Cynics, Bitterness, Anguish... and a bottle of Rum

I'll save the upbeat stuff for later in the post. So, you know, don't tune out yet, it's coming.

Earlier this year, a teenage gal embarking on her college career, met up with a guy she'd met on "myspace" who said he was a photographer. Now, if you're a cynic, like I am, you immedately jump to the conclusion that this guy was, in fact, not a photographer; but just some creep looking to take advange of a teenage girl. Well, it was even worse than that.

Fast forward to this week. A teenage boy from Mission Viejo, CA posted a message on myspace... asking others to contact the police, have them go to his house and check the bathroom. He then went into the bathroom and shot himself.

I'm not reporting on this stuff to get people all riled up and angry at myspace. It's not their fault. I'm sure that some idjits in the U.S. House of Representatives or the Senate will see it differently and say that myspace is a dangerous force on the will of America's youth... or something like that.

No, I'm relaying this info in the hopes that someone, anyone, thinking of "hooking up" with someone they met here in cyberland will think again. Or, anyone contemplating suicide and posting their last words up here will instead, call a live human being and talk.

We all need to realize that The Internet Is Shit. You can't take anything up here at face value. The Internet is like one gigantic episode of America's Funniest Home Videos: You laugh, you wince in sympathetic pain, and then you turn it off. Try not to take anything or anyone up here seriously. (Yeah, myself included.)

Ok?

Ok.

Onward:

Last month I posted a link to the coolest video footage of Christmas lights EVER. I'd pondered if it was real. It is. Oh, and you can bet that I'm pondering doing the same thing next year!

And...

THIS is the best rum I've ever had in my life. EVER. It's like a fine congac or an exquisitely aged highland scotch whiskey. If you're wondering what to get me from Christmas, feel free to send me a bottle of this!