Quantum Physics for Mind-Altered Substance Abusers

The Universe Next Door (Schrodinger's Cat #1) (Robert Anton Wilson): I first read these books in college. They were all the rage then. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get through them a second time. One thing's for sure; if you're looking for a good introduction to quantum physics, this isn't it.

Tower Stories

Tower Stories is a collection of stories about 9/11, edited by Damon DiMarco. Not as much impact as 102 Minutes was (which see). Perhaps if I had read this one first, but I suspect it was as much because of the much wider focus than 102 Minutes. In casting a wider net, trying to get the tales of people beyond those in downtown New York and the WTC, I think that the book was not as intense as it could have been.

102 Minutes

102 Minutes (Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn) is the saddest damn book that I have read this year. Tales from 9/11, from the inside of the World Trade Center. Stories of those who survived and those who did not. If you are not crying when you finish this book, you are not human. Maybe it's my own experience, but I don't think so.

Daddy's Little Girl

In remembrance, once again.

Her hair up in a pony tail, her favorite dress tied with a bow. Today was Daddy's Day at school, and she couldn't wait to go.

But her mommy tried to tell her, that she probably should stay home. Why the kids might not understand, if she went to school alone.

But she was not afraid; she knew just what to say, what to tell her classmates, on the Daddy's Day.

But still her mommy worried, for her to face this day alone. And that was why once again, she tried to keep her daughter home.

But the little girl went to school, eager to tell them all about a dad she never sees, a dad who never calls.

There were daddies along the wall in back for everyone to meet. Children squirming impatiently, anxious in their seats.

One by one the teacher called, a student from the class to introduce their daddy as seconds slowly passed.

At last the teacher called her name, every child turned to stare. Each of them were searching, for a man who wasn't there

"Where's her daddy at?" she heard a boy call out "She probably doesn't have one," another student dared to shout.

And from somewhere near the back, she heard a daddy say "Looks like another deadbeat dad, too busy to waste his day."

The words did not offend her, as she smiled at her friends and looked back at her teacher who told her to begin.

And with hands behind her back, slowly she began to speak and out from the mouth of a child, came words incredibly unique.

"My Daddy couldn't be here, because he lives so far away. But I know he wishes he could, be with me on this day."

"And though you cannot meet him, I wanted you to know all about my Daddy, and how much he loves me so."

"He loved to tell me stories, he taught me to ride my bike. He surprised me with pink roses and taught me to fly a kite."

"We used to share fudge sundaes, and ice cream in a cone; and though you cannot see him, I'm not standing here alone."

"Cause my Daddy's always with me, even though we are far apart. I know because he told me, he'll forever be here in my heart."

With that her little hand reached up, and lay across her chest. Feeling her own heartbeat, beneath her favorite dress.

And from some where in the crowd of dads, her mother stood in tears proudly watching her daughter, who was wise beyond her years.

For she stood up for the love, of a man not in her life doing what was best for her, doing what was right.

And when she dropped her hand back down, staring straight into the crowd. She finished with a voice so soft but its message clear and loud.

"I love my Daddy very much, he's my shining star, and if he could he'd be here but heavens much to far."

"But sometimes when I close my eyes, it's like he never went away." And then she closed her eyes, and she saw him there that day.

And to her mother's amazement she witnessed with surprise; a room full of Daddies and Children all starting to close their eyes.

Who knows what they saw before them, who knows what they felt inside Perhaps for merely a second they saw him at her side.

"I know you're with me Daddy," to the silence she called out And what happened next made believers, of those once filled with doubt.

Not one in that room could explain it for each of their eyes had been closed but there placed on her desk was a beautiful pink rose.

And a child was blessed, if only a moment, by the love her shining bright star and given the gift of believing that Heaven is never to far.

For all the children that have lost their Daddy or Mommy in the tragedy of September 11th. Always remember they will be in your hearts.

At the Earth's Core

Edgar Rice Burroughs was a pulp writer. He pounded them out fast and furious. He used formulas. So what? A lot of his books are a ton of fun. At the Earth's Core is the first of several which take place in the "inner world" that is found inside our planet. Main character David Innes penetrates to the center using a giant iron mole (ohhh, the symbolism!). In many ways, the plot is a standard Burroughs setup. Character finds a strange place. Character is thrown into a strange culture. Character meets beautiful woman, falls for her, but manages to insult her by not knowing the local customs. Character escapes, journeys, makes allies and overthrows the oppressors. Character is reunited with beautiful native, but loses her in the end, leading to the sequel.

O.K., so on the face of it, it may sound silly. Burroughs knows how to tell a tale and you race through the book pretty quickly. Fun stuff. Whether he can keep it up for the other tales set in this locale, we'll see!

Ever Since Darwin

This year's first contribution by the late Stephen Jay Gould is his first collection of essays (originally published in the American Museum of Natural History's magazine) called Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History (Norton, 1992).

This collection was a bit of a mixed bag for me, in more ways than one. First, it is amazing how far-ranging Gould is: biology to politics to geology to astronomy and back again. Most of the essays held my interest and I picked up on a lot of things I'd like to explore further. However, every now and again you'd come across an essay that is in response to some trend of the day (usually a response to a book or article). Sometimes these essays worked (well, for me, I was familiar with the controversy surrounding Velikovsky, for example); other times, I had difficulty in following the train of thought.

The saddest thing about this collection (other than the fact that Gould is no longer with us) is that so many of the issues explored here keep coming back again and again. We're closer to the Dark Ages, at times, than we realize.

Contains: Prologue; Darwinia: Darwin's Delay; Darwin's Sea Change, or Five Years at the Captain's Table; Darwin's Dilemma: The Odyssey of Evolution; Darwin's Untimely Burial; Human Evolution: A Matter of Degree; Bushes and Ladders in Human Evolution; The Child as Man's Real Father; Human Babies as Embryos; Odd Organisms and Evolutionary Exemplars: The Misnamed, Mistreated, and Misunderstood Irish Elk; Organic Wisdom, or Why Should a Fly Eat Its Mother from Inside; Of Bamboos, Cicadas, and the Economy of Adam Smith; The Problem of Perfection, or How Can a Clam Mount a Fish on Its Rear End?; Patterns and Punctuations in the History of Life: The Pentagon of Life; An Unsung Single-Cell Hero; Is the Cambrian Explosion a Sigmoid Fraud?; The Great Dying; Theories of the Earth: The Reverend Thomas' Dirty Little Planet; Uniformity and Catastrophe; Velikovsky in Collision; The Validation of Continental Drift; Size and Shape, From Churches to Brains to Planets: Size and Shape; Sizing Up Human Intelligence; History of the Vertebrate Brain; Planetary Sizes and Surfaces; Science in Society—A Historical View: On Heroes and Fools in Science;Posture Maketh the Man; Racism and Recapitulation; The Criminal as Nature's Mistake, or the Ape in Some of Us; The Science and Politics of Human Nature: Part A—Race, Sex and Violence: Why We Should Not Name Human Races—A Biological View; The Nonscience of Human Nature; Racist Arguments and IQ; Part B—Sociobiology: Biological Potentiality vs. Biological Determinism; So Cleverly Kind an Animal; Epilogue.

This collection counts as 35 entries for the 2005 Short Story Project.

A Heritage of Stars

This book was written towards the end of the middle (does that make sense?) of Clifford D. Simak's novel writing career. It has many of his more usual themes: a depopulated Earth, enigmatic aliens, paranormal powers, robots. Instead of the lovable dog character we have a lovable hors, but you'll find familar settings all around. One that I'm going to revisit again and again.

Not much of a review, I know. But Simak was a man of few words, so it is probably best just to say "pick up his books and read them"!