Pretty Pictures with Words: If (when) we create (and augment) life? Part 2

In a previous post, I waxed romantic about the possibility of humans both creating life and having some limited control over our own evolutionary future.  In the time since we have seen a double amputee, complete with state-of-the-art artificial limbs, compete as against more physically typical athletes in sport.  While this was surely a triumph for Mr. Pistorius and the creators of his incredibly blade legs, it also signaled the first salvo in what will surely become a theme as we move forward as a species: automatic prejudice towards that which is different from our everyday experience.

A turning point in human history.

Human beings are simply afraid of what is different, of change and especially of something that could possibly change us on a fundamental evolutionary level.  While Pistorius, the augmented man, was an amazing story of personal victories - his augmentations are purely physical - there is no direct connection or interaction with the brain.  He isn't a robot or an android - that's not possible, right?

Well... it just might be.  Seriously.

Trying to understand why I feel a little crazy sometimes

Sup.  Rough Day.

So, I’ve had a bit of a problem lately dealing with anxiety and depression.  Some prettymajor ones: inability to work, random unexplained crying fits, no sleep for days on end, strep, the flu and other infections FAR more often than prior.  While it’s true that all of this can probably be attributed to big life changes (getting married, moving, buying a house, changing jobs), I had only felt sad or maybe a little apprehension at times of big change in my younger years, and the feeling now is completely different.  The hole that gets dug between my anxiety and depression (whichever is in charge that day) is so incredibly deep that to ‘think happy thoughts’ becomes a fool’s errand, as there is no such thing as ‘happy’ to begin with when I’m in these states.

So how did this start?  How did I go from happy-go-lucky guy to the most depressed kid on your net-block? 

Good morning, Sunset

As the Indiana Jones theme plays on...

Today, I share my second anniversary with my incredible wife, Michelle.  Yes, we got married on the dorky date of 10/10/10 - and let me tell you it makes remembering the date pretty damn easy!  The past two years have seen plenty of ups and downs already - and as I joked with her, we are clearly getting the 'for poorer' out of the way sooner rather than later.

When cast in the light of the past year, our wedding days seems like an eternity ago, when the biggest problem we seemed to have was not being able to buy EVERY video game that came out AND go out to dinner all the time.  Life has become much more intense at times, and others intensely mundane - but I'm so glad I've had Michelle with me every step of the way.  She's my wife, yes - but she's also my best friend and my biggest supporter.  

Sure, it was the only day we were able to gather such a rag-tag bunch of extraordinary people together to celebrate, well, US and we got all kinds of awesome food and attention that day, but it was also the end of one journey and the start of something completely different.  I'm beholden to her as she is to me and when one of us is down, the other always shares the burden as best we can - and she has out shined me in every way this past year.  I'm pretty damn lucky in that regard.  Not to mention that the very moment we kissed, the sun was in the the PERFECT spot to make our binding lip-lock seem downright explosive:

Yeah... it pretty much happens every time...

With all of that romantic stuff, you might thing the day was filled with nothing but kisses and flowers, candy, gifts and food - and you'd be mostly right.  I did a pretty damn good job of picking out my half of the wedding party, if I do say so myself:

Dave, Billy, Seth and Chris all beneath my balls.

There was a point before the ceremony when I was with the gentlemen above when one of Michelle's male friends from her time at Nossi College of Art approached us to find out where the ceremony was (as we were on a fairly large Boy Scout Reservation), and I directed him and the small crowd with him (Gabe and Eric were both in that crowd, I do believe).  As I walked back up to the chapel where the guys were waiting for me, they all wore slightly confused, amused and almost terrified looks across their over-dressed faces.  My brother, always the tactful one, asked "Hey dude - was that a dude or a chick?" to the utter enjoyment of my personal peanut gallery. 

Once the fine gentlemen escorted me back to the deck where the ceremony would be held, they led the parents and grandparents to their seats. A song that I had written for Michelle years before began to play, as a personal bridal march, from me to her - before we read the vows we had written for each other in front of our family and friends.

And at the end of the day, though, there was only my new wife and I driving home from a night I hope we never forget.

________________________________________________________________________________

Michelle,

We've had some adventures before and since we were married - and I hope we share a life full of adventures to come.  I love you.

Episodic Music: The Great Red Eye Part IX

"Clear platform one," Shem called into his radio, "we will be losing eye line contact in three minutes.  All systems currently functioning appropriately."  The platform called back, verifying both Shem's report and the current readings surrounding the module.

As the Great Pendulum plunged ever deeper towards the eye of the storm, the lone human on this great planet turned on his rear view monitors, and shuddered unconsciously as the center of all human civilization - and life! - faded away in the Jovian atmosphere.

Episodic Music: The Great Red Eye Part VIII

Breaching the Jovian Atmosphere

The Great Pendulum gained velocity as it raced towards the giant planet below, the first rumblings of atmospheric friction dazzling the camera views on the exterior of the ship - that they could survive such punishment was amazing!  Shem re-checked his exterior monitors in triplicate, ensuring that each was operating optimally with no sign of malfunction or damage.

So far, so good.

Years of space travel couldn't have prepared him for how quickly his field of vision would limit as the atmosphere began to thicken as they screamed towards the heart of the storm.  He could no longer see the blackness of space behind the craft, instead he saw a faint blue sky quickly being obscured by ever-thickening wisps of brown and red.

Soon, Cosmonaut Aglig would venture where even the Sun had never been.

Civil War of the Shihmen Woods (or the war of teenage aggression)

Our clubhouses were never this nice

Oh, the woods.  If you never grew up near any type of wooded area, you honestly missed an urgent matter of your childhood and should put this down, move to a wooded area and build a clubhouse to defend before reading any further.

Across the street from my boyhood home, behind a row of houses and up a small hill existed a mythic place for boys aged 5-10, and a place to hang out and be delinquents for those 13 and over.  For we younger lads, the woods were to be explored throughout, clubs to be established and treasure to be found.  For the teenagers, the woods belonged to them, they were there first. 

While the specifics of how the war between the kids and teenagers began have long been lost to ages, here’s what probably happened:

My brother and a few of his friends from the other side of the woods were running around being 9-10 boys.  Playing ‘guns,’ ‘hide-n-seek and building indestructible ‘forts’ out of found barbed wire and branches occupied summer days endlessly.

Where was I on September 11, 2001?

The following is my best possible solo recollection of the events of September 11, 2001.  While my memories are incredibly vivid, this entry should most likely still be considered one of my 'mostly true' events, as human memory is deeply fallible and often flat out wrong (despite our certainty otherwise).  This is the exact reason anecdotes (A short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person) are not reliable data points for things like ghost sightings, UFOs (and their alleged abductions), bigfoot sightings, cancer 'cures' etc.  That said, here's what a remember:

It was the beginning of my sophomore year in college.  The weather that day was incredible - blue skies with light fluffy clouds scattered about, and just enough of a hint of autumn to refresh the soul.  I was driving from my home in Nashville to Murfreesboro (about a 30 minute drive) when I first heard the news.

The first report seemed rather bland and somewhat uneventful, since early reports were cautious.  My favorite morning show at the time (John Boy & Billy) interrupted their usual banter to announce that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.  My initial thought was that it was a small 2-5 seater, not an airliner.  Remembering the first bombing of the WTC, I said aloud to myself "Can't the twin towers catch a break?"