Miscellany in the April sunshine

At this very moment, I'm listening to "You'd Rather Run" by Jaymay (which has this amazing line thrown into the middle of her weary evisceration of an ex: "your girlfriend's a spy". Really, doesn't that just sum up everything? Add, "it's funny what you miss, it's funny what you don't", and you already have a song with great lyrics.) The whole album Autumn Falling has had the difficult job of mimicking my mental state since last November, and somehow it has lived up to all of my hopes (dreams, and fears). Listen if you're in the mood for a journey, but also if you just want to hear some undeniably sweet music.

There's an article in the Education section of the New York Times today about the Grateful Dead. "A Deadhead's Dream For A Campus Archive" by Jesse McKinley is a funny little article. It's not particularly exciting to read, but the content is interesting. For those of my readers who dislike reading more than they absolutely have to, I'll sum up the main points. The University of California, Santa Cruz - which is located in an apparently hippy-friendly city - will be compiling an archive of Grateful Dead "paraphernalia" (apparently nothing illegal, although the word choice is suspicious). This University happens to be the home of quite few Neo-Dead Heads and even has a popular class for undergraduates on the Dead's music.

Here are some incredibly cool pictures that NASA released to commemorate the Hubble Telescope's 18th Birthday (WOOOT HUBBLE!): "New Galaxy Images Released for Hubble's 18th Birthday" by Alex Madrigal. They show galaxies colliding, and look almost as convincing as the special effects on the latest Star Wars movie. My mind is completely blown away by these pictures. They are amazing.

Last but not least, one of my childhood heroes has "passed the torch" to my generation. In celebration of Earth Day, Jane Goodall symbolically passed the torch of activism saying (according to Scientific American):

"'The 100 (young people) who are here represent hundreds of thousands of others,'...'You hear them debate some of the problems of the world, and you know there is hope for the future.'"

Wow. These are some big shoes to fill. I'm a fan of Jane Goodall (despite the fact that she named her child Grub), and I even have her words painted on a wall in my house. I guess it's time to start changing the world. Here's the full article, if you guys are interested in reading anything besides my blog:

"Jane Goodall passes activist torch to world's youth"