You Are Here.

I recently went out and bought a poster that is now hanging on my wall above my computer. On the poster is a huge picture of our galaxy, the milky way. Then there's a little target pinpointing a small dot on the outer bottom side of the galaxy, that says Earth. Then there's a quote on the poster that says:

"Look at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors, so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.

Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. It underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."

- Carl Sagan, from a Public Lecture delivered

October 13, 1994, at Cornell University

I like it.

Third Engine

The sky grows bigger every day
And the other week I hopped on a train
Cutting through state lines
To come to you as the crow flies
And out there in there offing everything was melon and orange
Did you know, my sweet
That I once took the liberty of watching you in your sleep?
I rolled over and over
Trying to touch your knees underneath the sheets
I just want you to know
that every pool of water reminds me of you
Is that all right?
I hope you think it's cool
'Cause sometimes a train can't go as fast as I want it to
Everything seemed a little easier
when we weren't one hundred miles apart
The person across from me
sitting in her train seat, reminded me of you
And I looked out past her cheeks
through the glass-light conduit
But the sun had sunk already
Disappeared into New Jersey
Oh, why don't they have phones on these things?

it's been forever and a day

since i've updated this thing.  been really busy lately.  working...again.  been cooking at earls, but i don't really like it.  it's way too high intense compared to the other cooking jobs i've had.  but i did get an interview with Frito Lay...the greatest chip company in the world!  it went awesome, and at this point i'm 99% sure i got the job.  i'll know for sure tomorrow.  it pays really well and i'll get to drive a big chip truck around, so here's hoping.

that's all i've been up to lately.  a lot of video game playing and tv watching.  and the earth keeps revolving.

another great great song...

Summer time and the wind is blowing outside in lower Chelsea,

And I don't know what I'm doing in this city,

The sun is always in my eyes,

It crashes through the windows, and I'm sleeping on the couch,

When I came to visit you,

That's when I knew that I could never have you,

I knew that before you did,

Still I'm the one who's stupid,

And there's this burning, like there's always been,

I've never been so alone, and I've, never been so alive.

Visions of you on a motorcycle drive by,

The cigarette ash flies in your eyes, and you don't mind, you smile,

And say the world, it doesn't fit with you.

I don't believe you, you're so serene.

Careening through the universe, your axis on a tilt, you're guiltless and free,

I hope you take a piece of me with you.

And there's things I'd like to do that you don't believe in,

I would like to build something, but you'd never see it happen.

And there's this burning, like there's always been,

I've never been so alone, and I, I've never been so alive.

And there's this burning, ah ha, there was this burning, yeah yeah yeah!

Where's the soul. I want to know, New York city's evil.

The surface is everything, but I could never do that,

Someone would see through that.

And this is the last time, we'll be friends again.

And I'll get over you, you'll wonder who I am.

And there's this burning, just like there's always been,

I've never been so alone, alone, and I've, and I've, I've never been so alive,

So alive.

I go home to the coast, it starts to rain, I paddle out on the water, alone.

Taste the salt and taste the pain.  I'm not thinking of you again.

Summer dies and swells rise, the sun goes down in my eyes,

See this rolling wave, darkly coming to take me, home,

And I've never been so alone, and I've never been so alive.

one of the best documentaries i have ever seen

A story of the Young at Heart Chorus, a group of senior citizens who perform contemporary and classic rock and pop songs.  It documents the true story of the final weeks of rehearsal for the Young at Heart Chorus in Northampton, MA, whose average age is 81, and many of whom must overcome health adversities to participate.  Their music is unexpected, going against the stereotype of their age group, performing songs, for example, by James Brown, and Sonic Youth.  Although they have toured Europe and sang for royalty, this account focuses on preparing new songs, not an easy endeavor, for a concert in their home town, which succeeds in spite of several real heart breaking events.

There is a part near the end of the film where they sing Coldplay's "Fix You" that I guarantee will make you shed a few tears.  A must-see.

hahaha

you know i never did that well in school.  and clearly this woman knew that from the beginning.

my fingers hurt

I've been playing the ghee-tar for most of the day today.  When I wasn't playing xbox that is.  Fallout is my most recent addiction.

Redemption Song by Bob Marley.  Fun one to play on the guitar.  The opening is a little diddy that I'm probably gonna play every time I pick up a guitar for the rest of my life.  Then I was inspired to play some Bright Eyes.  Conor Oberst is probably in my top five songwriters.  That boy has a way about him, hehe.

This is a sweet video: