look up and bow down (7/23/14)

Whenever the moon is visible, I find myself mesmerized by its mysterious beauty. In the past few years I've become fascinated by space. I recently bought a copy of A Briefer History of Time so I can finally understand the relationship between our solar system and galaxy to the universe as a whole. I wept when Curiosity landed on Mars then started following it on Twitter. Still nothing can surpass the thrill I feel when I hear the recording of Neil Armstrong saying "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". It's awe-inspiring and incredibly chilling at the same time. Someone has walked on that divine orb so far above my head, while I have to take a Xanax to fly to Boston. I'm reminded of the time I met Neil Armstrong Jr. He went to Stanford too and we spoke briefly at some dorm event. My confidence fueled by a couple of beers, I approached him then, like probably every other person on campus he'd ever met, I mentioned his father within the first 10 seconds of the conversation.

I didn't probe what it was like to be raised by THE FIRST PERSON TO WALK ON THE MOON but I do remember saying "You know, if I were your dad, nobody could say a damn thing to me about anything in life simply because I had been THE FIRST PERSON TO WALK ON THE MOON. And every day of my life I'd wear a t-shirt that read: 'I was THE FIRST PERSON TO WALK ON THE MOON. So shut it.'" He laughed, which was a relief since I had been so anxious about boring him. But seriously, the moon landing of 1969 is one of the most ridiculously magnificent moments in the history of the world and I think Neil Sr. should have had a free pass to tell anyone, at the slightest provocation, to kiss his moonwalking ass.

To be further amazed, check out "10 REASONS WHY THE APOLLO ASTRONAUTS WERE CERTIFIED BADASSES" on supercompressor.com.