare of downsized workers? I would be surprised if either was true mind you, but one never knows! I don’t really advocate violence – wrestling especially, but the theatrics of wrestling and the theatrics of political commentary hold so many similarities! The biggest difference between wrestling and political commentary is that wrestlers don’t actually pretend to be intelligent.
Its that time again! Time to settle back with a bag of popcorn, mock celebrities and their hideous clothes, and boo because (insert piece of trash movie here) won (insert undeserved award here). Its almost time to roll the dice – hoping your favorite movies, actors, directors, editors, sound people, camera people key grips and caterers get the credit they deserve! So, without any further delay, without any further adieu, without any further…..uh, I lost my place! Oh, here it is (schadenfreude) – I give you my picks for the 2010 academy awards!
Best Picture: An Education
I almost missed this film entirely, and it would have been my loss. My favorite thing about “An Education” is the fact that the writers sincerely put up both sides of the argument facing the film’s protagonist, Jenny. The film shows Jenny’s struggles with both the pros and cons of going to Oxford after she graduates, or marrying Jack. The audience is left guessing which the best choice is for Jenny, and hoping she makes the right choice. Will it win? No. Avatar will most likely sweep the Oscars this year. Even though its plot is paper-thin.
Actor in a leading roll: George Clooney – Up in the Air
I will be honest: I choose George Clooney as my best actor pick not because he did such a wonderful job, but because I had no real opinions of the other actors and their performances. However, I must comment that George Clooney did a wonderful job as Ryan Bingham, the man with no goods. I hated him, pitied him, and even loved him at times. George Clooney brought to life a character that could have been very two-dimensional. Will he win? Hard to say actually, I heard Morgan Freeman did a wonderful job in Invictus.
Actress in a leading roll: Carey Mulligan – An Education
I if it were up to me, I would give “An Education” almost every award it is up for! Carey Mulligan really was convincing as Jenny, and deserves the Oscar. I don’t believe I have cared so much about a character since Amélie. Will she win? Perhaps, though from what I hear, Gabourey Sidibe did a great job in “Precious.”
Animated Film: Up
The choice for best animated film was probably the hardest choice I had to make this Oscar season. I thoroughly enjoyed Coraline, and in truth, if there could be a tie, I would not be opposed to giving the Oscar to both films. Oh, alas, the Oscar cannot be split, so I really had to go with Up. Up was simply written and animated a little better than Coraline. Will it win? I’m guessing yes. Critics seem to love it, and it’s the only animated film nominated for Best Picture.
Art Direction: Avatar
Avatar is just an amazingly beautiful film. I don’t believe I have ever seen a film as captivating and beautiful. Sure, the plot was formulaic, but even the harshest critics have to give James Cameron a nod for creating such a beautiful world. Will it win? Most likely. Avatar is supposed to be the golden child of the Oscars this year.
Directing: Inglorious Basterds
This is another category where I had a hard time choosing just one film. Both James Cameron and Quentin Tarantino deserve the Oscar. It is kind of a pity both films came out the same year. Both directors worked for YEARS on their respected films. Both films are supposedly the magnum opus of each director. In the end, I choose Inglorious Basterds because, quite frankly, I enjoyed the film more than Avatar. Inglorious Basterds is well written, well produced, well acted, well filmed, and well edited. Tarantino simply did a better job than Cameron. Besides, Avatar will get enough Oscars. We can spare to give Quentin the nod he deserves for this film. Will it win? Probably not. As I said earlier, Avatar is supposed to be the golden child of the Oscars this year.
Writing (adaptive screenplay): District 9
Yet another hard choice, this time between District 9, Up in the Air, and An Education (my pick for best picture). In the end, I must say that District 9 is the most challenging script. District 9 could have easily become a shoot ‘em up, aliens invade the Earth type of film. Instead, we get humans acting as humans would act if an alien ship finds itself stranded. We have humans treating the aliens like second-class citizens, not as honored guests who might be able to help us with our own problems. We have aliens acting like any other oppressed culture who want nothing more than to be left alone – a culture that just wants to go home. Will it win? Maybe. I’m guessing either District 9 or Precious wins.
Writing (original Screenplay): Inglorious Basterds
I already said how much I love the writing of this movie. Tarantino’s humor, sense of poetic justice, and just plain bizarre and even warped mind all make an appearance in his writing. Several separate plot lines that seem to have no relevance intertwine flawlessly. And what about that ending? Asides from Hitler and his men getting slaughtered by several separate plots against their lives, the one Nazi escapes to what appears to be a storybook ending. Well, almost….almost. I really hope he likes hats. Will it win? Perhaps. Up might give it a good run though.
So what about the rest of the Oscars? Originally I had picks for almost every category, but sadly friends, I don’t have any more time to spend on this article. So I leave you with a solemn apology. There’s always next year!
It is Oscar season once more; in just over a week, the anticipation will be over. Later this week, I’ll release my own picks. But before I start talking about best supporting actress best director, I want to pay head to those movies released this year that seem to have been left out of the Oscar party; movies that did so well in conveying their message through direction, writing, acting, and effects. So, without further adieu, I give you the five most overlooked movies of the 2010 Oscars:
Watchmen: I won’t say that Watchmen deserves a nomination for best picture, or even best adaptive screenplay, but to deny this film of any nominations in technical categories shows a lack of respect to those who worked so hard to make this film look and sound amazing. The special effects alone were amazing, and well worth the price of admission. The film editing did leave a little to be desired, yes, but the sound effects and mixing were among the best I have seen all year.
Where the Wild Things Are: My two favorite contenders for best picture (An Education, Up in the Air) are also up for best adaptive screenplay. As much as I love both movies, I would gladly see one of the two give up their spot for adaptive screenplay if it meant giving “Where the Wild Things Are” a shot at this Oscar. The movie takes a ten sentence book and turns it into a full 101 minute script with complex characters that appeal to both children and adults. In addition to best adaptive screenplay, Where the Wild Things Are should also be up for Music (original song). Karen O is a gifted songwriter, and talented vocalist. The song “All is Love” is beautiful and hopeful. The very fact that “All is Love” was not nominated, while the latest Disney movie had two songs nominated, makes me wonder about some bias on the nomination committee’s part.
The Invention of Lying: The critics hated this film, but I don’t think they gave it a fair shot. This film is pretty ambitious and strived to answer so many questions. Questions about God, religion, what is right, what is wrong (by the standards of those who consider themselves religious and those who do not): all tackled by this script. The scriptwriters knew what they were doing; at the very least, the film should have a nomination for best original screenplay.
Adventureland: Another film that deserves a nomination for best original screenplay (maybe best picture), Adventureland is smart, funny, and interesting. The characters are real people that you both love and hate, depending on the situation and the character. In addition, the characters themselves are a mixture of rich, and poor – jock and geek. Adventureland is a great tale of teenagers entering real life, and learning all they used to know in high school does not apply in the real world.
Sunshine Cleaning: A third movie that deserves a nomination for best original screenplay. Even aside from the writing, Sunshine Cleaning should at least have a nomination for best supporting actress. Emily Blunt was a show stealer and gave one of the best performances of ANY actress this year. I seriously do not know if I would have liked this movie as much as I did if it were not for Emily Blunt’s acting ability.
Before I get into this article I want to express that I do not want to trade my book collection for a Kindle. There are several reasons why: personal preference, simple practicality, and even contribution to social injustice. Having said that, I would not actually mind owning a Kindle (or another brand of e-book reader). With every technology, e-book readers have their flaws and their benefits. Will the benefits outweigh the flaws? Maybe. Like I said earlier: there are several reasons why I hate the idea of e-book readers, and a few reasons why I love the idea.
Let’s start with the reasons I don’t like the idea of e-books. My number one reason is that of ascetics. There is nothing like wandering into Powell’s late on a Saturday night. It brings me great joy to sift through a mound of books in the coffee room and figure out what book(s) I want to buy. It is almost ritualistic; I’ve been doing this for most of my adult life. But asides from this ritual, there’s the pleasure of finding bookmarks, receipts, and who knows what else in the binds of an old book. There’s the fact that I like to underline and write in and highlight and even look at what others have written and underlined and highlighted in books. There is also the feeling of holding a book in your hands, just flipping through it, page after page. There’s the smell of a book. I could go on and on with the different aesthetic qualities paper books have. These things are things we would loose if we all read e-books exclusively. I find the idea almost heartbreaking.
Asides from aesthetics, one reason I do not like e-books is they are, in many cases, simply impractical and limited. If one drops their e-book reader and breaks said e-book reader, one cannot read their books. If the batteries go out on one’s e-book reader, one cannot read their books. If one is in a dusty and/or damp place one cannot read their books. The E in e-book stands for electronics – which tend to be very fragile. And let’s not forget: e-book readers usually cost a couple hundred dollars. If you leave your e-book reader on the bus, you are out that much…whereas if you leave your paperback book on the bus, it might cost 20 bucks at the most to replace (and usually one can find a used copy for significantly lower costs). The very thing innovation in e-book readers, their “electronic” nature, is also their fatal flaw.
I mentioned briefly the cost involved with e-book readers, and how this contributes to their impracticality. The cost also contributes to another reason why I do not like e-book readers: the idea of e-book readers contributes to a social injustice in our society. In a truly paperless book society, the poorest people will not have access to books because they cannot afford e-book readers. This is setting up a scary precedent – a divide between those that can afford to read, and those that cannot. There is already the digital divide between those who are and are not online. A paperless book society will in fact strengthen this divide. Information in any form will not be available to those who cannot afford an e-book reader. There is also the college student to think about. It is a probability that some of the first publishers to go fully paperless will be the textbook publishers. Textbook publishers HATE the used book industry, and make great strives to put out new editions as often as they possibly can, so as to increase their profits. If these publishers can sell e-books instead of paper books (coupled with DRM), the average student will HAVE to buy a new book, thus upping the cost of books by hundreds of dollars. And again, if said student is studying on the bus or in the park or wherever and they forget their e-book reader, they are out a couple hundred dollars. Most college students live on student loans and part time jobs, and really don’t have that much cash to spend every-time they forget their book. I know when I was in college, I freaked out about loosing a 45-dollar book! I can’t even imagine what it might be like to loose a two hundred dollar book!
Don’t get me wrong – e-books have their place; there are pros to e-books and e-book readers. Most of the pros, from my viewpoint, have to do with reducing bulk. If you’re like me, you have dozens of magazines which you do not want to get rid of, yet do not quite know what to do with! If one could obtain digitized copies of said magazines, as well as future issues, one could eliminate the piles of said magazines. Another bulk reducing pro: I really do not care to own all the books I read. A great deal of my books end up proudly displayed on my bookshelf awaiting for the next time I want to read said book (or at the very least, loan it out). However, a lot of the books I have are destined to be sold back to Powell’s or given to a thrift store (quite possibly in the middle of the night – dumped on their front door so they can’t say “sorry, we don’t want these”). E-book readers could very well eliminate the bulk of these books. E-book readers could especially be useful for those who buy airport novels (though why anyone would read such trash is beyond me!). And of course, bulk reduction means less trees killed to produce books; e-books are made of pixels, so e-books are better for the environment.
Many advocates of e-books believe it is inevitable for books to go fully electronic in the near future. These people point to the digitizing of music and movies over the last decade – thus books are logically the next thing to digitize. These advocates forget something: The dominant medium for music and movies changes every ten years or so. In music alone, the dominant format has changed from records to 8-tracks to cassettes to CDs, and now to digital formats such as mp3s and mp4s. Books, on the other hand, have not had such an evolution. Books have been around thousands of years, and about the biggest format change is that of handwritten scrolls to printed books. Books are probably the most stable information medium the world has ever known. So are we going to just burn our libraries and go to an all digital format? Only time will tell, but given the history, it is not very likely – and I’m just fine with that. All things considered, e-books have their place, but e-books have their boundaries as well.
We’re in the time of year that I like to refer to as the most horrible time of the year. The time when the weather gets really cold and wet and miserable. The time of year where we realize the holidays are over, and we have to go back to normal life. The time of year when we can’t wait till Spring to get here already! If there was ever a time of year where we need to feel joy, hope, peace, and love, this time of year is it! Its almost odd that this time of year feels this way, considering that a mere three weeks ago was what many refer to as the most wonderful time of the year. In fact, i feels downright wrong! Christmas is the time when we celebrate the birth, the first coming of Christ. Shouldn’t that Joy stay with us? Shouldn’t we put our mindset to “hooray! Jesus came to save us!” mode a little longer? Shouldn’t we reflect on this joy during this time?
So, what would it look like to keep the joy of Christmas through the winter months (up until Lent)? Well, one thing it would NOT look like is the Christmas season. Sure, all the parties and presents and hectic schedules and commitments of Christmas can be fun, but they are also very stressful. This brings me to the first thing that should happen during this season: We should REST! Rest our bodies, minds, souls – whatever. The Earth itself rests during the winter months, so why shouldn’t we? True, in this day and age, that’s all but impossible – we have jobs and commitments, and sometimes life just happens. I’m not saying quit your job or back out on a commitment . I am saying that perhaps taking a few days off if you can in late January / early February might not be a bad idea. Again, don’t do anything too stressful – just take off to the beach for a day or so, or maybe just stay at home and do the things you love to do. Whatever you do, it is essential to rest.
Resting is good for the soul, and its easy to be joyous when we’re well rested. But simply resting is not enough. We should also keep a positive attitude. True, we should always keep a positive attitude no matter what time of year it happens to be, but especially when we’re trying to keep a joyous mindset. Keeping a positive attitude includes avoiding those things which tend to get us in a negative mindset – everything from politics to music to movies to the news to relationships. Don’t get me wrong here; don’t close the door on your best friend if they’re having a hard time, and please keep in touch with what’s happening in the world and how you can help! Like I said, sometimes life happens – people loose jobs, get in accidents, earthquakes devastate countries. But don’t be overwhelmed by these things – don’t focus on all the bad that is happening around you and in the world. Rather focus on what you can do to help, whether its taking your friend out for a nice dinner and talking, or sending donations to those that are in need. There’s a lot of darkness in the world – but Jesus came to cast a light on the darkness, not to emphasize the darkness. Besides, what better way to keep a joyous demeanor, than to spread joy to others?
So what should worship look like in this time of keeping a joyous attitude? I am not a very traditional person when it comes to traditions in faith- I pretty much believe in following what the spirit tells one to do, not just what tradition tells us. So perhaps I am not the best person to lay out a traditions for others to follow. Having said that, perhaps it would be in order to keep some (not all) Christmas Carols in rotation until the start of Lent. Songs such as “Joy to the world” or “O come let us adore him” have always given me a sense of such joy to sing, and its almost a shame to box them up for 9 months out of the year anyways. Like I mentioned earlier, this season of rest and joy should NOT be a repeat of Christmas, so there will be of course be Christmas songs totally inappropriate to this season. Don’t sing Rudolph or Frosty! Please! And again, we should have a positive focus during this time, so if a particular Christmas hymn brings about the feeling of dread and stress that often times accompanies Christmas, then do not sing that hymn.
Lent is never an easy season to face, for Lent is the time when one really observes how much they need to change. And Lent will be here soon. From the time of this writing, Lent will be here in less than a month. So what better time than now to rest and be joyful? What better time to refuse to give into the dreariness life brings? On the Roman Catholic calendar, we’re in one of two seasons called “Ordinary time.” Basically, this is the time of the year we go about our lives and what not. But to observe this as a season of rest and joy, maybe we can transform this from an ordinary season, to an extraordinary season.
 I’ll be honest: I cannot stand sparkly vampires. I have even considered buying a T-shirt depicting Buffy dusting Edward. I have even contemplated writing fan fiction along the same lines. But why should I write fan fiction, when Buffy goes toe to toe with the Twilight Vamps canonically? In the Buffy the Vampire: Season 8 graphic novels, we find an interesting subtext involving the evils of even the nicest and incompetent vampires. This evil, is not just limited to the Buffyverse: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 shows that even the sparkly vamps of the twilight universe are evil creatures, and should probably be disposed of, lest they win the hearts of the innocents.
Let’s begin with issue 21: “Harmonic Divergence.” Harmony, the ditsy cheerleader turned Vampire Princess, is spotted in California drinking blood from the neck of an unnamed celebrity. Through a course of events, she gets her own reality show on MTV, and a worldwide interest in, and love for, vampires emerges. But Harmony as evil as ever, even more so. Not only does she heartlessly kills a slayer on live television, she also endorses a line of what is later revealed to be demon controlled toy vampires! Of course, after an attack by a would be slayer (who is slaughtered mercilessly), and after Buffy’s gang destroys the toys, Harmony plays the victim, and of course, the public fall for this. Hmmm, Vampires gaining immense popularity, to the point of immense fandom and said fans claiming said vampires are not evil. Quite an interesting resemblance to the fans of Twilight, as well as the other sparkly Vamps that have emerged because of the immense Twilight Vamps. Harmony appears nice enough, she’s not out to kill anyone – at least not publicly. But when the doors are closed, she’s just as bloodthirsty, heartless, and evil as ever. And perhaps, so are the Twilight Vamps. Perhaps.
Or perhaps I’m jumping to conclusions. Perhaps the similarity of Harmony’s popularity and Twilight’s popularity is simply just a coincidence and not an allegory showing that all Vampires are evil creatures (even though issue 21 came out a mere two months after the release of the first Twilight movies). Well, even if this IS a coincidence, there are other damning factors against Twilight in season 8. For one thing, the Big Bad of season 8 is named, (ahem) TWILIGHT! Yes, how coincidental is that? How is it that the head evil creature is actually named Twilight? There’s no denying the fact that Season 8 shows the evils of the Twilight, when the main villain is actually named TWILIGHT!!! That’s would be like if CS Lewis had named Aslan “Jesus.” That would be like if George Orwell had called the pigs in Animal Farm “Communists.” That would be like if Herman Melville named the Whale – well whatever the heck the whale means, that one’s still up for debate. But my point is simple: Word association is a powerful tool. Its pretty unimaginable that Joss Whedon would happen to overlook the fact that his main villain in season 8 just happens to share the name of a series of books and movies which depicts good and caring vampires. When the name is different, any similarities, however blaring they might be, could be dismissed as merely coincidence. The very fact that the main villain is named “Twilight,” is a big blaring sign saying “HEY! LOOK! TWILIGHT! WE REALLY MEAN TWILIGHT!!!!”
Oh, but wait! What about Angel? What about Spike? They’re both Vampires and they’re both good!Or are they? If I remember correctly, Spike only became “good” because he had a chip implanted in his head causing him not to kill humans. Despite anything he did after that, if it had not been for that chip, Spike would have gone on killing anyone and everyone he felt the urge to kill. Spike was pretty much tamed like a circus animal – take out his metaphorical teeth and he’s harmless. Ok, ok, Spike is evil, but what about Angel? Well, Angel just happens to be the best piece of evidence to my thesis. Angel was probably one of the most evil Vampires in the Buffyverse before his, for lack of a better word, anti-curse. And after he slept with Buffy, he lost his soul and became evil once more. Angel is no (ahem) Angel; he’s a demon who is only good because people were so sick of his terror, that they decided to put a spell on him. But never mind that. an interesting fact was revealed about Angel recently. The writers of Buffy Season 8 has revealed that Angel, who has not previously been portrayed in season 8, has been in the background of Season 8 this entire time. Angel has been wearing a mask—the same mask that Twilight wears. Angel is Twilight! The kindest, most gentle, and dare I say Edward-like vampire in the Buffyverse turns out to be the Big Bad that’s trying to kill Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies! Case closed! Never mind the neon sign, we now have a blaring horn bleating out that even the sparkliest of vampires is evil and vile and will kill you if you give it a chance. And yes,I said it! They are not people! They are evil THINGS that need to be disposed of properly and by all means necessary.
Oh the path we weave when we decide evil is good, and good is evil. Oh the twisted, sick perversions, oh the death and destruction – but I digress. In all seriousness, I really don’t believe Vampires exist, despite my enthusiasm in this article. Vampires are a great literary device to describe all that is evil and dark in this world. A little Vlad the Impaler, a little Black Plague, a little dark magic, and voila! Dracula – one of the most formidable literary villains of all time – is born. But even Dracula has his good side, right? He helped Buffy and the Scoobies in Tokyo, right? Well, yes….but only because that served his best interest. Mark my words, in any other circumstance, Dracula meeting Buffy would have meant a reenactment of Season 5′s first episode – only this time the end might depict a role reversal – IE Dracula standing over Buffy’s grave. Every vamp is something to be weary of. Like I said, I don’t believe in vampires – but if I ever meet one – I’m running the other way as fast as I possibly can. And you should as well. Now. Don’t stop. Just freaking run already!
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