A Very Paul Moment

  In 'Netherbeast Incorporated' there's a scene where a lady named Rebecca disappears.  In a later scene, someone thinks she hears Rebecca's voice.  When she tells someone about it, he asks her, "When you thought you heard Rebecca, are you sure it wasn't Ricotta?"  The lady looks at him confused-like and says, "Ricotta?  Like the cheese?"  That is such a Paul Loh moment in cinema.
  In 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' when Charlie Bucket's teacher addresses his class and says, "I've just decided that the test we normally take on Friday over the things we've learned all week will now take place on Monday before we've learned them, but since today is Tuesday, it doesn't matter in the slightest."  That is one of my favorite Paul moments.  That movie is full of them.
  Of course, there's the ever-popular scene in the 'Princess Bride' when Inego and Fesik are rhyming and Wallace Shawn gets frustrated and declares, "No more rhyming now, I mean it!"  To which Fesik replies, "Anybody want a peanut?"  That's a classic.  If you've ever read any of my work, especially my blogs, you'll recognize moments like these strewn about.  If you've ever had a conversation with me, you might have heard it there too.  Absurd statements or dialog that somehow fits within the context of a piece of writing.
  One example would be in the Nocent when the band is driving in their van through the desert and one of them looks out the window and says, "What a pretty plateau," to which another character replies, "Isn't it a butte?"  That joke originated when I was in middle school and went on a field trip to Carlsbad Cavern.  It was there that I learned the differences between plateaus, mesas and buttes.  Originally, I had the joke involve two geologists walking through the desert.  I submitted it to Reader's Digest but it was rejected so I retooled it for inclusion in my first novel.

The Beauty Of It All

  Not being able to have any contact with my wife, I've had to do a lot of things by myself lately.  Last night at the laundromat, I had a lot of time to read while waiting for my clothes.  I've been reading Friendship With God by Neale Donald Walsch.  I don't think it's any accident that I'm reading these particular chapters at this particular time.  Neale specifically asks God how you can find joy in situations where you find yourself alone.  God tells him that you are never alone.  You always have God with you.
  Joy comes from being able to express your true inner being.  He said that your heart is the bridge between your soul and your mind.  When you, for whatever reason, keep from expressing yourself, you restrict the freedom of the soul to connect with others.  It is connection that brings the highest joy to both parties involved.  Fear, inhibition, shyness, self-loathing can all get in the way of connecting with others.  When you're alone, you can just sit still and connect with God.  Since we are all one, you are connecting with everyone when you connect with God.
  That's where I'm at right now.  I've found many opportunities lately to connect with God.  My mantra is 'I am love'.  This very blog is an expression of love from me to you, my readers.  You see, when I hear a Garth Brooks song or a Hatebreed song, I hear love being expressed in different ways.  I cry when I hear 'The Wolves' by Garth Brooks, but I also cry when I hear 'You're Never Alone' by Hatebreed.
  I cried when Andrew Wood (Mother Love Bone), Paul Gray (Slipknot) and Mr. Rogers died.  And it wasn't because I want them back or can't live without them.  It was because they each had found joy in expressing themselves to the world without shame, inhibition or selfish ambition.  They loved what they did and it shows.  I envy that pure joy of living that they each had.
  I cried when Charlie Bucket gave Willy Wonka back the Everlasting Gobstopper, when Han Solo shot Darth Vader's TIE fighter out of the sky, when Ben Stiller lifted the headphone from Mary's brother's ear and when three of Charlotte's offspring stayed in the barn with Wilbur.  All expressions of love.