ximilia | text. un: knicksfan1961

[ In 1999, usernames describing interests are king and web 2.0 has yet to be dreamt of. This looks like a place to keep a weblog, and Mulder's not opposed to the possibilities. ]

Since childhood, I've dreamt of space. Who among us didn't, raised as we were? We grew up in the shadow of JFK's promise to take America to the moon, watching Neil Armstrong's fateful steps on minuscule TV screens, sitting in sweltering living rooms and imagining we were the ones clambering out of Apollo 11. That it might have been faked by Stanley Kubrick is beyond the point; we were kids, and we believed.

I've taken a giant leap for a man, let alone mankind, waking up in what appears to be a space station and not a sound-stage built by the Walt Disney Company. I see no flaws as of yet, no flies in the ointment. And yet I confess that I'm suspicious.

My concerns are several, key among them the possibility that I'm actually dying in a cave somewhere under the surface of North Carolina. That this is a distraction from the real work I intend to do, lunatic hallucinations designed to keep me from escaping my fate - but if my mind doesn't deceive me, this could be the case I've waited for. There's no denying that the bargain I've (allegedly) made is a strange one, threatening the fabric of time and space. And yet it feels almost reasonable: if I can be stolen from a hospital bed to the furthest reaches of the universe, why can't I intercede in events that have already happened?

(Merely existing here, witnessing technology beyond any I've seen in my dealings with Cancer Man or his shadowy colleagues, already continues work I've chased for years. I want to know more.)

I'm keeping a careful eye out for anomalies in my perceptions, anything that might lend credence to my null-hypothesis (digestion by way of fungi). I'm also on the search for a functional television and VCR; among other things, I've arrived with a handful of videotapes, but I have no way of watching them.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Only where it doesn't count. The clocks don't have hands, but the kitchen's not much more modern than the one in my apartment.

That's the one. I have some Philip Roth and Jose Chung, too.

Wait, who is Jose Chung?

You know, the guy who wrote The Caligarian Candidate and From Outer Space. Jose Chung.

Gee. Those words strung together in a way that has no particular meaning really cleared that up.

If you haven't heard of a bestselling author, that says more about you than me, toxicodendron.

From Outer Space is a bestselling novel?Sounds like the type that's really popular in airports.

From Outer Space is not only a bestselling novel, it's nominally based on true events. Definitely an airport novel, but a good one. Truman Capote crossed with John Grisham.

And just what year did this masterpiece come out?

A couple years ago? It was spring, must've been 1996.

Sorry to break this to you, but your bestseller is old enough to drink.

Sounds like something everyone forgot about when Dan Brown hit shelves.

People still know White Noise despite the fact that it's not 1985 anymore. It seems more likely to me that your timeline and mine are two separate entities.

On the other hand, maybe this Dan Brown of yours wrote such great fiction that he eclipsed the entire literary world. Maybe people are out there saying, "Charles Dickens? Never heard of him. It's all about Dan Brown now." I guess we'll see.

He's a hack who appeals to conspiracy theorists who want to feel smarter than they are.

Soooooo

Sounds interesting. What's his conspiracy?

Some Catholic bullshit that even Tom Hanks can't make sound convincing.

So it's not even a good conspiracy.

There's a good kind of conspiracy?

In the sense that it's a true conspiracy? Sure.

I sincerely hope you're talking about Iran Contra and not Loch Ness Monster, but you already brought up the moon landing.

I contain multitudes, toxicodendron. Iran Contra and Loch Ness Monster theories are both welcome here.

Now Whitman. You definitely have eclectic taste in literature.

Is there anything you don't believe?

What can I say? I'm an eclectic kind of guy.

Sure there is. I'm not big on God, the Cardiff Giant, or the Chicago Bulls. Is there anything you do believe?

Sure. Global Warming. Over-population. The biodiversity crisis.

Serious stuff. But as beliefs go, they're pretty undeniable.

You'd think that, wouldn't you? But no, somehow half the country is still mumbling about the science still being out or how it's not man made, and how if we cut down on carbon output and air pollution and if we did a single thing to minimize 100,000 big macs worth of cows producing methane, it wouldn't change anything.

We'd just have cleaner air and drinkable water and green spaces for nothing.

[Well, he got her started.]

I'm on board with keeping the cows around. If not for cheeseburgers, I don't know what I'd eat on the road. But the rest of it, sure. I remember when rivers started on fire - who the hell would want more of that?

(no subject)

greenpower - 2023-04-14 03:19 (UTC) - Expand

bigfootfetish - 2023-04-14 03:22 (UTC) - Expand

greenpower - 2023-04-14 04:29 (UTC) - Expand

bigfootfetish - 2023-04-14 11:55 (UTC) - Expand

greenpower - 2023-04-14 15:59 (UTC) - Expand