It's A Small World
Reason number 322 to own a laptop: keeps you warm on those chilly San Francisco nights. We got back from painting the town red ninety minutes ago, and despite having a full day, I'm not ready to hit the sack. I'm actually thinking about cracking open a DVD and watching it before too long. We'll see if I'm just as motivated at the end of this entry.
We decided to catch those sidewalk astronomers again this evening – which is why we were drawn specifically to Noe Valley. Gretchen felt like doing the “couple” thing, but she couldn't find a couple that was free for dinner. Dessert, on the other hand, was still an open option. We traveled via MUNI to Barney's Gourmet Hamburgers, knowing that we'd be eating crepes with friends at a rather crepey place down the street. I was just looking for a good cup of coffee, but none was to be found. If it isn't Peet's, it's coffee-flavored water. I wound up sipping some cafe latte and swiftly swapping it for a cappuccino. My taste buds remain unfulfilled.
Lucky for us, the weather was cooperative. Saturn and Jupiter looked even better than they did last night. I even caught a glimpse of Calisto! And no, not of the Flockheart variety. As we stood there on the corner, a small crowd began to gather. Pretty soon, we were talking about our occupations. I even met the director for the TV Archive Web site. “Reactions around the globe have been captured in this archive of television news broadcasts from the period following the [September 11] attacks.” Amazing. I had featured his site a few weeks ago in Lockergnome! I pushed my luck and continued to introduce myself to folks. It didn't take long for me to run into a wacko.
Well, she wasn't really a nut case as much as she was a Christian trying to push her beliefs onto me. Then her friends (and husband) jumped in to reinforce the fact that they were recruiting for a local (non-demoninational) church. I grew up Catholic, and that's just about as far as my religious beliefs go. Going to church makes you holy as much as going to McDonald's makes you a hamburger. Here's a word to the wise: don't preach to me. I'm a nice guy, I treat other people nicely, and I'm not out to destroy the world. Two thousand years from now, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a new major world religion. This one would worship a mouse, and his brother, the duck. Think about it for a second. You'd be Goofy to miss the allusion.
Since Cheaters is on the WB, I'm still debating on whether or not to pop in a DVD. I'd probably fall asleep in the middle of it anyway. I've never watched one on my belly before. That is, on my back with the screen on my stomach. I'm just happy that it's a three-day weekend. See, in California, we believe in honoring those who tried to make this planet a little nicer. Heaven forbid. No, let's just go out and kill everybody who doesn't agree with us. No doubt I'll lose another subscriber for writing that. I have plenty of “Webcam ass” to go around, so just you try me.
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7 Comments
Anonymous
January 20th, 2002
at 1:51am
You shoulda mooned her at the first instant the word “Christ” came out of her mouth.
Nothing like a full moon close by to chase those religious freaks away.
Anonymous
January 20th, 2002
at 4:46pm
You could also print out some of the Chick tract parodies available at http://www.weirdcrap.com/chick/index.html and hand them one when they start pushing their beliefs onto you.
Anonymous
January 20th, 2002
at 6:45pm
Chris, you have accidentally stumbled on the one science where amateurs really count. What other branch of physics has strolling experts on the sidewalk who are so enthusiastic they will let strangers use their apparatus?
As an amateur astronomer, I'm annoyed by the “robots” you guys have on C4H and Screensvrs. Stupid dogs, bugs, vehicles and crap. Absolute junk. Did you know that for less than $400 you can own a robotic telescope that will take you on a tour of the heavens automatically — every nite — show you thousands of things from galaxies to nebula. Now that's a robot. Much more useful than some stupid Sony dog.
The next time you see your sidewalk astronomers; ask them about robotics. That's what you want them to bring to your show. Trust me. They've got robots. Some amateurs even own Internet-conrolled scopes in the middle of nowhere that can be operated from lofts in the city.
Anonymous
January 21st, 2002
at 9:30am
Well, Chris, not all of us Christians are “wackos” and try to “push [our] beliefs” on others. Some of us prefer to live lives that give an example. Wish I could say the same for some of those other “religions” out there. But, then, I view my Christianity as my lifestyle rather than my religion, 'cause, as you said “church makes you holy as much as going to McDonald's makes you a hamburger.” And I see “religion” in much the same manner. Unless it's your lifestyle, it's not much use practicing it.
Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now and just say that, while I don't necessarily always agree with you, I enjoy your blogs, newsletter and show.
Signed,
A Christian, Republican AND Lockergnome Subscriber
Anonymous
January 21st, 2002
at 10:23am
I have no problem with religious people of any sort. I DO have a problem when people try to push their belief systems onto me. ;)
Anonymous
January 21st, 2002
at 10:38am
Same, here :-)
Oh, and Geek, too (forgot that one on my previous post).
Anonymous
January 25th, 2002
at 5:26am
Chris, I'm a “cradle Catholic”. I wandered away from the Church back in the late 60's for many reasons but I guess the “real” reason turns out to be that I may have believed in the “idea of God” but just didn't really believe in God. We tend to trust our own egos and intelligence to convince us that “God” isn't something that exists — “God” is simply some ephemeral thing. We find it convenient to use the fact that there are so many different religious beliefs to confirm our own belief that “God” is just a concept in a human brain. It took me over 30 years to discover how wrong I was. Perhaps one day you too will understand that while hundreds, perhaps thousands of “religions” and cults fell by the wayside one survived despite all the odds arrayed against it. Jesus Christ wasn't just some “nice guy”, he wasn't a lunatic Jew, and he wasn't the world's greatest liar! I pray that someday your Catholic upbringing (and I firmly believe that it stayed with me all those years!) will be like the seed that is planted and finally takes root and matures. Jesus isn't an embarrassment.
Thanks for a great newsletter and my regards to Gretchen. Her hunt for employment will be added to my prayer list.