I'll probably finish reading "Alien Dawn" this evening, which leaves me with a problem: what nonfiction can I read next that will be remotely as entertaining? I learned from browsing Amazon.com that Colin Wilson is the author of eighty books. Eighty. His first was called "The Outsider," about the role of outsiders in art, culture and society. Needless to say, it's out of print.

I found a copy of a Paraview Pocket Book in Borders this afternoon. It seems the Mars book will be classified as "New Age," which is no huge surprise. And honestly, I can live with that, even if it's a commercial misnomer. At least I'm in good company. I should receive my mss. back from Paraview today. I'm excited about digging into the editorial process but also cringing a bit.

Jason Sheets has posted an utterly hilarious (or grotesque, depending on where one stands on the "white trash" issue) overheard conversation on his blog. I envy his ability to find humor in disturbing dialogues like this. I think it's much easier to do when you're with friends; when I hear stuff like this by myself I experience a bone-chilling rush of pure existential horror. I share cartoonist Bill Griffith's fear: In a society gone certifiably insane (and thus indistinguishable from conscious self-parody) what becomes of satire? Who's left to "get it"?





But I'm being pessimistic and typically misanthropic. There are some good outlets for parody out there. Here are two that I've really appreciated lately:

The Onion (billed as "America's Finest News Source"...and I'm not so sure they're being ironic.)

Whitehouse.org (Check out their patriotic posters; I'm actually semi-considering getting one of these on a T-shirt.)