The spice of life. . .

The main principle of blogging is regularity. You sit down, ideally every day, and expound on whatever aspect of this mortal coil that is your niche.

If you're a mommy blogger, you talk about something you do for your kids above and beyond what any of your readers do, something that will inspire emulation or self-loathing among more haphazard parents.

Maybe you share how you leave a note in your kid's lunch box every day--a little reminder that they are loved, an inspirational quote ("If you can dream it, you can do it!"), a knock-knock joke, etc.

If you're a blogger who caters to gamers, you might share how to swiftly level up as a Death Knight Priest in World of Warcraft or how to build an replica of the Sistine Chapel in Minecraft.

And if you're a political blogger, you might expound on the ineptitude of President Obama or rail against House Republicans for obstructing meaningful political change, depending on whether your ideological ship lists to the left or the right.

But my blog has no particular theme and so, given a creative dry spell, I don't even know where to start. I guess I'll take a leaf from the second word in my blog title, "Battlestar Eclectica," and share some eclectic observations.

#1-Nature, or God if you are spiritual-minded, is infinite in its beauty and humor.

Take, for instance, the rare glasswing butterfly, which is loveliness and grace epitomized.

But then, just when you think creation is all about the pretty, you come across this cactus, pilosocereus palmeri, which when it is in full bloom has the hair of an elderly bohemian who in a moment of whimsy has tucked an enormous flower in her luxuriant white hair.

So, assuming there is a higher power who created both a see-through butterfly and a crazy white-haired cactus, is he a curator of beauty or a comedian? I think the answer is both.

#2-Nature's pretty/funny duality is a bit like the late Robin Williams.

Everyone knew that Robin Williams could do funny, from the time he burst to national notice with his stand-up act, which was a symphony of ADHD, and his starring turn as Mork in the TV show "Mork and Mindy." (What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall at the meeting where the show's producer pitched that premise: "He's an alien. She's a human. The only thing they share is white-hot chemistry.")

We all knew he was a spot-on mimic, who could channel any accent and any character.

But who knew that he also harbored within his joke-filled soul a serious actor of Oscar-winning caliber, one who could make us cry as well as laugh?

I didn't know it when I started this blog, but it's really about Robin Williams and how he epitomized the variety of humanity. He was half glasswing butterfly, half fright-wig cactus.

I don't usually grieve for long the loss of celebrities I don't personally know, no matter how much I like their work.

But man, I miss him.

--Sarah Torribio