Taking the place of Jen today…

is me, Mel from Colorful Metaphors.  I really like Jen.  If I lived in Boulder, she would so be my BFF.  We have  lot in common.  If she ever came to Austin, I would take her to the Whole Foods Mecca and this great gluten free deli that I know about.  Anyway, while Jen is enjoying her time in sunny Florida, I’m doing a little bit of blog sitting.  .  And I have to say, I’m insanely jealous that she got to see a shuttle shot today.  There had better be some good pictures of this when she gets back.  I’m just sayin’.

So.  My guest blog post.   Well, about that.  I said yesterday that it would have substance.  Then I spent the day in 100 degree heat at a track meet and am no longer able to rub two brain cells together.  I even had a great topic in mind in honor of Jen getting to see a shuttle shot, which I am insanely jealous of.  I was going to do this lament about how our country has no goal to work toward any more, nor does it seem likely to get one any time soon.  You’d think that trying to improve our gas mileage or clean up the environment, or even stopping terrorism would band us together as a nation like we were during WWII or during the lunar program.  But it hasn’t happened, and that makes me so sad.

I got a chance to take the NASA Behind the Scenes Tour last summer when I was down there (and I really hope that Jen did as well because it is beyond cool) and was totally amazed by the stories that these people had to tell about being a part of such a historical project.  I was more than a little envious hearing about that and I have to admit that I teared up several times while hearing these stories (yes, I am a geek).  I would kick a kitten to be a part of something like that now, but there isn’t anything like it today.  And why not?  Have we really become so self absorbed as a culture that we can’t pull to together and make something bigger than ourselves?  And don’t tell me that there are better things to spend money on than the space program, because it isn’t just about going into space.  It’s about pushing ourselves as a society to make things better.  Think about it:  if we had kept to the idea of having bases on the moon, what are the odds that we would have this recycling thing figured out by now?  Not to mention long-life batteries that say a car could run on.  We don’t need anything like that around here, do we?

Well looky there.  I had some substance in me after all.  Good thing for you, because I almost gave you an ode to the Facebook quiz.

So Jen, I hope you are having fun in Florida.  I hope that you saw that shuttle shot and that you got to do the whole NASA thing.  Did I mention that I was insanely jealous of the shuttle shot?  Just thought I’d get that in.  And be sure to ride Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom.  It is totally awesome!  See you when you get back!

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Jen here. I totally borked up setting up my guest posters (I’ll do better next time, promise!), and this didn’t post. 🙁 I’m still working out the kinks. Mel, thanks so much for covering for me. No shuttle launch, as I’m sure you may have heard (and ohhh, do I have stories from that night!), but this post is certainly covering for me as I attempt to find the bottom of the laundry pile. You rock!