Learn what you can and then eat the rest

If you have a Bible on your bookshelf, you may be a Christian.
If you have a Koran on your bookshelf, you may be a Muslim.
If you have a Torah on your bookshelf, you may be Jewish.
If you have all three, you are probably an atheist.

I swear, I read more about religion than most religious people. If you don't count the actual texts, because although I've read the Bible cover to cover multiple times, the Torah is kinda different than the KJV old testament. And I've only read nuggets of the Koran. But right now I'm reading  'A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam' Pretty good stuff. Deals with, well, the history of the three big ones.

It seems like the more you know about different religions, the more you can focus on the good (Be nice to each other!) and ignore the more absurd things. But as a member of one of the last closeted and most despised religious groups, it's no wonder some non-believers are starting to stand up for our rights. That's all of our rights, by the way. Everyone's rights to practice whatever they want, or not, and to not have one group's morals usurp the rights of others. Especially mine. And yours. I think some solutions may be found in community outreach and inter-faith dialogue. I always love to see that. We can all get along, it's not terrible difficult, even if we disagree on such a fundamental level. Now stop trying to impose your outdated and illogical morals on me and my friends!

Speaking of friends, One of mine made me some of the best Gazpacho Soup ever this weekend for house sitting. So fucking great. I can't help but think of this Red Dwarf classic every single time I eat some. (Soup Peddler has some tasty Gazpacho right now as well.)

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/famous-opening-lines-from-novels-updated-for-the-modern-age

Huh. I'll de bamned.

Predictably, my oncologist appointment is another 'wait and see' scenario. Platelet count went up a single unit. Kinda sucks. Also other things that I don't want to go into until I have confirmation, but it's not particularly good news either, but not like, terrible, just one more fucking thing to deal with.

Anyway on to some links I've been collecting since Friday, where I actually seemed too occupied to care:

OK Go, my favorite internet-meme-band, has a new album out, available to listen or download from mashable. I love these guys and they really helped me get through some rough times. It's awesome to have such positive music be so entertaining as well instead of just weird hippy-dippy shit. It's all so very, very good.'All is Not Lost' 'This Too Shall Pass' and 'Needing/Getting' are just way over the top excellent, IMHO. Or is it OKGO?

Oh, this one too, but it's a little less cheerful 'Last Leaf' and Skyscrapers too.

So the North Loop Parlor is closing later this month. That really sucks. Not that I really live around that area anymore, but I'm often over at Jim's which is right down the street, and when the call of beer and pizza rings (which is often), nothing beats a Parlor pizza. Luckily for everyone, East Side Pies opened right down the street, and that's kinda the best pizza in all the land, so no huge loss for you people fortunate enough to live in the area. Also if you really crave the pizza you can still go to the Parlor on Guadalope, but what about the shows, man? What about that?

Jimmy Carter continues to be the very best ex-president in this well articulated argument against the 40 year, over trillion dollar drug war failure.

Amazing 100% effective, cheap, and semi-permanent and resersable male birth control? Sign me the fuck up when this hits the US!

Yes, Virginia, there is a Ding Dong, Texas. And it's not but an hour and a half away. Road trip, just for the picture of the city limits sign!

Best Photo of the Vancouver Riots