pluto

Ever since I was a kid I have had an interest in astronomy.  I never considered being an astronomer or anything to that extent, but I have always enjoyed learning more about what goes on in the heavens.

I remember very distinctly going to a planetarium when I was eight years old—the same age my son NJ is now—and seeing a presentation on the planets.  A supposed landscape for each planet (or one of its moons) was projected on the screen, and I was mesmerized by the idea of what it would be like to look around the landscape of Mercury, Mars, or some other body in our solar system.  When the presentation got to Pluto, though, I was disappointed.  The narrator noted that, "No one knows for sure what the landscape of Pluto looks like."  Ever since that day I have had to know.

When I was in sixth grade my family traveled to Northern Arizona to see my grandparents, and we visited the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff on the trip.  I learned on that trip that Pluto was discovered at that observatory.

Because of this history, when NASA launched the New Horizons probe in 2006—the same year our son was born—I took note.  I imagined how exciting it would be in nine years to see images of Pluto beamed back to earth with the understanding that my excitement needed to be tempered with some patience since it was a more-than-nine-year mission.

Fast forward to today, and I can honestly say that one of the things I am most looking forward to this year is the imagery data that is scheduled to be sent back to earth in mid-July from the New Horizons probe.  I haven't told Golden this, but I seriously considered taking a day off from work to keep tabs on the updates.  For various reasons doing so probably doesn't make sense.  It was a consideration, though.

I leave off with the following image that NASA has posted that has me wanting more.  New Horizons is close enough to Pluto to get a blurry view of it and its moon Charon.  I look forward to something in much higher resolution in the coming months.

vengeance is john wick's

I watched the movie John Wick tonight.  It is good for what it is, which is a revenge film, so it could be enjoyed well enough on those merits.  I did not realize before I got the movie in the mail that it is a revenge flick, though, since I don't really go for that genre of cinema.

A self-righteous part of me wants to say that the problem I have with revenge films is that revenge is inherently sinful, and so those sorts of films stir up anger in inappropriate ways.  While this is right that vengeance is God's rather than mine, there's probably a different reason I do not like them.

A lot of films have been made in the last decade or so targeted to my demographic that I have no interest in watching for this reason.  For example, I know exactly what the Taken films are, and I have zero interest in watching them.  So many people talk about how wonderful those movies are, though.  Likewise, the entire Quentin Tarantino catalog from the last ten years has been marketed almost solely on revenge (Django Unchained, Inglourious Basterds, Death Proof, and Kill Bill 1 & 2), so the most recent Tarantino film I've seen or had a desire to see are the Kill Bill movies.

I think that films like this are designed to allow people to fantasize about doing what they can't.  They can right wrongs that need to be addressed and be the source of justice that is needed.  In the case of John Wick it is murdering tens of criminals in revenge for killing a dog.  The problem is, for whatever reason, I cannot suspend disbelieve enough to believe that justice is being done in the situation (or that justice would be done if the situation was played out in real life).

That is the reason I am not drawn in the same way others are, but the reason I dislike them is different.  At its core, the real reasons I usually dislike revenge are that I don't like the feeling of hate and that I don't like empathizing with a miserable character.

First, I don't like a movie manipulating me into hating a character.  I don't like hating people—even fictional people.  It isn't a good feeling, and it is not consistent with my beliefs.

Second, I feel too much empathy for the protagonist.  I get sucked into the main character's life too much when watching a movie, so if the main character goes through a hellish situation, I do too.  I don't know why, but I empathize more with the character who is explicitly wronged than the character who simply goes through difficult struggles.

Given the popularity of revenge in story, a lot of people do not feel the same way I do.  A lot of people like seeing the protagonist go through a revenge arc as part of their redemption process.  I am not making a judgment on that, but it is a different perspective from mine.

boring silver corolla

I destroyed the engine in my car a few weeks ago.  I don't know all of the details, but somehow oil was not getting to all parts of the engine, and so I burned it up one morning on the way to work.  Due to this, I had to purchase a car fairly quickly so that we would not have to deal with the complications of being a one-car family for too long.

My thinking was that I wanted an affordable car that would last a long time and get decent gas mileage, so I found a low-mileage Toyota Corolla, and now that is what I drive to work.  It's exactly what I was looking for-a practical means to get to the office-but I have been going through a bit of a grieving process because I don't like having car payment.  That is not what this is about, though.

When I got this car it was not due to flash.  While a modern Corolla is not an ugly car, a Toyota will never excite anyone. That point was driven home while I was watching the following advertisement during the Super Bowl.


I also found the following commercial in looking for the first commercial.


The silver car in this ad is essentially the one I just bought.  Talk about timing.

Honestly, I prefer to drive an unassuming vehicle rather than a flashy one, and I'm happily married, so commercial doesn't bother me.  Also, I know that much of the difference is in the vehicle colors, but I prefer the silver to the red as well, so that says something about me. The type of man who drives a red pickup is not me. So, while I didn't really take it personally, I did let out a, "Hey now!" when re-watching the, "leave him to be with him," part of the commercial.

What can I say, though.  My priorities are boring.