Am I being too bitter? Or should I be even more concerned?

There's no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going
There's no knowing where we're rowing
Or which way the river's flowing
Is it raining? / Is it snowing? / Is a hurricane a-blowing?
Not a speck of light is showing
So the danger must be growing
Are the fires of hell a-glowing?
Is the grisly reaper mowing?
Yes, the danger must be growing
'Cause the rowers keep on rowing
And they're certainly not showing
Any signs that they are slowing.

(video clip of scene)

Eureka! It's the quotes. Every single bit of that movie. In a brilliant flash of screenwriting genius, this old Wonka was given a whole slew of one-liners from Shakespeare to Keats to Hillaire Belloc. "Little surprises around every corner, but nothing dangerous." It's a perfect mad genius archetype, his wacky mutterings closely resembling an asylum patient. The content may often seem nutty and lighthearted, but there may be something very heavy and substantial in his ramblings. Mmm, wonderfully creepy.

__

Three things happened just a block from my home yesterday afternoon, all simultaneously.

1. 5-year-old Peorian hit by truck, hospitalized (and today's update)
Any Peorian could tell you that Main street from Bradley University toward the hill entering downtown can be a dangerous place. Not only are some areas a little less "friendly" and a little more urban than some would be comfortable with, traffic is riding four-lanes wide only inches away from you as you walk or bike. Usually it's college kids doing the dying, but this time it was a little girl severely injured while riding her bike with the right-of-way at a crosswalk. Sad.

2. Shooting victim appears at accident scene
While incident number one is still being investigated, a man randomly arrives at the scene stumbling and mumbling about being shot. His white t-shirt is stained red. Police question him and then send him to the hospital.

3. Woman hit by SUV at Main and High Streets
I have no official word on this one, but Chris said that he was in a nearby park when he heard a woman yelling and laying on the ground in the street. This is one block east from incident number one.

I honestly felt rather disturbed after learning this; when does random stop being random?

---

Tomatoes are back in sandwiches, I saw my first firefly of the season when I arrived home from work late last night, and the weather really couldn't get any better. Summer!

This week ended up a little more average than usual, and also the busiest. I probably have better personal work, but I'll dig that up later. Notice how most of the photos are shot with a longer focal length? Hmm.

oh yes

there are worse things than
being alone
but it often takes decades
to realize this
and most often
when you do
it's too late
and there's nothing worse
than
too late.

-- Charles Bukowski

The premise of the series places a slacker girl named Jane smack in the middle of touristy Niagara Falls, where she barely withholds her disdain for fellow mankind. Of course, there's a twist, just like any new television series, and this one throws talking chotchkies, stuffed animals and brass monkeys at her. They whine and demand that she respond to relatively benign statements, like "bring her to him." The entire show basically revolves around these riddles, with their murky pronouns, and the rest of each episode is spent trying to follow these commands until they result in all loose ends neatly tied, with a bow on top. Imagine pouring honey and sugar all over the Joan of Arc story line, and NOT killing the main character, and you have "Wonderfalls."

I was left with a migraine that made me feel like vomiting, but I'll give one more disc a chance. I may have overextended myself.

Wonderfalls music video, with theme song by XTC's Andy Partridge. This won't help.

Addendum: I've confirmed that Micah never even finished the season.