And yet, even so, there is a way to find happiness. That is to be curious about all of the interlocking events that add up to our lives. To notice connections. To be amused or perhaps frightened by the ways things work out. If the universe is indifferent, what a consolation that we are not.

A remarkable documentary that's also one of the most beautiful nature films I've seen.

"The Lucky One" is at its heart a romance novel, elevated however by Nicholas Sparks' persuasive storytelling. Readers don't read his books because they're true, but because they ought to be true.

Many really good films allow us to empathize with other lives.

Just write, get better, keep writing, keep getting better. It's the only thing you can control.

It does seem true that a lot of people will do anything, however humiliating, for fame.

I'm kind of glad the web is sort of totally anarchic. That's fine with me.