I'm sure many of you are aware that I have spent the last several years working exclusively in web entertainment (or "New Media" as the bigwigs like to call it). I'm excited to let everyone know I will helping teach a prep course on developing, creating, and distributing web content and so I thought I'd send the info out to all of you in case any of you might know of anyone that might be interested in taking courses. Currently the pricing is $150 for 4 weeks of classes, classes being every Monday starting this Monday the 9th from 7 PM - 10 PM. I can probably work out a discount rate if that would be helpful to anyone interested. Please feel free to pass this info on to whoever you think might be interested. You can also get more info at our site www.webtvprep.com.

( Course descriptions and guest speakers )

Think of it like a movie. The Torah is the first one and the New Testament is the sequel. Then the Qu'ran comes out and it retcons the last one like it never happened. There’s still Jesus but he’s not the main character any more and the messiah hasn't shown up yet.

Jews like the first movie but ignored the sequels, Christians think you need to watch the first two, but the third movie doesn’t count. Muslims think the third one was the best, and Mormons liked the second one so much they started writing fanfiction that doesn't fit with any of the series canon.

• Wired - 55 issues

• MacWorld - 30 issues

• Entrepreneur - 12 issues

• Entertainment Weekly - 45 issues

• There's a huge mysterious blob floating off the coast of Alaska that is made op of organic material and is stripping the flesh off animals caught in its grasp (they're finding just bones & feathers) and stretches about 15 miles long.

• And now San Diego is being hit with an invasion of hundreds of jumping jumbo squid. "Some divers report tentacles enveloping their masks and yanking at their cameras and gear."

WOW is to hackers
What whiskey is to Irish:
Peace through distraction.

• 15 July - Act One will be released on the web

• 17 July - Act Two will be released on the web

• 19 July - Act Three will be released on the web

• 20 July - All three will be removed from the web.

• Soon after, they will be made available for download for a nominal fee (no details yet).

• Somewhat after that, it will be released on DVD with "the finest and bravest extras in all the land." Details will be shared at ComicCon, but no word on whether or not the DVDs will be ready by then.

• Will you honor the content owner's wishes and download the legally purchasable copy after the 20th?

• Or will you instead go to the illegally copied versions that will no doubt be available on YouTube, etc?

• Does it make a difference to you that this is a self-financed project rather than a studio project? Would your answer be different if episodes of Dollhouse were released in the same manner?

Chris's 3 Rules of Dating

I developed these some years back and several people asked me to write them down for them so here goes. Will they work for you? Maybe. I am reasonably confident that they worked for me given the beautiful, competent and intelligent woman I wound up marrying (see Poeso)!

Any set of rules/guidelines should be as succinct and unambiguous as possible which nessesitates them being broadly worded. It also means that there are clarifications for specific points (in case you didn't catch the obvious intent) I have included a few. Finally, like Asimov's Laws of Robotics, these rules are in an order for a good reason...

Rule #1: Be comfortable with yourself!
If you can't be comfortable with yourself then other probably can't be either.
Being comfortable includes being comfortable around people you don't know or by yourself. Don't always rely on the opinions of others. In the end, it is your opinion of yourself that matters.
Don't mistake Arrogance for Confidence. The Arrogant need other people to be wrong so that they can be right which builds in weakness. The Confident recognize that there are many viewpoints that can be right and refines their viewpoints by allowing them to be challenged.

Rule #2: Meet new people.
There are many people in the world who can be "right" for you. The more people you interact with the more likely you are to meet one of them.
Just because someone appears to be "right" doesn't mean that they are not already taken or will ever be emotionally available to you. Take heart, enjoy your time with them and LEARN what a "right" person looks like and looks for. The worst that can happen is you get a cool new friend and maybe learn something about yourself.
Sometimes meeting new people means expanding upon the relationships you already have. "Friend of a friend" is more likely to have common interests and come to you "pre vetted" by the people you already trust.
Make time for the people who make you feel good about yourself. Who knows, one of the cool friends you have may have been waiting for you to become "emotionally available" and you may not have noticed it. Either way, it helps with Rule #1.

Rule #3: Avoid worthless relationships!
Admit it, everyone has gotten into or stayed in a relationship that is just not fulfilling and never will be. Sex, routine, emotional security, what ever the reason in the end all you are doing is keeping yourself from growing as a person. Either work to improve the relationship you are in or get out! Grow or leave. Harsh, but this is the biggest trap most people fall in to: staying in a dead end relationship because they lack the confidence to either make it work or end it.
If you are not yet in a relationship, remember rule #1, enjoy being with yourself. You don't need to get hooked up just to validate your self image. Flirt, have fun, be daring, but don't date some one unless you see in them the qualities that make you say "wow, I'd be really happy to tell my friends I am dating this person"

The Invitation

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day,and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

by
Oriah Mountain Dreamer