Carrie Fisher. R.I.P.

Man, 2016 turned out pretty shitty, huh? Politically, we're headed into very dark times, of course. But it also seems like we've lost an unusual number of artists and celebrities this year. Prince, David Bowie, Muhammad Ali, George Michael, Florence Henderson, Garry Shandling, Elie Wiesel, Gene Wilder, Edward Albee, cartoonist Darwyn Cooke, and many, many others.

Carrie Fisher's death really stings, because I'm a big Star Wars fan, and her death was so sudden and unexpected. Of course, I had a crush on her as a boy. Princess Leia was awesome not just because she was beautiful, but because she was strong and independent and sassy and acerbic. Star Wars has been rightly criticized for its paucity of female characters, but the one it did have was pretty kick-ass.