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The end of the world used to seem so cool. I’d get to go days without shaving, acquire a cool long coat, and sleep on a cot next to pallets of canned soup and a loaded shotgun. Plus, everyone would dress like the Legion of Doom. What’s not to love?

Then I had kids.

Primarily known for his contribution to dystopian literature with his publication of Brave New World, Aldous Huxley helped shape the world of literature, especially science fiction.

However, his involvement in culture within and outside the literary realm is far more substantial than one may initially think.

To commemorate Huxley on his birthday (born 118 years ago), here are some fun facts about his life:

Disney rejected Huxley’s screen play of Alice in Wonderland—there were simply too many big words. However, the final portrayal of the hookah-smoking caterpillar is supposedly a nod to Huxley.

Huxley appears on the album cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Huxley’s eyesight problems drove him to give up his dreams of being a scientist and instead begin a writing career. He was practically blind for a few years as a teenager.

George Orwell and Stephen Runcimen were Huxley’s students.

Literary friends of Huxley included Ray Bradbury and D. H. Lawrence.

Huxley borrowed the title of his book The Doors of Perception from a line of William Blake’s Marriage of Heaven and Hell. He similarly alludes to Miranda’s speech in Shakespeare’s Tempest in his title Brave New World.

Huxley died on November 22, 1963—the same day that C. S. Lewis and JFK died.

At Huxley’s request, his wife Laura administered LSD to her husband a few hours before he died.

For the chocoholic in all of us, a slight twist on a classic ice cream flavor: Chocolate Cookie Dough Ice Cream.

Lindsay Landis’ egg-free cookie dough recipe means you can chow down on the dough itself to your heart’s content… so you might want to make a little extra.

If I was to die in six months
awaiting the collision of an asteroid,
I could cry with everyone or wait
to die with everyone or
check Facebook and Twitter. I could run away
to another place, hope for another fate, but

I would think about Leaves of Grass.
And the dirt on the bottom of one’s boot.
I could search for the songs of myself.
Reflect on what I have left –

Behind me there are trees that
I thought touched the sky.
I believed falling stars
were angels flying in the night,
following other stars that lost their way or went too far –

No. I’d think about how I found love
in a city and held hands with him running
through the rain drunk with dreams that may never come true.

Or I’d think about what I’d miss,
the whiskers of my rabbit rubbing against my arm.
The temptation of wrapped gifts waiting under the tree.
Some nights lying on the carpet tanning in the moonlight.
I’d fight to keep my sanity, but knowing me,

I’d pack my bags, head to Iceland
with my better half and bake pies.
Because who wouldn’t want to sit on
a black-sanded beach eating buttery-flaky crust filled with
seeping strawberries, topped off
with airy-whipped cream?

After mastering the art of pie,
if you ever wanted to stop by and help me
think of a slogan like
Best Slice of Pie Before You Die, or
Pie to Die For…
I’ll trade your advice for a slice and
we can watch the sky fall together.

Melissa Gregoli is a poet from New Jersey. Follow her on twitter (@orange_soda) and visit her blog (msallaneous.tumblr.com). Pie photo via http://bit.ly/P2XxvA.

After teasing us with that single, incredible still photo back in April (above, via the Huffington Post), the trailer for Ang Lee’s film adaptation of Life of Pi has finally hit the Internet. And oh my… it looks beautiful.

What do you think?

Photo by Loudest Noise

Some of fiction’s greatest stories revolve around the anti-villains, the wrongfully accused, or the unfortunately misunderstood.

Today, we take a look at ten characters whose crimes ought to be excused by reasons of redemption-by-death, traumatic childhoods, or a shift in the moral event horizon.

Hester Prynne (The Scarlet Letter): A married woman has an affair that results in a child, but refuses to give up her lover, and is literally branded a slut for everyone to see. Sure, during the era the novel is set adultery is a stoning offense, but by today’s standards, Hester’s dalliance with Dimmesdale would only earn her a spot on Real Housewives of Boston.

When you take into account that her elderly husband sent her to live in the village by herself, the outcome is hardly surprising, or deserving of such punishment. Hester deserves a pardon, and if she lived today, she’d probably have a book deal.

Severus Snape (Harry Potter): The Potions master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry makes the list as it remains unclear whether or not Severus Snape’s bravery is known after Harry defeats Voldemort. The only proof of Snape’s true loyalty lay in Dumbledore’s Pensieve, and probably didn’t survive the Battle of Hogwarts, so the world may never know that Snape was, in fact, the greatest triple agent the Wizarding World had ever seen. With that secret out, he surely deserves forgiveness for whatever crimes he might have committed while undercover.