Arctic Light

Okay, yes, I have eleventy-billion comments to reply to, so I shouldn't be making yet another post, but ... Paul Newman died. I don't often get hit particularly hard by actors' deaths, but this one really does hurt. He was one of the few actors that I genuinely admired, above and beyond the characters they played or their acting talent. He always seemed truly nice, for one thing, and I greatly admired the way that his life didn't revolve around his acting career; he could totally have rested on his laurels and been just another over-the-hill Hollywood heartthrob, but instead, he built stuff -- the Sundance film festival, his charitable work, his businesses. As near as anyone can, he did it without stepping on other people or selling out, and he never stopped trying to help people and trying new things as long as he lived. He was one of those shining examples that life doesn't stop just because you get older, even in a business where looks are nearly everything -- and for that and the fact that he apparently managed to survive in a cutthroat business while still being a nice guy, I'm glad he was here and I'm sorry he's gone.