August 10, 2007

 

Blogs are not a thing I think much about or have ever cared to suss out and read, until I read those by my friends Beth and Stuart. Those smart bitches know how to make me laugh and think. Forthright, snappish wit and big hearts endear me to those two - who, in fact may never meet each other. Nevertheless, they are kindred souls who would love each other because they both love me, and I them.

But more about me. (Bruce, are you out there? That one's for you babe.) If you are one of the people who know me as being in a constant state of agitation, it's not true. Though kind of, but not mostly.

[Sidebar: According to Dictionary.com, the second definition of agitation is "persistent urging of a political or social cause or theory before the public."]

I'm able to remember wonder and joy. Sometimes I even get the chills and tear up when I experience something stunning - like the sunset painting a sky of colors and the beauty of white rain in the night heavens. (Ready to check out the meteor show this weekend? Sunday night sweets!)  I DO find myself pissed off at the world and at all the assholes who disrespect, discard, and kill with greed and seeming impunity. They kill the bodies, minds and souls of the rest of us who haven't figured out how to guard against it.      

Call it loss of innocence, call it loss of faith. Is it thin skin? I'm almost ashamed to make this pop-culture commercial reference, but I will anyway...Why is it funny when the "cave man" at his therapist's office talks about his existential meltdown over Geico.com's Homo Sapien elitism? Well, because, the truth is funny and it hurts. We've all felt the sting of being "dissed." We all know what it is to be ridiculed - we've all suffered primary and secondary educational institutes.

What is worse is being a thirty-something feeling the sting of no response. Nothingness. The nada-zooda-zinga-ZILCH. Does what we do matter, if the Spaceship Earth eventually is consumed by the dying sun that is our star? Spaceship Earth, whose organisms will probably be (mostly) eradicated by a species that was a mere blip on the geological time line?

A species that couldn't agree on whose God is mightier?

Ok, it's not all doom and dispair. I was interested in today's Endeavor Space Shuttle lauch. I was quite frankly so fascinated that I watched the ten minute video stream (BBC.com) three to four times. The announcer is great - he says things like "kick in the pants," and "clean as a whistle," and "class is in session." While giving facts like, "It's now travelling at 5000 miles per hour." The speeds go up to 15,000 mph, which (and I did the calculations) is 4.1666666 miles per second.

And I was impressed by the initial reported speed of 2,000 mph. Finally getting up to five miles per second?! Rockets that burn a 1/2 ton of fuel per second - and gravity - certainly make a difference.

Reminds me of Modest Mouse's song, Gravity Rides Everything.