10.9.09

revelations

if you retreat into your ipod earbuds once seated on your flight, or if you take one look at your seat-mates long pink beard and construct a barrier using JD Salinger and polite silence, then you will never learn about the rise of pork production in china, or the 462 variables in the number models used to predict carbon mass in biological structures of various eco-systems. you will never hear about how a mini-ice age was caused by 30 spaniards walking from a shipwreck in florida all the way to mexico city, spreading waves of disease that rolled over the country and dropped the population from 90 million to less than 5. you'll never know how mid-evil warming, caused by the burning of 60% of europes forests by the romans (to banish the native gods that lived in the trees) caused a draught in the american southwest which put an end to the anasazi civilization. granted, it may be difficult to get past the pink facial hair, the questionable breath and the initially terrifying and uncomfortable talk about breast cancer, but if you can you won't be sorry as you will find that you are sitting next to a precious treasure.

and if you can't well.... that's a little bit sad.