Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Column A, Column B

Tonight the husband began holding forth with the computer lessons/bestowing of knowledge to the Boy Scouts so that they may acquire the Computer whatever it is called Merit Badge. When they returned home I asked son if his father lost his patience or raised his voice to those not paying attention. Son said, "No, but it was only the first session!". Hope springs eternal.

So, do you think it is the real skeletal remains of Romeo and Juliet that were found near Verona, Italy? I choose to think it is until proven otherwise. Come on, it's almost Valentine's Day.

The only story I am more tired of hearing than the Space Lust story is the dog/cat fur story concerning the manufacturing of winter coats for humans. It is so disgusting that when it comes on I reach as quickly as I can for the remote and change to something else. That's the downside to cable news on in the background during the day. It's my white noise.

I leave the tv on for Max when I go out of the house. He needs the white noise, too.

I made the crab casserole recipe I stole from Paula Deen again tonight. It was the second time for it and I tweaked it a bit. The guys really like it. I used my brand new covered one quart casserole dish with the matching trivet. It's cast iron covered with enamel for non-sticking purposes. My life? Yeah, nothing but excitement, baby.

The husband received a call from an Iraqi he worked with in Iraq during the 2003 trip pre-war tonight. The guy's in Michigan now and apparently working on a green card as he asked the husband to write a letter of something or the other vouching that he worked with the guy and knows him. Needs American letters of support, I guess. Now he's working for Snapple.

NASA held a press conference over the Space Lust story. I thought that was so strange. It's not like they can really say anything other than that NASA is a family and they support each other, yada, yada. The story is non-stop here, as you can imagine. So sad for the kids caught in the whole thing. The woman astronaut that went over the edge has three young kids, a set of twins and a boy. I think the oldest is 10 or 11 years old. She was recently separated from her husband, the story goes. The guy being pursued is the father of two and martial status hasn't been mentioned.

The thing is, for me anyway, the fact that the story is so surprising. Astronauts are human beings, just like everyone else. They are superior in intelligence and dedication to the space program, true enough. They are not, however, gods. We put them on a pedestal because they become heroes to us and there's the rub. Just like doctors or professors or entertainers. All just human beings.

Must be hard to stay balanced on that pedestal.

2 comments:

Beverly said...

It is too bad that instances like this even have to make the news. If it were Joe Blow and the woman across town, it would hardly make the news.

Being in the spotlight certainly does draw attention. As you said, they are not gods. None of us is. But it is a sad commentary on our human race.

srp said...

I think a lot of this is due to the 24 hour non-stop news stations and all the satellite availability. Each station is trying to get a scoop and let's face it, sensational news just doesn't happen every hour on the hour so all these smaller stories like the runaway bride get blown up.....

This said... a woman driving from Texas to Florida in a diaper is just plain nuts... I would have to think that this male astronaut in the center has a bit more to do with things than anyone is letting on.

This must be NASA's version of "Mean Girls".