I am a self-rescuing princess. 

KookyKira: THE T-SHIRTS ARE HERE!!!!!!
KookyKira: COME UP!! COME UP!!!

First and foremost, I want to send a shout out to the wonderful monkeys at www.thinkgeek.com for providing the world with the most brilliant collection of hysterical egghead t-shirts.  My collection is growing, and if my office ever allows us to wear t-shirts on a daily basis then I will be the local geek goddess.

Second, KookyKira and I want to extend a huge thank you to the speedy workers at FedEx for getting our shipment to us a day ahead of the anticipated delivery date.  KookyKira is super excited (she is a huge fan of Monty Python and loves the shirt that she ordered), and I can’t wait to wear my shirt… I couldn’t even wait to go around showing it to people at the office (you can see it to the right).  We both are very much looking forward to casual Friday.

FedEx, we love you.

For those of you unfamiliar with the show The Big Bang Theory, shame on you.  This is the best show that ever existed.  This is by far the freshest, most intelligent, dimension bending comedy I’ve seen in a long time. CBS, I love you.  Your show far surpasses the perennial Friends. It’s a charming, smarmy, and gloriously condescending collection of geeks and Star Trek freaks.

Sheldon is such a riot… he actually reminds me a bit of SisterMonica.  They are both highly intelligent, yet sometimes act in the most peculiar ways.  Maybe I’m a bit like him too… no one is allowed to break my rule and talk to me through a closed bathroom door.  Well… except JustJessica… but she is my soul mate grooming monkey.

In one episode, Sheldon encourages Raj to drop the game Rock Paper Scissors for something more evolved.  After all, it seems like when you know someone well enough, 75-80% of any Rock Paper Scissors games you play with that person end up in a tie. Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock is a slight variation that reduces that probability.

Here is the video segment of that episode:

For those of you reading this from work and are without access to streaming video, here are the rules to Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock:

Scissors cuts Paper
Paper covers Rock
Rock crushes Lizard
Lizard Poisons Spock
Spock smashes Scissors
Scissors decapitates Lizard
Lizard eats Paper
Paper disproves Spock
Spock vaporizes Rock
and as always… Rock crushes Scissors

So many choices… so many outcomes.

Life is all about choices.  Do I wear the sparkly Jessica Simpson heels or the comfortable Sketchers?  Do I hold the elevator door for people coming or press my floor to head on up?  Do I spend thirty minutes straightening up or leave the laundry where it lies while I watch TV?

Do I look at my situation and give up or do I make the most out of life?

Dr. Jerri Nielsen died yesterday at the age of 57.  She had been fighting cancer for several years.  Do you remember her?  Susan Sarandon played her in the movie Ice Bound.  In 1998 she was hired to spend a year at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, as the station’s only doctor.  Physically cut off from the rest of the world, she developed breast cancer, and had to operate on herself with the help of non-medical crew, who practiced on a raw chicken.

It was a devastating situation, and she overcame it.

I should read her book (the basis for the movie mentioned above of the same title).  The movie implied that she was frustrated with her life before she took the assignment.  I wonder, if that was true, how that impacted her will.

Many of us deal with challenging circumstances.  There are diseases out there that the mere mention of them brings us to tears.  Cancer is one of them.  When I found out that my mother had cancer I had HusbandMike come pick me up from work because I needed his support.  Cancer when you are isolated would challenge even the strongest of us.

Dr. Nielsen was strong.

She survived, came back to the US, wrote a book and became a motivational speaker.  She even got married.  Then the cancer returned.  Undaunted, even when it spread to her brain, she chose not to let it stop her.  In October 2008, Nielsen spoke at a medical university. She took off her wig to show students her bald head, and told them not to be discouraged: “There is no end of life until your last breath. We can all do something to help someone.”

You see, when you play Rock Paper Scissors, you are given choices.  You will lose, win or tie.  But realize that even in the face of defeat, there is an option to win… if you play Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock then there will be two options to win.  Don’t ever give up.  Make the most of what you have.

And always choose Spock.

When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 – 1945)