Sunrise on Easter Morning

For as long as I can remember, I've spent my Easter mornings welcoming the dawn at the annual Sunrise Service at the Hollywood Bowl, and yesterday was no different. I'd planned to get to bed early, so that I'd have no problem getting out of the house by 4 a.m., but, I got all caught up watching "The Ten Commandments" on ABC on Saturday night as I dozed on the couch, and the next thing I knew it was 1 a.m.

I did get up and get to Hollywood by 5, and sat in a box. It was actually pretty mild out, and by the time the service started, the birds were tweeting pretty loudly. The service usually isn't the most polished, but I enjoy it and being in one of my fave outdoor spots. The weather has been overcast, so there wasn't that beautiful and dramatic breaking of the first rays that makes the service so much more ethereal, but it was still very nice.

And the best thing of all, I'm back in my car by 7ish. My friend and I went for a nice, meandering breakfast (it was too early for brunch!) at The Coffee Table in Silver Lake. I was home by about 11.

I spent the rest of day on the couch with Turner Classic Movies and the Ion Network -- "Easter Parade," "King of Kings," and some classic eps of "Battlestar Gallactica." BG was such a ripoff of "Star Wars" in every way, down to the opening credits of the pilot episode. Fun fact: Rick Springfield played the doomed brother of Apollo who the Cylons shoot down in the first episode.

But, back to Easter. The older I get, the more emotional the whole story becomes for me. And, call me naive or uninformed, but I just don't get the whole argument that the Jews were responsible for Jesus's death. Any way you slice it, the Romans and their horribly destructive "holy" empire are the ones who carried out the deed. My goodness, those people were E-VIL. Anyway, I've come to the point in my life where I'd like to learn more of the Bible, so I'm going to attempt to read it. As far as I'm concerned, it would be the equivalent of reading Bulfinch's Mythology or The Iliad/Odyssey; isn't that what all those holy books are anyway -- fables, parables and myths that offer a blueprint for living? However, it would be nice to be able to participate in informed debate anytime someone trots out bible passages or hopes to use them to back up their ignorance and hatred. But, I digress.

Time to get back to writing.