SansPoint

Well, perhaps. I doubt there’s a heaven, and he did too. Kurt Vonnegut passed away, and I’m broken up. As a writer, I can only dream of being as appreciated as Vonnegut, let alone writing anything reasonably close to his quality. Even though I’d only read a bare handful of his work, namely Cat’s Cradle, Welcome to the Monkey House and Bagombo Snuff Box, he amazed me. More of his books have been on my list to read for ages. Meanwhile, I can’t even finish Thomas Pynchon’s newest^[1], let alone the books I have waiting to go afterwards.

Kurt Vonnegut was a cynic, and who wouldn’t be after surviving the Dresden firebombing and being made to clear the bodies of the dead. Of course, I like to think of cynicism as just another word for realism. Vonnegut didn’t sugarcoat anything in his writing. That’s what I like the most about his work. He was matter-of-fact, direct, and gave the reader a lot to think about.

He will be missed by many.

1. If you think I’m sad about Vonnegut, when Pynchon dies, I’ll be inconsolable. I still remember how torn up I was over the death of Douglas Adams almost six years ago. ↩

I’m a member of the Church of the Subgenius, an online parody cult. Some of you may be aware of the child custody case involving Reverend Magdalen (neé Rachel Bevilacqua), a member of the church. To summarize the case: Her son, Kohl, was taken from her following an absurd custody case from his biological father. The reason for the change of custody? Her involvement in the church. There was a re-trial, and the new judge found in her favor (thankfully), but a stay has been put on the verdict, and now she won’t have her son until May following an appeals court review of the case… if we’re lucky. You can get more information on Magdalen and her case via The High Weirdness Project’s page.

Even more absurd is that the father has received pro-bono legal assistance, while Magdalen, and her husband Jesus have racked up over $70,000 in legal fees— and they’re not even out of the woods yet. To this end, a fundraising site has been set up. I encourage all of you out there to pledge something!^[1]

Pledge here! Now!

1. I’ll be donating some of my money after I get my next paycheck. ↩