All Entries Tagged With: "blog-a-thon"
More Blog-a-thon Posts
We’ve been getting lots of emails linking to people’s blog-a-thon posts, and it’s hard to choose excerpts, so here’s a small collection of links we’ve received:
On MySpace, from Lisa.
Random Precision, In Portugal from Luis.
The Bretorium in Massassachusetts.
Larry Klaes’ Ithaca Times article.
Anonymous Dave’s blog-a-thon post.
Kevin Jung’s humble attempt at memorial.
Bret at bretorium.com.
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Blog-a-thon Post
river2sea72 writes:
I have huge respect and admiration for popularizers of science, and Carl Sagan was one of the premier examples of such a person. Although they risk their reputations immenseley by reaching out to the public and taking on controversial issues, they inspire unknown multitudes of children to pursue careers in science or at least to appreciate its role in society.
Who will do for my child what this man did for me? There remains a huge void.
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A Love Affair & A Thank You
Well, today is the day. Not only does today mark the tenth anniversary of Carl Sagan’s passing and the beginning of a new moon, it is the day that a certain someone returns from overseas and into my arms. Dr. Sagan is partly responsible for this lasting love affair of mine, and after thinking all week about what to write today for the blog-a-thon, this seems appropriate.
Cosmos first aired a year before I was born, and so I didn’t come to know Carl’s face until college, when my dear friend and roommate began borrowing the series from the public library on VHS. At this point, I had a couple of the doctor’s books under my belt and an amateur passion about science. My introduction to the Cosmos television series coincided with the beginning of a relationship with a certain young lady, and those late nights on the living room couch – the VCR humming, Vangelis swirling about us, and Carl’s entrancing enunciation – helped to seal a bond which continues to grow after four years. Dr. Sagan helped us share the wonder of existence with each other, and for this (among countless other things) I am immensely grateful to him.
Nine days ago, while daydreaming in my cubicle and chatting with Bryan H., we decided to start celebratingsagan.com in order to commemorate this important man’s passing. I can’t express what a fulfilling project it’s been. I want to thank everyone who has contributed; I share your sentiments whole-heartedly. I also want to give a special thanks to Joel for conceiving of today’s blog-a-thon, to Nick Sagan for helping to spread the word, to boingboing for their post yesterday (surely the biggest reason we’ve been getting so many hits), and to Ann Druyan for her encouragement.
Carl articulated something that no other scientist has managed to do. All chemistry and physics aside, WE ARE STAR STUFF. The fact of that sentence still gives me a profound sense of security. It is a timeless four word poem for all of humanity. For an atheist like myself (albeit a reluctant one some days), reading and rereading Carl’s words are akin to prayer. Feeling small, it seems to me, is the beginning of understanding the truth about who and what we are. We are star stuff. We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself.
Thank you, Carl.
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Falling Hard for Sagan.
Lauren at Liquid Logic sent us a link to her blog-a-thon entry, and we just couldn’t help but excerpting this passage:
I remember liking him and finding his stuff cool. But it was later in life, in my late twenties, in fact, that I fell hard for the guy. I’m not sure if it was The Demon Haunted World or The Dragons of Eden that hooked me. But I do know that it had something to do with his rigorous devotion to truth and his improbable optimism about human nature.
Please read the whole entry here.
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