Sad News.... There Will Never be a Z!

Sue Grafton died December 28, 2017. Sue was 77. I'm 78.

Somewhere in the cosmos, the roulette wheel of life was spun and her number came up. Mine didn't. I guess I could ask, Why her and not me?

For those of you who don't know, Grafton wrote an alphabet- series of books, starting at A. Her last finished book was Y. Her alphabet had 26 letters. Ironically, just a few weeks ago, after not having read any of her books in several years, I bought W is for Wasted.

My mom was a fan and I bought Grafton's books for her as soon as they were available.

Though I never gave it a lot of thought, looking back I guess I'd say Grafton was a safe writer. Well, for me at least. I knew her books would give me many hours of reading pleasure. 

A few of her quotes:

Ideas are easy. It's the execution of ideas that really separates the sheep from the goats.

If high heels were so wonderful, men would be wearing them.

I focus on the writing and let the rest of the process take care of itself. I've learned to trust my own instincts and I've also learned to take risks.

For more information on Sue Grafton go here.

Ahh, the Virgin Birth....

December 28, 2017.

I "borrowed" this from ING

Yes, just a few days after Christmas, that time when we (Christians) go nuts over celebrating the birth of baby Jesus.

I wanted to do a little research before writing this. After spending a few wasted minutes on the internet my prayers were answered. Our local newspaper, The Virginian Pilot, blessedly had this editorial.

Yes, I read it. Dang, you really have to be committed to wade through all of this. I will admit that whoever came up with this had a fertile imagination or had just smoked a giant joint or both.

For this posting, I'm only concerned about the virgin birth. Yes, I have a few questions.

OK, I understand that supposedly Mary didn't have sex. I guess I could ask, why? Too dirty or yucky? Or, is it the old, Good girls don't have sex? This may have been answered in the VP article, but how was Mary chosen? Lottery? Card game? Oh, well. Was she able to give informed consent?  Or, was this just forced on her?

OK, I'll give you guys that (no sex) it was the Holy Spirit that somehow made it so Mary was with child, right? How did that happen? Did he toss a magic seed that somehow ended up in Mary? Or, was this event a forerunner of what we now call in vitro? Did Mary actually have a regular pregnancy? You know, her stomach getting bigger? Craving dill pickles and ice cream? Morning sickness? Did she actually have OBGYN checks? Or, were they needed (maybe more magic)? Were the paramedics standing by in case something went wrong with the delivery? Who came up with the name Jesus? And, are you sure it isn't pronounced Heysus?

Another question. How did baby Jesus arrive? You know, He surely wasn't delivered vaginally, was He? Maybe he just popped up, if you will, in the animals' feeding trough....or, all of a sudden He was being cuddled by Mary. Maybe God sought advice from David Copperfield. No matter the answers, this was truly some heavy-duty magic. But, I guess I need to remember that God works in mysterious ways and can do anything.

Speaking of the Holy Spirit or Ghost...for some reason I thought they were all God. You know, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Amazing, sort of like the Swiss Army Knife of gods. That's kind of confusing to my pea brain. And, I'm not seeing any utility value. Why couldn't old God just do all the magic? And, why would God want to have Jesus come along if eventually, Jesus is part of him? Oh, just remembered, he has to kill Jesus so that the sins that He caused us to have (talking snake and apple) will be mitigated. Wow.

OK, am I missing something? I'm just not smart enough to be religious. It's all just too complicated for my limited intellect to make sense of.

Presently, I'm working on my third book of 55-word stories. Here's a story from my upcoming will-never-be-a-best-seller third book.

The Real Story Behind the Virgin Birth

They jammed themselves into the small area and crowded around the manger.
“What’s going on?”
“Mary’s going to have a virgin birth.”
“No way!”
“Yep.”
“How does it work?”
“Not sure.”
“It’s rumored God does it this way so he doesn’t have to pay additional child support. He’s already on the hook for six kids.”

I hope we all have our best ever new years in 2018. 

Just a Couple of Short Comments About one of My Favorite Subjects.... Yes, Religion!

Well, finally someone, well... a country got it right. Yes, Australia will no longer allow religious exemptions for vaccinations.

Here's the article from the Guardian. In the States, I believe most if not all of the exemptions come from the individual states and there are some whoppers that just about sanction parents killing their children because of their religious views. Gotta love the religious stuff.

Just when you think religion can't get more bizarre, crazy,

stupid, or what-have-you... of course it does. OK, remember back when Mitt Romney was running for president? You may have forgotten that Billy Graham called the Morman religion a cult. Yep, a cult.

Then Mitt paid Billy a visit and according to Graham Mormonism was no longer a cult. Yep, just like that. It started out as a Your religion is weirder than mine argument, as I like to say.

Where was I?

Joseph Smith, I'm sure a serial philander, was walking through the woods in the 1800s and an angel struck up a conversation with him. (Yes, an old talking to an angel story.) The angel told him where the magic gold tablets were and thus we have the start of the Mormon religion. 

Going forward to today.

Listen carefully, this is a little much even for religion. The Mormons baptize people after they have died.

Well, let's start with what baptism is supposed to do. After a search and a little reading take a look here for what the Mormons say, Yes, amazing. Mercy.

OK, so we have people getting pissed off because the Mormons baptize those who weren't Mormon. Of course, I could have read it wrong but I think that in some cases the Mormons un-baptize them. Think about this for a minute. OK, I readily admit my writing is worse than usual...but, dang this is just so weird that I'm not all that enthused.

Must mention the magic underwear. Yep, the Mormon's magic underwear.

You folks remember Bob Larson the guy who goes around the country getting the devil out of people. You know, he's a so-called exorcist. I think I mentioned in a previous posting that if you have little education, no job skills, morally and

ethically compromised, and don't mind being a sleazeball and taking advantage of people-well, here's all you need. Just pick up a Holy Bible and a crucifix and practice shouting, In the name of Jesus, come out foul Devil.

Also, I think you could be ahead of the competition and start a good hustle by going around the country and ridding peoples' loved ones of unwanted baptisms. Seems a wide- open field at the present.

Yes, I'm as crazy as the rest of them.

Thank God! Roy Moore Lost!

We, it would seem, have little control over our intelligence. Well, if we work hard at it

I guess we can improve it. 

That said, being controlled by religion is one of the worst things that can happen. If we take religion and ignorance...hmm...here's what you end up with.

I give you Ted Crockett, spokesman for Roy Moore. And, these are the people who are governing us.

PLEASE watch this video!!!!

CNN, Roy Moore's spokesman.