WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT TODAY?

 

I didn't celebrate Socrates's birthday; didn't celebrate Galileo, Carl Sagan, Aristotle, Thomas Edison, Shakespeare, or Charles Darwin's birthday either -- so why celebrate Jesus's birthday?

My solar system costume and I will make a joke of the holiday. In protest, dressed in Science, I will slap this forced tradition right in the face.

TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE MOON

For all of you in North America you will be blessed with a total lunar eclipse tonight. In about a half an hour's time you will begin to see the shadow of the earth begin to take bites out of the moon, until about 1:30-2:30EST when the moon should go into its full eclipse. At around 3:30 it should be black in the shadow of the earth, and then from there it will begin to become visible again until about 5am. Enjoy!

This is the first total lunar eclipse that has happened at the same time as the winter solstice in roughly 3-400 years! Eclipses are rather common, happening every couple of years. In fact, there was an eclipse in June this year, and there will be another for our Asian friends in January. What is actually fairly rare, every 100 years or so, is Venus eclipsing the sun. In June of 2012, Venus will pass in front of the sun showing a small black dot passing by. That won't happen again for another 104 years or so, so enjoy!!

WAITING FOR GODOT

There are many theories about what or who Godot is in Samuel Beckett's 'Waiting For Godot', a play wrote in the late '40s. Some believe that Godot has political ties commenting on the lack of support and consideration that the government actually gives its citizens. Most believe that Godot symbolizes God. Some think it represents life in general or possibly death. I personally think that it is commenting on religious issues, referencing the absurdity of both life and death. It's a tribute to how ridiculous and absurd it is to spend your life just waiting around for God, following a religion, expecting something to come from life that is more than what you provide for yourself and in the end we're all really just waiting for death.

The two men stand by a tree waiting. They get sick of waiting and want to leave. They don't. They fight, they threaten, they joke, they contemplate suicide. They're visited by two others, one with a rope around his neck acting on the commands of the one in control of his leash. Nothing ever happens. They speak in riddles, and nonsense. All while waiting for Godot -- who never shows. Throughout they discuss that they themselves don't even know who Godot is and how he will probably never come. They do this day in and day out, over and over and over and over and over again.

Humanity spends their life living in the ways that they believe are how "God' would want them to. They fight for their Lord, they preach, they participate in much of the same things Vladimir and Estragon do just over the period of their life and in the end they expect to be face to face with their Lord but are only faced with death. Absurdity.

HUMAN

What makes us human? Is it our intelligence? Our culture? Our communication skills? Our Tools? Or is it our hands? Would we have any of the aforementioned without our hands? Seems weird to place the blame of such magnificent things on something so normal, common, insignificant, and boring. I disagree. By developing the hands that we do today, with four fingers that spread out in almost any direction, flat palms, opposable thumbs, etc, we were able to develop the skills and traits that so distinctively make up us as humans. With our hands we were able to communicate, develop language, leading to the development of culture and art. Hunting and gathering. Being able to learn from each other. Building tools. Our hands were the gateway to who we became. More importantly though, our hands still help determine who we are, whether we're an artist, a craftsman, a chef, a mother, a technician, a scientist, an athlete, whatever, our hands are very precious. As common as they may seem, they are one of a kind to each of us.

Check out this photo project I did exploring these topics: click here!

So, how do your hands help determine who you are?  Take a look at them, think about them, move them, study them. They are here to stay! Get use to them. Sometimes hands are the only thing you have. Do you remember holding your mother's hand crossing the street and feeling the safety? Do you remember the first time you clenched your fist and felt the anger? Do you remember the first time holding your crush's hand and feeling the rush? Do you remember wiping away your tears and feeling the pain? Do you remember covering your mouth after saying something and feeling the embarrassment? Do you remember muffling your laughter and feeling the joy? Do you remember pulling the blankets over your head and feeling the fear?  Do you remember the first time writing your signature and feeling the control? Do you remember grasping a deceased loved one's hand and feeling the cold? I do.

WORKING CLASS HERO

This cover that Green Day has done of John Lennon's 'Working Class Hero' really speaks to me. John Lennon's words are so true and amazing, and the fresh, modern sound that Green Day adds to it helps keep it relevant. The imagery used of the people, the black and white, and of course the statements made by the individuals is very moving. I've been watching this repeatedly all night.

Watch the video: Click Here

Those of us lucky enough to live in first world countries don't really think about people like those of Dafur, or any kind of civil wars happening in Africa, or any displacement, genocide, poverty, war torn countries. This video is inspiring enough that these people have been in my thoughts regularly. I mean, even those living in America, Canada, etc, 'working class' is unfortunate, but it still could not be compared to those who live in third world countries.

Lennon can be heard at the end redundantly saying "if you want to be a hero, then just follow me", and still his peace movement is relevant. This song was his first step. Green Day followed by producing a video like this. We, the observers now need to follow suit and do something instead of being so ignorant.

The troubles we face are absurd in comparison.