"The Wise Woman's Stone"

An ancient parable from India:

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation.

The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.

"I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it to back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."

(as quoted in The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout, Ph.D., copyright 2005)

unsent

My heart contains a letter

Words declarations realizations secrets

A letter buried beneath snows and years and miles and now

Inside a small place with a child’s dream, a few stolen moments

And sin

Open, buried

It says it all

Because life is not black and white

Some things are never simple and never explained

And are better left unsaid

But they are still true

They are still real

They are still in the letter

Protected by truth and fear and righteousness

And respect

And regret

Standing guard at the wall they cast their spell

And keep us all alive and well

For in this time will never tell

My heart, which contains a letter

Jon Stewart is killing the Oscars

Am I the only who feels this way right now? I love Jon Stewart, maybe a little too much, but he is kinda bombing tonight. This Oscars is so boring. All of the members of the Writers Guild are sitting smugly because it is so bad, but that doesn't make Jon look less awkward and embarrassed with himself. I think he knows he's bombing.

I miss Billy Crystal!

Other random thoughts 120 minutes in:

- Tilda Swinton was a total upset! Even she didn't expect to win, which is probably why she wore the Hefty garbage bag to the show.

- All the red dresses are gorgeous. Helen Mirren is a British goddess. I love Hilary Swank's gown, and Jennifer Garner is strikingly beautiful tonight.

- Wait. Patrick Dempsey is presenting.

- Okay, I'm back.

- As much as I adore Jack Nicholson, he just strikes me as a dirty old man.

It's been 2 hours, so only 2 more to go!!

You look like a monkey, and you smell like one too

32 years ago, a wee one made her first thrashing cry in the world.

Me!

If anyone wants a chocolate cupcake with pink icing and sprinkles, come on over.

I'm going to go watch Lost now. Jack is hot.

What We Learned from the Hollywood Writer's Strike

1) We learned that labor unions and strikes aren't all bad. It seems that the entertainment industry needs this protection quite a bit, what with the unqualified greed of the studios.

2) We learned that Hollywood still has a vested interest in the whole concept of "fuzzy math."

3) We learned that Conan O'Brien and Jon Stewart are possibly funnier without their writers. We will never know if this is true about David Letterman. (I still love him, though.)

4) We learned that the Late Show writers are funnier on their strike blog than they are on the Late Show.

5) We learned that life without The Office is like life without sunshine. You can live without it, but it makes life miserable.

6) We learned who Nikke Finke is, though most of us will quickly forget.

7) We learned what a douche Carson Daly is. Wait. That one wasn't ever really up for grabs, was it?

8) Finally, we learned a most valuable life lesson: Sometimes you have to fight in order to achieve peace. It was a timely metaphor for all of us.

God bless our troops, and God bless my little family.

It's over!

This was sent out yesterday by the WGA:

The membership of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) today voted overwhelmingly in favor of lifting the restraining order and ending their 100-day strike that began on Nov. 5. 3,775 writers turned out in Los Angeles and New York to cast ballots or fax in proxies, with 92.5% voting in favor of ending the work stoppage.

“The strike is over. Our membership has voted, and writers can go back to work,” said Patric M. Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America, West. “This was not a strike we wanted, but one we had to conduct in order to win jurisdiction and establish appropriate residuals for writing in new media and on the Internet. Those advances now give us a foothold in the digital age. Rather than being shut out of the future of content creation and delivery, writers will lead the way as TV migrates to the Internet and platforms for new media are developed.”

“The success of this strike is a significant achievement not only for ourselves but the entire creative community, now and in the future,” said Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America, East.

Breaking News: Is The Writers' Strike Over???

The WGA votes on a deal within the next 48 hours, and Hollywood could be back to work by Wednesday! Woo hoo!