That sounds good

What's my favorite sound? That's pretty simple. Besides a child's contageous laugh, it's got to be the purring of Java, my kitten. Every morning, I pick her up first thing and hold her in my arms. To hear the happiness in the rythmic sounds of her purring can make a strong man humble, and a bad day good. Perhaps if we all had a kitten, a child or a puppy, the sounds of their innocent joy could solve a lot of the world's problems.

What fortune cookies can tell you

I'm going to run a little test to see how good a predictor the fortune cookie can be. Below are two fortunes I cracked open last night:

Someone from your past will soon happily re-enter your life

Your are never selfish with your advice or your help

I'll keep you posted on what happens.

Discovery in the night skies

I may not be a victim of September 11, and I am fortunate to not know any victims or their families directly. But like others around the world, I was touched with feelings about the day. But I was fortunate to find hope and perspective was just before I went to bed. It's when I take the trash, put feed out for the birds and water the garden. That's pretty trivial, but it's a few precious minutes of private time to be outside and simply gaze up at the stars.

That's when it struck me. Looking up, streaking across the sky, I saw the blinking lights and the faint whisper of a large passenger jet making its way east from LAX toward the U.S. east coast.

One year ago, the skies were utterly silent.

It is often in the most trivial of moments that we discover something profound. For me, it was seeing a jet streak overhead in the night sky. In that moment, I realized that all the hatred and terror of September 11 was a failure. It did not stop us. As sad of a day as September 11 will be for people around the world, life continues unabated. If the aim of terror is to stop the march of progress, it's failing. You only have to look at the stars above for proof.

Remember 11

There is nothing I can write that can say enough. There is nothing I can think that can express the sorrow and revulsion I felt one year ago, and the sense of loss that I feel today. Nothing I have read in the course of the past year has done justice to September 11. It was simply too big to comprehend, too horrific to understand. I believe it will take each of us years, and perhaps lifetimes, to grasp the enormity of such a senseless loss of innocent lives.

Perhaps our way of coping is to forget. Americans are good at living for today, for being complacent about what happened yesterday. However painful the images and memories of September 11 may be, to simply file that day in the recesses of our memory is to do a disservice to the souls of those who suffered. Today, the world is a different place. We may trust strangers less and look over our shoulders more. But September 11 caused us to stop and take stock of ourselves and those we love. September 11 made us confront what is really important and consider our own mortality. However sobering that may be, perhaps the legacy of September 11 is to make us realize that this could be our last day on this Earth, and motivate us to make every day special.

You may never know when the goodbye you say to your wife, your father, your son, your daughter or your friend might be the last opportunity you may ever have. Instead of wasting yet another day, September 11 is a wake-up call to make every day special. If the brave souls of Flight 93 are any example, each of us can make a difference. It is up to each of us to stand up to tyranny, injustice, prejudice, intolerance, fear and terror. Regardless of whether we have a choice in how we leave this world, by standing up to terror and intimidation, we diminish its strength and its shadow. By showing we have nothing to fear, fear has nothing to show.

What will you do on September 11? Will you pause to remember those who died? Or will you ignore the unthinkable? Will you stop to remember, and remember to love? I hope that you do. For me, the anger will never go away. I can only pray that justice will be done. But that does not give me a license to hate, to cast blame on someone else because they are not like me. Instead, I will choose to stop. To remember. To love those close to me with an urgency of my last opportunity to do so. Life is special. It's sad that it takes September 11 to cause most of us to stop and look inward.

Nothing I can do will do justice to September 11 and its victims. For all of us, there is still the pall of shock and pain. But I believe that in time, each of us will hear a voice from within us, telling each of us what we have to do. But I would ask you only one thing today. Remember 11.

My solution for all the world's problems

Wherein our intrepid author boldly goes where only 50,000 blogs have dared go before

Disclaimer: The thoughts and opinions shown herein are merely the opinions and posits of this author, who considers himself to be a legend in his own mind. While the following manifesto may cause riots or outright mass hysteria, the author hereby is indemnified from any and all effects that may or may not result, including outbreaks of crop circles or reruns of The Bobby Goldsboro Show. Don't say you weren't warned.

I've given all the world's problems a lot of thought. And I have the solution. It may come as a shock to most of you, but the world's a mess. Our polar ice caps are melting. The world is threatened by terrorism. Baseball players and owners can barely get along. Movie star couples routinely break up. Mac and PC owners are shooting at each other on LA freeways. And the recording industry is threatening to take over the world, unless Bill Gates gets there first.

Worst of all, several popular lipstick colors are now unavailable. What's a girl to do?

We've got pollution. We've got Arabs and Israelis at each other's throats. And now, Lance Bass can't even go into outer space. Rancor is everywhere. How much more can this planet take?

I think I have the solution: turn control of the world over to the animals. Since the world's going to the dogs, why not just give it to them?

We've always gone on the assumption that humans, or homo sapiens, are the supreme creatures on this planet. Look where assuming gets us. When is it going to get through our thick hominid skulls that this is patently false?

Think it over for a second. Dolphins actually have a larger cerebral area than any human, including Martha Stewart. They don't just merely communicate by sound; it is believed that they actually communicate in a manner approaching interactive TV. And ask yourself: can you jump that high?

I didn't think so. Besides, research suggests that Dolphins may have actually once been land creatures that went back to sea. That should tell you something.

Then there are cats. For my money, I'm convinced that they are actually the supreme beings on this earth. Just ask one.

Try this: place a cat in your house. Give it two, maybe three weeks tops. I'll bet you lunch that in that time, the cat will have taken over. Try it if you don't believe me. I'll tell you that in my house, we know who's boss.

It ain't us.

A perfect example: last night, it was fairly cool in our area of southern California. My wife and I are comfortably under the covers, sleeping off a very busy working weekend. (If we're so damned smart, why do we work all the time? Think about it.) By 4 AM, Java, our cat, had moved in. Snuggling herself next to me for my warmth, this 12 lb. feline managed to gradually move me out of the bed and take over the warm spot. Now, help me here. I must weigh a paltry (you can use other words to describe me) 200 lbs. And, as I mentioned, my cat weighs in at 12 lbs. Explain to me how a 12 lb. cat can move a sleeping 200 lb. man. Go ahead. Try.

Well doggone it, I don't know about you. But I think we humans have made a mess of things. And the more we try to fix things up, the bigger the mess we make. So, why not let the animals have a shot at it? The cats and dogs would rule the land. (That oughta be fun.) The dolphins would rule the seas. Lions would keep humans in line and if we start messing up the oceans, we'll have to explain it to the men in the grey suits (Australian for Shark, mate).

Result: world order restored. Besides, cats and dogs are pretty cute. Instead of being so damned self-important, we cede responsibility to our furry friends. And instead of waging war against each other, we'll be forced to spending our days playing with animals. Or surfing with dolphins. In my book, that's not a bad deal.

That was simple. Next problem.