The Writing Is Always The Easy Part,

Here Is The Secret To Surviving One Of These [airplane] Crashes: Be Male. In A 1970 Civil Aeromedical Institute Study Of Three Crashes Involving Emergency Evacuations, The Most Prominent Factor Influencing Survival Was Gender (followed Closely By Proximity To Exit). Adult Males Were By Far The Most Likely To Get Out Alive. Why? Presumably Because They Pushed Everyone Else Out Of The Way.

Gravity Disappears Again, And We Rise Up Off The Floor Like Spooks From A Grave. It's Like The Rapture In Here Every Thirty Seconds.

It Would Be Especially Comforting To Believe That I Have The Answer To The Question, What Happens When We Die? Does The Light Just Go Out And That's That-the Million-year Nap? Or Will Some Part Of My Personality, My Me-ness, Persist? What Will That Feel Like? What Will I Do All Day? Is There A Place To Plug In My Laptop?

The Terms "idiot" And "lunatic" Were Acceptable Diagnostic Terms In England Up Until 1959. "imbecile" And "feeble-minded Person" Were, Likewise, Listed As Official Categories In The 1913 Mental Deficiency Act. England Has Always Lagged A Bit Behind In Discarding Outdated Terms For The Disadvantaged. When I Was There In 1980, It Was Still Possible To Shop For Used Clothing At The Local Spastic Shop. That Is, Compared To The United States, Where It Takes, Oh, About Twenty-five Minutes For A Diagnostic Euphemism To Become A Conversational Faux Pas.

To Me, Nasa Is Kind Of The Magical Kingdom. I Was Sort Of A Geek, And You Go There, And There Are Just These Wondrously Strange Things And People.