Time and Space

I Heart Huckabees: “Have you ever transcended space and time?”

A great line. A quirky line. A quirky line from a quirky movie. However, this line comes to me now as I think about my amazing friends. I am currently in Las Vegas visiting friends I haven’t seen in over a year; however, as we sat, ate, chatted, and laughed tonight, it might have been a week or a  day since we were doing the same thing. It seems that the only judge of time is their beautiful little boy, now eleven months old (last time I “saw” him, he was in-utero).  He is this living, breathing representation of how quickly life progresses.

I am sure I am not the only one who experiences this. We all have that friend or those friends that allow us to transcend time, sometimes space, but mostly time. It truly is a wondrous thing to know that regardless of how much stuff gets sandwiched between visits, we pick up where we left off: instantly comfortable, content, and ready to make new memories.
So, next time your existential detective asks you if you’ve transcended time, you can say, of course, I have friends. Really, it’s science, and there’s no use arguing science.

P.S. To those friends I haven’t seen in a while, can’t wait to bend the concepts of physics with you.

Originally written: 7/27/11

How to...

The self-improvement section in my local Barnes and Noble is large – quite large. One can learn how to improve one’s mental ability, diagnose one’s ailments, or become clairvoyant (really). These subjects, plus many, many more, fill the pressed wood shelves to capacity. This “how to be a better you” section does not, however, contain all the “how-to” wisdom that is in printed and bound form. Oh, no, it cannot be limited to one measly little bookcase; instead, it is filtered throughout the store by subject.

Go ahead, peruse the subject specific sections and you’ll find the how to on that topic next to the masters. It makes sense of course. If a person were in dire need to know how to make the ultimate cookie, he or she wouldn’t begin in self-improvement. Although it is a bit interesting to see a coffee table book on the Renaissance masters propped up next to basic acrylic painting 1-2-3 type manuals. I almost expect to see a paint by numbers replica of the Sistine Chapel to be found inside.

Although the ‘how to’ options in any bookstore are abundant, they are the proverbial tip of the instructional iceberg; simply Google a project or interest and viola, you are given a plethora of sites that will guide you.  Some would say that this golden age of instruction can only be beneficial, but isn’t that a bit presumptuous?

It seems as though we are on a “how to” overload. A fun combination of inspiration and pressure. We are handed ways to better ourselves, both physically and mentally. Where is the learning curve or the agony and joy of having to figure things out on our own? Don’t get me wrong, I have no desire to reinvent the wheel, but does every single life experience need a For Dummies? It just seems that we are so busy collecting these “how to” steps that we, well, don’t.

For fun, you may want to see for yourself some of the more interesting how-to's on Amazon.