Did You See It?

So, I have this blog thing. You are right; I should not start a sentence with a conjunction. Even if it is a post about a conjunction. Just pretend that I was using the word “so” as another part of speech that the word so can perform, so that we can continue. So is so useful.

Anyway, I have this blog thing. Sometimes I just do not know what to write. That makes it so hard to keep the blog thing going. There are so many important people writing about so many important things, and then there is me, writing about how I do not know what to write about. So sad. So so.

Enough about my writing, did you see it? The Great Conjunction? My friend reminded me that there was supposed to be a cool astronomical alignment on December 21, so I went outside just after sunset to see for myself. Ooh, so again.

I got the compass app fired up on my smart (so much smarter than me) phone and found southwest. You would think that since I live in Arizona I would know which direction was southwest, but once again, I amazed myself. I would not have looked in that direction. We should align streets to the compass points. So much easier. Ooh, more so.

After ascertaining the correct alignment, I looked just above the horizon and lo and behold, there it was. The Great Conjunction. I will admit I was so underwhelmed. Two adjacent pinpoints of light, one decidedly brighter than the other, both bright enough to cut through the light pollution. However, not so great. So again.

So as not to be so disappointed (so used as two parts of speech?), I decided to Google the Great Conjunction. I guess I should have been so much more impressed. Apparently, this conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter happens about once every twenty years, but a nighttime alignment as close as this alignment has not happened in 800 years! So cool! However, every time I hear the word conjunction I think of this. So sad.

Image courtesy of NASA (I think). Conjunction Junction video courtesy of Disney (I think). Please don’t sue me. You won’t get much.

When You’re Treating the Symptom

Here in the United States, we are once again conducting a life and death screaming match about a symptom of a “disease.” We have performed this opus periodically for the last 100 years. And we will likely perform it well into the next century.

Each time, the underlying disease is the same. And each time, we scream about a different symptom of the disease. Because we are too timid, too courteous, too lazy, too selfish, or too invested in treating the symptom to even recognize the disease. The disease is health.

Sounds funny, doesn’t it. I’ll bet you thought health was the absence of disease. Well, you are correct. And for 100 years we have been treating symptoms without acknowledging the fundamental question about the disease.

Of All Things Fleeting

What’s the most fleeting thing of all?

A fleeting glimpse? See it in your mind’s eye.

A fleeting sound? Hear it again, if you’re quiet.

A fleeting smell? Remember it, and it returns to you.

A fleeting taste? It will make your mouth water later.

A fleeting touch? Embrace it in your memory.

A fleeting emotion? It will return.

What’s the most fleeting thing of all?

The present. A fleeting moment, each one gone, irretrievably, replaced by the next one, inescapably. It may not be the last moment of your life, but it’s the last chance of your life to live that moment. Live it.

Fleeting

Talkin’ ’bout my Generation

I popped open the Reader today and saw a post here on My Friday Blog that was an open letter to Millennials about generational labels. I know the post was just some lighthearted ribbing (it was lighthearted, right Josh? Right?) but it got me thinking about the labels that we have come to use to describe different generations of (mostly) Americans. So I wrote my own “open letter” to Millennials. With the utmost respect to Josh.