opiates rock. especially the opiate of the masses.

Today, my friend had a horrible day.

I didn't know how to cheer him up- the news he got really was crappy, and I wasn't in the greatest mood myself.

But then I started chatting about Gossip Girl, and making jokes about how ridiculous so much of it is (ie, the teenage owner of a fan-dancing (sex?) club drugs his schoolmate, steals his shoes, and abandons in him NYC- wtf?).  And that led to talking about the Star Wars prequels and all the fun we've had watching them.  And that led to The Watchman, and the reviews it had gotten, and the problems critics were having, and where and when we should see it....

And that led back to real life, and how to make his horrible day happier.  By then, we could talk about it, because in the midst of all those jokes and chatter and T.V./movie talk, he's gotten a lot cheerier.

Escapism and T.V. and storytelling are important.  Good stories make life better, they make people happier.  

Stories aren't about all the plotting and dialogue and break-down, where are the strings?-type stuff us writers concentrate on.  They're about making people a part of something better and brighter and more fun than the crappy lives they've (we've) got.  

Just a reminder why writing is important and beautiful.  Why it's worth it, even when it's tough.