I’ve run into that very phrase no less than three times in the last few days. Little coincidences like this make me smile, because half of me knows that’s exactly what it is, and the other half sees it as a sign.

I discovered R. Crumb in my Dad’s Hustler magazines in the 70s and I’ve been a big fan for years, though not a collector. So regardless of coincidence or portent, methinks a trek to Philadelphia should be on my docket before the show ends December 7th.

Superstition, skepticism … is there such a thing as an atheist witch?

The objective of International Blasphemy Day is to open up all religious beliefs to the same level of free inquiry, discussion and criticism to which all other areas of academic interest are subjected.

Here is the official website if you care to know more about the day and the movement. Meanwhile, please for to be enjoying this video as my official post for the day’s festivities.

Oh, and if you’d like a picture of Muhammed - not sure if it’s actually the one that sparked the riots a few years ago, which in turn led to the creation of International Blasphemy Day - clicky-clicky.

If you are easily offended … what the hell are you doing here?

Or perhaps just stupid: Someone used a third-party Facebook application to put up a poll asking if President Barack Obama should be killed.

I wish I were making this up.

Fortunately, someone notified the Secret Service, Facebook acted quickly to disable the poll, and both are now questioning the third-party creators of the application on how such a poll could be posted in the first place.

I personally hope the person or persons responsible for making the poll - not the people who created the application they used - will face criminal charges. It is still against the law to talk about killing the President of the U.S., right?

Exactly.

Their millions-per-year incomes need to be saved from Obama’s “health care for all” plan!

Sarcasm: It’s what’s for breakfast.

No lie … here’s the full story on the BBC website.

Ladies, I say we send notes of appreciation to Canadian designer Mark Fast, whose crew stuck to their guns instead of reverting to size 0 to 2 stick figures usually seen on the catwalk. Maybe, with enough support from the public, the folks at London Fashion Week will understand that we curvy ladies would love to wear designer clothes, too.

Here’s the online gallery of Mark Fast’s Spring/Summer 2010 line, which is fabulous, and you can send a quick note of admiration to his agency via info@markfast.net.

Dangerous curves ahead.

I am writing at lot these days, due to the creative writing course I’m in this term; I’m just not doing any writing for me.

It’s starting to become irritating. Right this moment, I’m supposed to be working on a second revision of a short story for class less than three hours from now, and I couldn’t possibly care less.

I know, to get a degree I’m going to have to put up with having less and less time to focus on my the things that make me happy, including this blahg. I even considered (very briefly) throwing out the idea of obtaining a creative writing degree altogether, then it occurred to me that a business or marketing degree probably has just as much writing involved.

Instead, I’m going to give myself 30 minutes a day to say something - anything - here on the old blahg, even if it’s boring, stupid, or wrong.

Hey, they can’t all be gems.

Roger Williams and his Separatist followers objected to the display of the cross on the English flag. For them, it was a sacrilegious confusion of nation and church.

They also objected to politicians taking the oath of office with “So help me God;” they believed that nothing good could come from governments policing faith or from communities of the faithful messing in politics.

The pendulum swings.

I knew the little fuckers were up to something.

Toxoplasmosis. Ever heard of it? No?

It’s a brain parasite.

Ever heard of Brian M. Clark? No?

He wrote about it.

“Fuck you and your stupid, stupid cat: Toxoplasmosis and why pet-lovers can all go eat a bag of dicks.”

Best part? It’s backed up with data.

I [heart] footnotes. I hate cats.

Most people are not allies; they’re just people who don’t know who the enemy is.

The only folks who didn’t shy away from the events of 9/11 were at The Onion. Their first issue after the attacks was for September 26, 2001 and it proved that satire can indeed survive horrific events.

Here are the headline titles and links to the issue’s stories, for those who enjoy a good laugh in a time of crisis as much as I do:

American Life Turns Into Bad Jerry Bruckheimer Movie
Hijackers Surprised To Find Selves In Hell
God Angrily Clarifies ‘Don’t Kill’ Rule
Hugging Up 76,000 Percent
Arab-American Third-Grader Returns From Recess Crying, Saying He Didn’t Kill Anyone
Not Knowing What Else To Do, Woman Bakes American-Flag Cake
Bush Sr. Apologizes To Son For Funding Bin Laden In ’80s
Report: Gen X Irony, Cynicism May Be Permanently Obsolete
Jerry Falwell: Is That Guy A Dick Or What?
The U.S. Military Is Pondering Its Response Options
Talking To Your Child About The WTC Attack
U.S. Vows To Defeat Whoever It Is We’re At War With
President Urges Calm, Restraint Among Nation’s Ballad Singers
Statshot: How Have We Spent the Last Two Weeks?
Dinty Moore Breaks Long Silence On Terrorism With Full-Page Ad
Point/Counterpoint: We Must Retaliate With Blind Rage
Infographic: Making America Safer

This is not to make light of the events of that day, but simply to express my mother’s old saying: “I’m either going to laugh or I’m going to cry … and I’ll be damned if the bastards are EVER going to see me cry.”

People forget that laughing makes tears, too.