February 2012
12 posts
“We have a government that says it’s okay to eat Twinkies and Cocoa Puffs and Mountain Dew, but it’s illegal to drink raw milk and eat compost-grown tomatoes and Aunt Matilda’s pickles.”
—From sustainable farmer Joel Salatin. Quote captured by Amy Eddings on WNYC Culture blog. (via jedsundwall)
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“I can’t believe you’ve been married to me for ten years, and this is the first time we’ve ever talked about the holodeck.”
—Wil Wheaton, from in which my wife is nerd-adjacent and comedy ensues
“Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew.
It’s the same when love comes to an end,
or the marriage fails and people say
they knew it was a mistake, that everybody
said it would never work. That she was
old enough to know better. But anything
worth doing is worth doing badly.
Like being there by that summer ocean
on the other side of the island while
love was fading out of her, the stars
burning so extravagantly those nights that
anyone could tell you they would never last.
Every morning she was asleep in my bed
like a visitation, the gentleness in her
like antelope standing in the dawn mist.
Each afternoon I watched her coming back
through the hot stony field after swimming,
the sea light behind her and the huge sky
on the other side of that. Listened to her
while we ate lunch. How can they say
the marriage failed? Like the people who
came back from Provence (when it was Provence)
and said it was pretty but the food was greasy.
I believe Icarus was not failing as he fell,
but just coming to the end of his triumph.” —
It’s the same when love comes to an end,
or the marriage fails and people say
they knew it was a mistake, that everybody
said it would never work. That she was
old enough to know better. But anything
worth doing is worth doing badly.
Like being there by that summer ocean
on the other side of the island while
love was fading out of her, the stars
burning so extravagantly those nights that
anyone could tell you they would never last.
Every morning she was asleep in my bed
like a visitation, the gentleness in her
like antelope standing in the dawn mist.
Each afternoon I watched her coming back
through the hot stony field after swimming,
the sea light behind her and the huge sky
on the other side of that. Listened to her
while we ate lunch. How can they say
the marriage failed? Like the people who
came back from Provence (when it was Provence)
and said it was pretty but the food was greasy.
I believe Icarus was not failing as he fell,
but just coming to the end of his triumph.” —
Failing and Flying by Jack Gilbert
(via Brad)
To be clear: for me this isn’t about love or Valentine’s Day. It’s about anything we do passionately and with all our hearts, whether it triumphs for a moment or for a lifetime.
“SpaceUp attendees often brought up the question, “What is the tobacco of outer space?” That isn’t a musing on drug culture, but a reference to the early explorers who came to North America looking for gold or a new trade route and instead made a killing when they discovered the potential of tobacco. This is the ultimate quandary: Many in the industry believe that we won’t discover the value of space exploration until we’ve already begun exploring it.”
—What was up at SpaceUp San Diego by Dave Maass
