One person can make a difference...

I recently read an article (online, of course) that described 50 things that the internet is killing. You can read the entire list here. It's kind of an interesting little article, and a great commentary on how things are changing around the world because of technology.

Any-hoo. It seems that I am guilty of helping the culture to kill #5 (punctuality) and #50 (lunch break - seriously, when was the last time I left my desk to eat???). I found one thing that I simply cannot let pass without comment.

#43. Solitare, and it's counterpart, Minesweeper. The internet is killing solitare and minesweeper. Let that sink in a moment, shall we?

How in the world would I have spent (or wasted) hours upon hours of my precious time in high school, college, graduate school and beyond without these two games?

So, today, take one for the team. One person can make a difference, you know. Double click on the deck of cards, just once before bed tonight. See how many mines you can find before you blow up. Practice makes perfect. If you fail, then try, try again.

Just a note: I'm definitely doing my part to help clean up the mines of America. And save Minesweeper. Maybe we should have t-shirts made...

The End of the Story

So I'm in a bloggy-funk, but I've gotten enough snarky comments from the three of you people who read me on a regular basis to protect myself from further snarks, and go ahead and post.

I was waiting until I got pictures up and going, but that's going to take too long, and this (non-photo) blog as been rolling around in my brain for a few days now.

I love good endings. If I invest a few hours of my life reading a book* or watching a movie, it's got to end well. That means: the guy gets the girl, the wedding happens, the baby is born, the family lives happily ever after. If it's not happily-ever-after, I don't wanna know about it. I see too much of the not happily-ever-after in real life. I read or watch movies to escape.

So, having the former in mind, I'm switching lanes. Fear not, I'm still on the mountain, I'm just meandering a little.

A girl I knew in college lost her younger sister to cancer about a week ago. The sister shares a birthday with my brother. I don't know why, but that made this hit closer to home. I knew the sister in college (it was a really small college). I didn't know she was sick until after she had passed away. Her story was too brief. The end of her story was unexpected and tragic. And crappy.

And yet, the ending was victorious. It truly was happily-ever-after for her. (See, I told you I was still on the mountain.) We are all to finish the race well. We are all to strive for the goal. She just beat alot of people to the finish line.

Our victory is assured. We don't have to wonder about the outcome. We don't have to be anxious about the end. The battle is won.

There is a happy ending here. Even in the midst of feeling unhappy.

*If you're not like me and let your books end not-so-happily-ever-after, Sea Glass by Anita Shreve is good. It's just not happily-ever-after. Definitely not.