Left to my own devices

What is forgiveness, and how important is it really? TheFreeDictionary.com  defines forgiveness thusly: forgive [fəˈgɪv] vb -gives , -giving , -gave , -given 1. to cease to blame or hold resentment against (someone or something) 2. to grant pardon for (a mistake, wrongdoing, etc.) 3. (tr) to free or pardon (someone) from penalty 4. (tr) to free from the obligation of (a debt, payment, etc.) [Old English forgiefan ; see for- , give ] forgivable   adj forgivably   adv forgiver   n I seek not to understand forgiveness in any religious sense, for I am not religious, but in a common world view of things. Is it necessary? Is it important? Also, and perhaps most importantly, is forgiveness something that is done more for ourselves, or for the other person(s) involved? Does forgiveness need to be an internal, as well as external, act? Does someone have to ask for our forgiveness in order to provide it to them, or can it be unso...

We hear a lot these days about the 1% vs. the 99%. Wall Street is demonized. Arguments of the populist movement are widespread. CEO and administrative pay scales are out of whack with those of their workers. Many hard-working folks are often forced to work more than one job in order to make ends meet. Unemployment is (as always) a problem. It's a presidential election year, so most of these things are mentioned even more frequently than they would be. You get the idea. Times are hard, and money is tight. But why is this?

The 2012 Olympics are officially over. Tom Daley won a well-deserved Bronze medal, and Michael Phelps "retired" with even more gold medals to his name. Speaking of which.... Mr. Phelps is our Pic of the Week. Enjoy!

There couldn't be any other celebrity to celebrate this week but Tom Daley. The Olympic diver for Team Great Britain is an inspiration, and I wish him well in the semi-final and final dives tomorrow!

Some of you may be aware of the BBC Radio 4 series titled Desert Island Discs . Some of you may not (this included me, until last year when Ashley began listening to the show in earnest). The episodes are available for download on iTunes -- for free -- and often times make for great listening. The program began in 1942, and following is a description of its initial premise: It was introduced to the listening public as "a programme in which a well-known person is asked the question, if you were to be cast away alone on a desert island, which eight gramophone records would you choose to have with you, assuming of course, that you had a gramophone and an inexhaustible supply of needles". While the "discs" referred to in the title are now more about compact discs rather those of the gramophone variety, the concept is still the same. It's actually quite fascinating to listen to the featured guest of each episode describe what pieces of music they enjoy, a...

So far on this blog I've written some very positive posts about my favorite films. Now I'd like to do the opposite: I'd like to discuss movies that were/are highly overrated. There are quite a few films that qualify, and the list could go on for some time, however, for this exercise I will limit it to just five selections. Ready? Here we go.

The Summer Olympics are in full-swing in London, England, therefore it seems only fitting that our Pic o' the Week would shine the spotlight on one of the dishiest athletes in competition. He is none other than out-and-proud Australiam swimmer, Matthew Mitcham. Cool first name. Enjoy!