My Space

There are a few good reasons, at least
not to take my laptop to bed.
But when I’m lounging on the recliner
watching youtube or reading fark,
sometimes I just feel like getting under the covers.

Much like my earliest experiences with cable television,
I stay up past my bedtime, my mind passive but not at rest
as sounds and images fall into my unguarded brain.
I wake up tired and sore, without energy or creativity,
and suffer through the day, waiting for another round.

Last night I almost went to sleep
but checked my email one last time, and then,
for the hell of it, signed in to myspace
in case I’d received a message.

I happened to see a link
to the list of people from my high school.
It’s been a while since the last time I looked.
With a single click, I cast aside an hour of sleep or more.

The glowing screen in the dark room
showed me pictures of faces I’d forgotten.
Some looked exactly the same, but I had to stare at others,
look deep into their pixilated eyes and search for a trace
of the memory, real or imagined, of a split-second smile
as we passed each other in the hallway at school.

My neck propped up on a folded pillow,
I read about the people I grew up with.
Support our troops. I have a personal relationship with Jesus.
Who I’d like to meet: Steven Hawking, Bill Gates, my dad.

I add them all as friends.
And when I wake up in the morning,
stiff neck again, I have messages waiting.
I realize that I only lost touch because I never had it.

Pancakes!

It’s like this: on February 19th, we’re all gonna die. Then we’ll wake up in pancake heaven.

Seriously. Considering how many IHOPs there are in a 50 mile radius from my house, and how often the employees at each one change shifts, I’m set to leave my 24-pancake record in the dust.

I’ll be sure to let you all know how that turns out.

Insignificance

I received this from my friend Colin:

Antares is the 15th brightest star in the sky.

It is more than 1000 light years away.

The universe is so vast it is not comprehensible by the human mind. It would be like an ant trying to understand the wonder of the Internet. It can’t be done.

The universe humbles us, as it should.