When I was a student at Bowling Green State University, I worked for the Astronomy Department. I took students up to the roof and showed them the night sky. I would set up small telescopes on the roof for them to look at things. Maybe Saturn's rings. Maybe Mars. Maybe the Orion Nebula. Something interesting for them to see. Some people were the general public. Many were students from astronomy classes who would come knowing that doing so counted as extra credit or something like that. The students had a handout where they were supposed to answer questions and sketch something that they saw through the telescope. Pretty easy stuff.

One night, a girl came up to me and asked a question about what she saw in the telescope. That night I had focused on Jupiter and it was even possible to see three of his moons as small bright points of light.

"What exactly am I seeing," she asked. I told her that it was Jupiter. "No," she replied. "The little bright things."

"Those are some of Jupiter's moons," I explained.

"No. Really. What are they?"

I was a little perplexed at that point as I assured her that they were indeed the moons of Jupiter.

"Then what do we have?"

I pointed out that we also have a moon. If the conversation had stopped there, or if it had taken a different direction than it did, I probably would not be telling this story. Instead, the girl focused on me in all seriousness and asked a question that haunts me even now ... almost twenty years later.

"How many moons do we have," she asked.

Throughout history and mythology, there have been feats of great will and strength. Hercules and his labours comes to mind. There have been awesome achievements of humanity: the Parthenon, the Pyramids, Machu Pichu, Stonehenge and the like. There have been epics of scope and grandeur like the Odyssey, the Iliad, the Aeneid and the Lusiads. I hereby submit that the will it took me to restrain myself from any snide comments and to keep even a note of sarcasm from my voice ranks with the best of those.

"We only have one moon," I stated. And as she began to ask, I cut her off. "It's a new moon tonight. You won't be able to see it."

My restraint was justified. I have always felt that every question should be treated with equal seriousness. We should never make a person feel dumb. After all, it was better that she ask the question and move past her misapprehensions than remain in ignorance. Besides, everyone has a first science class. I did not want to be the guy who turned someone off of learning because I had acted like a jerk.

For lo these many years, I have remembered this event and filed it away as a sad case where someone just did not pay enough attention in kindergarten. After all, everyone knows the Moon. No one past elementary school would really wonder how many we have. We look in the sky. We see the Moon. We recognize it and that is that. It was a singularity. An isolated event. I was just the lucky guy to get the question.

But today on the BBC webpage, I saw the article Police Say UFO Was Just the Moon.

---

For the record, I know that the issue of how many moons we have is not quite that cut and dried. We have three natural satellites the last time I checked. Still, for all common conversations, the question of 'how many moons the Earth has' gives the answer of 'one.' And there is still no excuse in my eyes for any human adult who has had sight for their entire life to find our Moon unrecognizable, nor to wonder how many we have.

When I was living in New Mexico, I would occasionally talk to people from other states and have to explain that I live in the US. I might order a hard drive from a place in New York or a laptop computer from wherever Dell is located and I would hear, "we don't ship out of the country." And thus, I would patiently explain that New Mexico is one of the fifty states in the US and has been for about a century. I would tell them that they could ship to me in all confidence, noting that it was easy to miss the "New" part of New Mexico. And sometimes people would laugh at their mistake and other times I would have to get a manager.

The reason that I bring this up is that I have a filtered alert system from the NY Times, sending me emails whenever there is an article about Mexico. You can guess where this is going, I am certain. Yes, that is correct, I am also getting emails involving New Mexico. Now this is not a problem. I enjoy reading about my former state. But they really need to work on their filter if it is going to do things like that.

A wonderful day is on the horizon! What? Friday the 13th? Bah. Boring! Besides, that is today. It cannot be on the horizon if it is current.

Father's Day? Are you joking?

Tomorrow is World Juggling Day! I have no idea what became of my chickens. My earths are long gone.^* At least I still have a good set of rings, clubs, and hackysacs.

Come outside! Join the fun! Learn to juggle or if you already know how, teach someone else!

I cannot guarantee that it will lead you to a life of fun and adventure ... but I cannot say that it won't either. Your results may vary. Just try not to become involved with any busking related mafioso.

---

[*] Yes, I had chickens just for juggling. The finest in polyvinyl poultry. I also had beanbags that looked like the earth. They were the perfect size and weight for juggling. I really miss them.

So I put my resume on Monster.com a while back. I have kept it updated and have been using that site (among others) to search for a new job. I kept the resume public so that if I missed an opportunity, someone could contact me. My resume, as anyone who knows me should figure, is mostly filled with science related and technical jobs. Research, teaching a college course in astronomy, supporting computers, programming, electronics, machine shop ... you get the idea.

So last night, I got a call from an interested party. They told me that he had found my info in the aforementioned way and that they thought that I would be perfect for what they had in mind. They were located just north of Dallas, TX and wanted to know if I would be interested in coming in on Monday for an interview.

OK. Maybe. What was the job?

Car sales.

O_o

What about my resume could possibly have made them think, "Ooh! I bet that he would make a fantastic car salesman"? And why would I fly to TX on my own dime to do it? Do they think that there are no places here to do that? Do I need to relocate in order to pursue my heretofore hidden and unacknowledged dream of entering the wonderful world of uniting people with modes of transport?

I did my best to be polite but firm. I was not interested, but thank you for the offer. They told me that they would sign me up for an interview at 10AM, Monday morning and that they would email me directions.

So let me get this straight. I could not convince them that I did not want the job, and yet I was supposed to be a good car salesman?

Un-friggin-believable.

I would love for Nelson's attempt to do away with the electoral college to bear fruit. It probably will not, but at least it will put the issue back in the spotlight.

I like this piece which compares Obama to a Mac. Now if I could just a candidate who is more like Ubuntu Linux ...! ;)

Been playing with a Wii lately. Mario & Sonic at the Olympics might just succeed where months of going to the gym failed. My arms are really sore!

I have sent so many resumes lately, I do not remember what jobs I have applied to any more. This could be interesting if any of them actually call me back.

I am surprised that this did not get more coverage. Dennis Kucinich introduces impeachment resolution against Bush.

Furthermore, something for which I have been hoping for a long time is happening, Puerto Rico in independence bid. It has been in commonwealth status too long! Puerto Rico should either be independent or a state! Now, if we could just get Washington D.C. to have representation ...!

Also, in less serious but no less awesome news, someone is redoing classic photos in Lego!

And finally, MIT is offering free online courses.

Yesterday I went to a memorial service for someone whom I have never met. No, this is not some new hobby. T was playing violin before and after. She has only been playing for a few months so she only knows a few songs: Beethoven's Ode to Joy, Michael Row The Boat Ashore, I think that there was a piece by Debussy in there, and maybe a study from her teacher. Oh, there were two others, but we told her not to play them because they were a little too happy for a memorial service.

The preacher welcomed everyone and encouraged them to speak a bit about the man who had passed away. Then came some family members: one of his sons (wow! he had a lot of children for only being fifty. All but one seemed to be under the age of ten, and they were spread out over several different states!). Anyway, there was hardly a dry eye when the boy stopped talking. Then one of his mothers in law spoke. She was very sweet. More family members. Then the preacher came and told funny stories about the man. Funny, but not embarrassing. He liked to laugh. He liked to make other people laugh.

So it was only appropriate when T played the violin at the end, she played the Can-Can. This was made even funnier by the fact that she messed up partway through and when her mother started laughing, she put down her bow and said, "Mom! Curse you!"

Other people started laughing.

"Curse all of you!" Nothing quite like seeing a ten year old girl indignantly cursing the congregation.

Most of the rest of the day, I spent cleaning. But last night, I finally got a friend to come salsa dancing with me! It was honestly the most fun that I have had since I left New Mexico. It will not be a regular occurrence. She lives in Dayton. Furthermore, at the end of the summer she will be moving with her new husband to Florida. Still, for just a little while I was almost home.

All morning long I have had a song stuck in my head. Not a good one either. One that I hated when it first came out about twenty years ago. Usually when a song gets stuck in my head, I can mentally play it through til the end so that there is some sort of musical finale and I can purge the demonic music from my brain. Not this time. I avoided the majority of the song with a passion when it was popular. I do not know the title. I barely remember who sang it. I could only hear the melody of the chorus. Over. And over. And over.

In desperation, my brain asked itself what to do to get rid of an earworm. From deep within the tortured recesses of my twisted synapse pairs, a voice whispered, "get a bigger earworm."

And then, completely unbidden, before I even had a chance to think about what the voice meant, it appeared.




My original earworm fled for its very life.

There comes a day in a man's life when he may realize that the purpose of children is to pull their parents slowly and inexorably down the primrose lined path into madness.

There may also come a day when the corollary to this, that his parents were once sane and that their lack of sanity is his fault.

Woe betide him if these two revelations happen upon the same day, for they have no choice but to bring about the third revelation ... that it is far, far too late to save himself from suffering his parents' fate ... and that this is justice.

As if my mind is not warped enough from teaching myself Spanish and plasma physics in my spare time ... I have taken on a new hobby as of about a half an hour ago. I am teaching myself Turkish.

For my next trick, I shall learn to play all of the works of Fernando Sor and Robert Johnson both forward and backward.

I read in my dream last night. I read words and understood their meaning and what they meant shocked me so much, I automatically awoke ... startled and slightly out of breath.

I have never read in a dream before.

I caught a cold. I have been trying to let it go. I want to set it free. Instead, it is lounging around my body. It is picking out new draperies and has subscribed to Netflix. I am not amused by this and am trying to figure out how to evict it.

Also, I do not need the computer poker game that I am playing to ask me whether I am going out tonight. Yes, Mr. Talking Bear. I know that "Friday nights are supposed to be special." Bah! Humbug! And a pox a both ye houses!

Maybe I shall teach myself Go instead. I doubt that I would get any lip from computerized players of that game.

A good friend introduced me to Gunnerkrigg Court. Because she is evil and wants me to spend all of my free time reading instead of searching for a new job. Or mayhaps she just wanted to spread the word about something that she enjoyed.

Either way, I am passing it along.

This entire weekend has been a lesson in how my best is sometimes not good enough and how I handle that. I suppose that means that it is time for a change in direction. And you can bet that as soon as I figure out which direction that is, I will head for it like a coke-crazed bee.

Having spent most of my life in the areas mentioned in this result, that makes sense.

Brazilian açai berry sorbet is one of the greatest inventions of all time. OK, that was a bit strong. Let's just go with, "I really like it."

Also, here is something that I got from rosepurr.

Go to this site and find five quotes that resonate with you by either reflecting who you are or what you believe.

A person should want to live, if only out of curiosity.
Yiddish Proverb

I am who I choose to be. I always have been what I chose…though not always what I pleased.
Lois McMaster Bujold, "Memory", 1996

He who does not venture has no luck.
Mexican Proverb

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.
Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)

Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.
Harriet Van Horne

For the record, I have not decided who I would support for President of the United States of America. If pressed, I would most likely say "none of the above." I have no special love for any particular candidate or even party these days. They are all annoying and far too many of them seem to think that you must subscribe to all of their beliefs or none of them. Woe betide someone who likes an idea from party A, another from party B, and still another from party C. Anyway, I have had this song stuck in my head for the past several minutes. I must pass it on to you. It should not be difficult to figure out what cartoon inspired me. ;)

Obama and McCain
Obama and McCain
One thinks he's Lincoln
the other's ... McCain!

They're using their words
to say things quite absurd
Obama
Obama and McCain, Cain, Cain, Cain,
Cain, Cain, Cain, Cain
Cain!

Before their campaign's done
our minds will all be curled
By the finish of their runs
we've given them the world!

Obama and McCain
Obama and McCain
I cannot explain
the logic of their brains

They bicker in their quest
To prove that they are best
Yo' momma!
Obama and McCain, Cain, Cain, Cain,
Cain, Cain, Cain, Cain
Change!

The time and dedication it must have taken to complete this!  Just  ... wow!

I must make mango bumbleberry pie with pomegranite sorbet. It is a moral imperative.

And besides, my stomach told me so.

Today is rapidly becoming an OhGoodOhCrapHurrayAugh Day. Thankfully, the fluctuations seem to be linear rather than exponential or logarithmic. I think that the latter options would result in some sort of explosion immediately preceded or followed by winning the grand prize in the Ohio Lottery.