If you believe that God has a plan and everything has a purpose and reason, you should be worried. If you worship at the altar of Minerva and are positive that there is a scientific rationale for everything in the universe, you should be equally worried.

What is the issue that appears to be of concern equally to all? Crude Oil. The funny thing about both of these camps is that they both believe that everything on (and in) this tiny planet of ours is here for a reason. Those who subscribe to the idea that an omnipotent deity built the universe to very precise specifications, and that nothing was created just because, must believe that God placed oil beneath the surface for a reason, even if we are not privy to it (and I am confident that it was not—as I'm sure that many Republican Christians would believe—so we, in the 21st century, could "drill, baby, drill"). Likewise, the science community, with its insistence that facts and data can explain anything, even if we don't have the data yet to answer certain questions, have to acknowledge that nature wouldn't spend millions of years patiently creating crude oil for no other reason than just because, even if huge oil-producing companies have them on their payroll.

So, if we can all agree that the crude oil we have become so dependent on was created for a reason (whether God made it or it’s a natural byproduct of the decomposition of organic material), what happens when it's all gone?

We really don't know why there is all this oil pooling just beneath the crust of our planet, do we? So, what if it's the grease in the machine we call Earth? Once we suck the last drop out of the crust, will the planet overheat from the friction and stop spinning? What if it's there to allow the continental plates to move smoothly? Will we have more earthquakes than we already have? What if gravity is a hoax, and it’s really the oily Ectoplasm that keeps us rooted to the Earth? Will we just float away?

The bottom line is that we need to recognize that just because we have found our own use for something doesn't mean that that is the use for it. Regardless on which side of the fence you stand (God v. Science), we can all agree that the crude oil in the ground was put there for a reason, and it seems that we really don't know what that reason was. I only hope for my child's sake, and the sake of her children, that the Earth can function without oil, and we won't come to find out that the crude oil in the soil is in fact the very lifeblood of Mother Earth.

Why is it that if we are up for something, we are down with it?

OK, so I'm not necessarily saying I'm for or against the death sentence, nor am I necessarily saying I agreee or disagree with the verdict, but was anyone really surprised that Saddam got the death sentence? I mean, did anyone REALLY think that the court would say, "you know, after reviewing the evidence, we find the defendent not guilty. Sorry, Mr. Hussien, you are free to go with the Court's apologies"?

Why were people saying that this was a testiment to an independent judiciary when it was closer to a kangaroo court? And why were people in his hometown shocked, didn't they see the obvious outcome even before he was arrested?

Am I the only one in the United States who doesn’t give a shit about Jennifer Aniston’s love life? I mean, think about it. You marry some white-trash guy like Brad Pitt, who is ranked among the hottest guys in the world, do you really think you’re going to keep him? Then, are you really so stupid to think that if some hot white-trash chick (i.e., Angelina Jolie) comes along, that that white-trash instinct to mate isn’t going to rear its head?

Please don’t misunderstand, I still love Angelina Jolie and those lips, but I’m fully aware of her skank factor.

All I’m saying is, why am I supposed to care about Jennifer being heartbroken, or desperately needing someone like Vince Vaughn to make her laugh? Aren’t there wars in the Middle East or drunk Texans shooting their children to report on? Do I really need to listen to the local anchors and Ann Curry discussing this like it’s the most important item discussed?

As I stare at the screen in front of me, all of the little lines that form the letters that form the words that form the sentences that form the web page all begin to blur and blend and realign and I get dizzy and confused.

My browser is pointed to Sallie Mae in one window and FAFSA in another. I am beginning to think that robbing a bank for money for my education is a better, faster, and simpler way to go.

Then it hits me.

Both of my sisters are getting married, one in September and the other in March. As they are girls, tradition firmly states that my parents need to pay for the wedding. They are figuring that they will spend an unimportant king’s ransom for each wedding (in fact, as they are putting everything they can on their American Express card to build up their points, they figure that by the time the wedding is over, they will have enough points for 2 free tickets to Japan and probably at least a few free nights at the hotel).

Now, as tradition also states that groom’s parents don’t pay for the wedding (OK, I know they are supposed to pay for the rehearsal dinner and the bar, I think), I figure that my parents should give me the equivalent of how much they are spending on my sisters’ weddings (OK, minus the rehearsal dinner and bar), and then I can enjoy my 3 years in grad school.

It makes complete sense to me! I think I will suggest that at dinner this evening.

So, you know how they have lines in the grocery store for credit card only and lines for 10 items or fewer and even a line that tells parents that there is no candy so they can take their kids through that one, well, I think that there should be a senior citizen line. This would be a line reserved for the slow and technologically challenged. Why should us young, fast, and technologically savvy folks have to stand in line waiting for the old folks to figure out how to sign their name on the screen? I think grocery store lines would move twice as fast (at least the ones I would use).