Warning - Rambling Ahead...

Before I get to tonight's pithy thoughts, I offer an update: Underwear Saturday was the best. Now, I didn't spend all of the day in my skivs, but once I was done going to the gym, eating lunch, buying toys and comics, and walking around Burbank, I settled down, put on my favorite Superman t-shirt and the Chosen Undies and watched some television. Behold, I found both Project Runway and Real World/Road Rules Challenge marathons. I still can't believe Chloe won and that Beth hasn't been murdered. Regrettably, I also finished watching Boogeyman. In a word: Lame. In a few more words: I could have written and directed something scarier and smarter with nothing but the spare change in the pants I wasn't wearing while watching this stupid waste of time. The only fear I had was that the movie might not end. Mercifully, it did, although not before subjecting me to the weakest looking CGI Boogey ever. Thank God for that one-two-three punch of He-Man/Batman/Superman on Boomerang.

A full moon's coming tomorrow. Whether that actually means anything, I'm not sure. But if nothing else, people prepare themselves for weird stuff as our local satellite comes 'round. And when people prepare themselves for something, they're rarely disappointed. (Except for those overprepared Y2K people - they got shafted.) Nevertheless, I always manage to have the best conversations as the moon is in full swing. Take tonight's conversation about religion. The Princess and I got onto the topic on our way to the gym. Basically, we were discussing how relationships are not about being perfect, but really about accepting someone's imperfections. It's all about gauging what you're threshold is. It sound unromantic (something I've been fairly accused of being more than once) but love is more than anything emotional negotiation. You barter something you value for something your partner has that you want as well. And you accept certain add-ons that under other circumstances you might not generally. You love the way he makes you feel when he smiles, but that means you have to accept his Celine Dion collection.

Religion is usually a major point in this. Both the very religious and the strictly secular can have issues when their loved one doesn't follow the same line of thought. Basically, the Princess and I concurred that it comes down to realizing that core values can be the same under totally different structures. Ultimately a commitment to justice and fairness and equality doesn't have to be tied to any particular faith system. However, when it is, it tends to be very important to the believer and that needs to be respected. As someone who has more than lapsed from organized religion and even spirituality outside of academic discussion, I can sympathize with the non-believers on this one. But it also gives me perspective on the reasons that build up people's resistance to the R word. In Buddhist thought, there is the object (for instance, a truck) and then there is the word for said object ("Truck") and that crowds the room. One too many things for only one existence. I think of religion in the same terms. There's God and then there's the words for God. The room gets crowded and the words overtake the message.

Am I rambling here? I feel like I am. Anyhow, for me, it all comes down to overthinking and not thinking enough. It's knowing when to be quiet and when not to shut up. Things like love or religion or something like how nice kisses feel don't necessarily bear explaining. They just exist in a space all their own. The irony that I'm writing about this isn't lost on me. The writer William S. Burroughs said once, "Language is a virus from outer space." Laurie Anderson later built a song piece on it. In addition to my conversation with the Princess, my appreciation for both of those existences prompted this post. One, two, three too many things about one existence. Am I overthinking it? Maybe. I'm just glad to be thinking.

And for the record, Celine Dion is a dealbreaker. I don't care how you make me feel when you smile at me.

Happy Monday!
-J.

This post was sponsored by the Rambling Prose Committee.