Thoughts and things

• American Idol has started again. I try to avoid it like the plague upon our planet that it is, but unless you cease watching/reading/listening to the news, eschew coffee at work, and run from co-workers, it's impossible to completely avoid. I found an interesting article that appears to address the first few episodes of American Idol - the weeks when all you see are the William Hung's of America: those who can't sing, can't dance, and have no stage presence (the triple threats). The article is posted on the American Psychological Association's website, entitled Why we overestimate our competence. Apparently, the worse you are at something in our culture, the more deluded you are about your real ability.
• Caught another stunning episode of Lost last night. I'd say that I'm starting to figure a few things out, but I'm sure that I'm just over-estimating my cognitive abilities!
• Haven't started on the dream journal yet - my dreams of late have been fragmented and not at all narrative in nature. Perhaps it has something to do with the jellybeans I've been consuming while reading in bed every night? Time will tell, as the jellybeans are now history!
• Haven't read much of anything of interest lately. Finished the first in a sci-fi trilogy called Slaves of the Volcano God. It kind of put me off reading the other two books (Bride of Slime Monster and Revenge of the Fluffy Bunnies). The premise was interesting - the movies of the 30's onward were set in real worlds, where movie logic prevailed (for instance, you will always get to your destination faster while singing a cowboy song). As movies started to become more "realistic", these worlds started losing cohesion and breaking down, allowing characters to start moving from movie world to movie world (imagine Tarzan on a pirate ship). Sigh. I enjoyed the author's more straightforward scifi, such as Dragon Sleeping, which, now that I think about it, has a similar sense of disconnection from the "real" world.
• And, speaking of dragons and fantasy, I've picked up but haven't finished reading the final books in The Banned and The Banished series (aka the Wit'ch books) by James Clemens. Pick them up if you get a chance.