Often when confronted with the pain of today, we tell ourselves that tomorrow will be better – that things will change. It may sound terribly pessimistic to say that this isn’t true, but there certainly is no guarantee that they will. For the thousands of people suffering in Darfur right now, significant change probably won't come in their lifetime. The homeless man looking for spare change on the downtown streets of every American town may never see things improve. Many people who thought they had seen the darkest day of their life find out that there was a trap door on what they hoped was rock bottom.

A recent conversation with someone very close to me who is enduring tremendous loss reminded me of just how easy it is to go through life with skewed perspective. It is easy to get wrapped up in the present when we feel like there is no end to it, but the moment we are confronted with the reality that this life will end, there is a longing to know that there is something more beyond this life – and a hope that the ‘more’ is better than the current.

Imagine a world void of color, dominated by slight variations of black and white. Grey skies, ash covered fields, charred skeletons of trees and buildings. There are no birds, no animals, and the rare sight of another human poses the enormous threat of being enslaved, or eaten. This landscape is where Cormac McCarthy's characters find themselves in his latest novel, The Road.

3 poems (Transfer, Raspberries and Portrait) from poet Jason Olsen. Olsen currently lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan and teaches creative writing at Western Michigan University. Olsen earned his MFA from Eastern Washington University and is currently working on his PhD at Western Michigan University. Olsen grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada and got his BA from UNLV. Below Olsen also answers some questions about his poetry.

Whether you are an Entourage consumer or not, you should at least be somewhat familiar with its storyline. (This is unless you have plugged your ears to the incessant coverage on Lindsay Lohan's latest "whatever.") Entourage is basically the behind-the-scenes look at a hot young actor (Vince) and his "entourage". The storyline focuses on the nuances of personal assistants, agents, friends, and everything in between.

Well, this week's episode ("The Weho Ho" episode) was no different from the norm. The recurring themes of image, lying, betrayal, and greed all made an appearance. All of which makes the placement of Nina Simone's Sinnerman in the closing credits all the more interesting.