And can I say that after laying in bed for a week, drifting in and out of consciousness with the TV on, I come away with this one pervading thought: we must stop the overuse of the exclamation "Awesome!" in our culture immediately. I mean it. Examples that I can remember during the past week:

• Discovery Channel's "Cash Cab": "We had an awesome time!"

• Discovery Channel's "Mythbusters": Whenever there is an explosion - "Awesome!"

• Food Network: Practically every other word out of Guy Fieri's mouth is "Awesome!" The butter is "Awesome!" The broiled steak is "Awesome!"

• Bravo: "The Real Housewives of Orange County" think they invented the word.

• Travel Channel's "Walt Disney World Tips": "Awesome job!" (This was yelled at a child disembarking from the Buzz Lightyear attraction.) Moments later, mother says "Let's head to another ride" to which the response is "Awesome!" Then a minute or two later we are told that the food at the Wilderness Lodge is "awesome!" I had to turn away before my head exploded.

There are scores more examples, but they are lost to my NyQuil haze. Please people, I beseech you...when you hear this exclaimed for some rather ordinary event, politely inform the speaker that it really isn't necessary to classify EVERYTHING as AWESOME!