asleep on a lonely planet
My fingers seem to be quite long and thin compared to those of others. Numerous people have remarked that judging by my fingers, I'd make a good piano player. If I devoted my time to learning and understanding how to play the piano well, perhaps I would indeed make a good piano player... I don't know.
I've devoted plenty of time to studying Industrial Chemistry, so perhaps it'd also be possible for me to become a good scientist or a good engineer? After all, when I stare at my long fingers I can say that apparently they are made up of millions upon millions of atoms, and that these atoms are made of up neutrons, protons, electrons, pions and a whole bunch of other 'elementary' particles, all behaving in unpredictable ways within the universe's web of energy patterns. Does saying that mean I'm on the right path to being a good Industrial Chemist? Or does that just make me sound like a loser with an abnormal fascination with my fingers?
But I do find staring at my fingers interesting, even though there's nothing particularly special about them (apart from being long and thin). I could potentially be just as interested if I were staring at a tube of toothpaste. Or looking in the mirror.
How many people wake up every morning, see that they have ten fingers and toes, and pick up their tubes of toothpaste with a twinge of wonderment? On my better days, I do. How many people see someone staring back out of the mirror? I don't know, perhaps more than I think. I find it hard to comprehend the number of people that live in my suburb, let alone my city. I go to Wynyard station just about every day, and hardly ever recognise a face. Millions of people live within minutes of me, all with their own day to day lives. Billions of people live within hours of me by plane, all with their own thoughts and feelings. What is day to day reality for all of these people, what's important? A new pope's been elected. There are roadworks going on at Anzac Cove. The US wants one of the September 11 consirators to face the death penalty. Andrew Bogut could go no. 1 in the NBA draft. Elton John is selling one of his suits to raise money to fight AIDS. Jonah Lomu is going to attempt a comeback...
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.
- William Blake
We're specks of dust on a blue sphere circling a star, a star that's about as significant as a grain of sand on an empty beach. Even if the universe weren't so immense, it'd be just as inconceivable. Why am I here, waking up every morning? What will happen when I stop waking up? How do people live without facing these questions, every minute of every day?
Easy. I'm going to have to start doing more work on our design project for uni pretty soon. The relative lack of work I'm doing on my thesis is going to catch up with me. NBA playoffs are starting. I do want to see how Jonah Lomu's comeback turns out. I said it before, life's doldrums are seductive. Back to everyone's reality. Back to sleep.
I've devoted plenty of time to studying Industrial Chemistry, so perhaps it'd also be possible for me to become a good scientist or a good engineer? After all, when I stare at my long fingers I can say that apparently they are made up of millions upon millions of atoms, and that these atoms are made of up neutrons, protons, electrons, pions and a whole bunch of other 'elementary' particles, all behaving in unpredictable ways within the universe's web of energy patterns. Does saying that mean I'm on the right path to being a good Industrial Chemist? Or does that just make me sound like a loser with an abnormal fascination with my fingers?
But I do find staring at my fingers interesting, even though there's nothing particularly special about them (apart from being long and thin). I could potentially be just as interested if I were staring at a tube of toothpaste. Or looking in the mirror.
How many people wake up every morning, see that they have ten fingers and toes, and pick up their tubes of toothpaste with a twinge of wonderment? On my better days, I do. How many people see someone staring back out of the mirror? I don't know, perhaps more than I think. I find it hard to comprehend the number of people that live in my suburb, let alone my city. I go to Wynyard station just about every day, and hardly ever recognise a face. Millions of people live within minutes of me, all with their own day to day lives. Billions of people live within hours of me by plane, all with their own thoughts and feelings. What is day to day reality for all of these people, what's important? A new pope's been elected. There are roadworks going on at Anzac Cove. The US wants one of the September 11 consirators to face the death penalty. Andrew Bogut could go no. 1 in the NBA draft. Elton John is selling one of his suits to raise money to fight AIDS. Jonah Lomu is going to attempt a comeback...
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.
- William Blake
We're specks of dust on a blue sphere circling a star, a star that's about as significant as a grain of sand on an empty beach. Even if the universe weren't so immense, it'd be just as inconceivable. Why am I here, waking up every morning? What will happen when I stop waking up? How do people live without facing these questions, every minute of every day?
Easy. I'm going to have to start doing more work on our design project for uni pretty soon. The relative lack of work I'm doing on my thesis is going to catch up with me. NBA playoffs are starting. I do want to see how Jonah Lomu's comeback turns out. I said it before, life's doldrums are seductive. Back to everyone's reality. Back to sleep.
posted by Gene at 11:10 pm
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