When I was a kid, I loved astronomy. My parents took me to the Museum of Natural History in New York and my favorite part of the trip was always the planetarium! The Dinosaurs were great… they were huge and frightening and the thought of those big beasts roaming the earth was mind boggling.
But they were the past and I always wanted to look forward.
Point me to the future and to the stars!
Sit back, look up and watch the stars swirl… the booming voice telling you that you are one tiny speck in a galaxy in a solar system in a universe that spans billions and billions of miles and years.
I memorized ALL the planets (and their moons):
MercuryVenusEarthMarsJupiterSaturnUranusNetptune and Pluto.
There was something wonderful about the possibility that in my life time even more planets would be discovered, that we would walk on Mars, that science and knowledge are indeed the resources to find truth, that belief in science and belief in God need not be in opposition; that we can one day …
What? No, you’re wrong.
Pluto is no longer considered a planet? just an ice ball? Not a planet?
Why?
(long pause)
Another truth is revealed: While logic and reasoning do indeed play an important part in science, it evidently is also true that in science (or at least planetary science) as in human nature, size matters (at least to the men determining this sort of thing).
Friday, May 25, 2007
I Just Want to Be Heard!
Note: I have not been fair to my fan base! Blogs will continue on a more regular basis
We all want our 15 minutes of fame.
Some of you reading this might be thinking: “No, that’s not true, I hate the limelight.” I disagree. We ALL want to be on American Idol, maybe not to sing (although is there anyone out there who doesn’t think they can sing better than Sanjaya?) but you do want to be in the center of the stage… You want to be heard!
Case in point:
Several Weeks ago I was in a meeting room at the State House in Trenton. The room is set up in a horseshoe and each member of the committee that meets in that room has a microphone. I was in Trenton as part of a celebration of elementary school children whose art work was selected to be shown at an art exhibit at the state house. At this evening event there were over 120 people, many of them were children. The children were draw to the microphones like bees to honey. The mics weren’t on, but no matter: if a child went by the mike, they stopped and spoke (or sang) into it. I’m not kidding, not one of them could walk by without leaning over and saying something into the mike, even though it wasn’t on.
Okay, you’re thinking, they’re kids!
Not so fast.
Once the children left and the adults were left to clean up, I heard several of my colleagues voices over the speaker system. They not only couldn’t resist the temptation, they had found the sound controls and turned the microphones on.
They were singing (badly) telling jokes (poorly) and altogether being silly.
Yes, they were just goofing around, but I think that deep inside each of them was this tiny voice saying: “Listen to me! I’m better than William Hung! I’m better than Sanjaya! I just want to be heard.”
We all want our 15 minutes of fame.
Some of you reading this might be thinking: “No, that’s not true, I hate the limelight.” I disagree. We ALL want to be on American Idol, maybe not to sing (although is there anyone out there who doesn’t think they can sing better than Sanjaya?) but you do want to be in the center of the stage… You want to be heard!
Case in point:
Several Weeks ago I was in a meeting room at the State House in Trenton. The room is set up in a horseshoe and each member of the committee that meets in that room has a microphone. I was in Trenton as part of a celebration of elementary school children whose art work was selected to be shown at an art exhibit at the state house. At this evening event there were over 120 people, many of them were children. The children were draw to the microphones like bees to honey. The mics weren’t on, but no matter: if a child went by the mike, they stopped and spoke (or sang) into it. I’m not kidding, not one of them could walk by without leaning over and saying something into the mike, even though it wasn’t on.
Okay, you’re thinking, they’re kids!
Not so fast.
Once the children left and the adults were left to clean up, I heard several of my colleagues voices over the speaker system. They not only couldn’t resist the temptation, they had found the sound controls and turned the microphones on.
They were singing (badly) telling jokes (poorly) and altogether being silly.
Yes, they were just goofing around, but I think that deep inside each of them was this tiny voice saying: “Listen to me! I’m better than William Hung! I’m better than Sanjaya! I just want to be heard.”
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