and i'll follow you into the dark

monday night my professor shared an anecdote that i'll remember forever.

it was about the rescue dogs used on 9/11.  unlike the firefighters themselves these dogs were unable to wear respirators and still effectively perform their job.  so even though they were outfitted with fire resistant outfits and asbestos boots, there was no protecting them from the eventual death by suffocation.  but instead of resisting entry into the chaos, these dogs continued to sniff for humans trapped in the rubble. because it was what they had been trained to do. and most of them died in the process. 

i don't care how irrelevant that seems. it choked me up then and it chokes me up now. it perfectly illustrates sacrifice to me. to be so committed to the ultimate end that the world burning around me is not enough to stop.  

shnobbery

dear hollywood, 

do not make movies whose sole comedy is a segway personal transporter.  while i agree that segway personal transporters can be wonderfully complementary tools of hilarity (see gob bluth in arrested development) i cannot advocate relying on them to carry an entire movie.  i will not. i will leave and watch the end of the curious case of benjamin button for the third time. 

sincerely, 

your mom

translated by w.s. merwin

the big trees on the other side of her, uprooted.

but you, cloudless girl, question of smoke, corn tassel. 

you were what the wind was making with illuminated leaves.

behind the nocturnal mountains, white lily of conflagration, 

ah, i can say nothing! you were made of everything.

- pablo neruda, almost out of the sky