Four People Who Are Awesome In My Opinion Right At This Moment (Not Eight Years Ago)

It's a Friday, no one is on the Internet, and I'm posting like a rabid chipmunk looking for a bass player. Savor the madness.

1. Jane Austen. Somewhere, out there, is a video from 1998 or so of me on a drunken rampage, threatening squirrels (not real ones) and screaming invectives at Jane Austen, whom I had never read. This is my official retraction of that evening (which, to be fair to myself, I have little memory of in the first place). I'm lugging around a big, ugly (seriously; later I'll post the slipcover to this monstrosity) collected edition of Austen's novels plus the unpublished Lady Susan. So far I've read Sense and Sensibility (I quite liked Colonel Brandon) and this morning I finished Pride and Prejudice (Mr. Bennett was my fave. I mean, yes, he's a bit cruel to his wife at times, but she really does ask for it). I enjoyed both much more than I would have believed back then. Ah, youth. I must admit that at times I find it a bit irksome that, for narratives so concerned with money as it affects marriage, there's almost no mention of anyone actually working; but these are romances, I suppose, so I'm willing to overlook it. Next up: Mansfield Park.

2. Jackie Chan. This is the only proof I need.

3. Michel Gondry, and "The Science of Sleep." For more on this keep an eye on the Strange Horizons reviews page. Good stuff.

4. Torii Hunter. Yeah, so he missed that catch. How many Gold Gloves do YOU have? I'm just sayin', it ain't over.