There's one section of the song  "Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn  that keeps playing in my head tonight ...

And I sang with all my might
And she said;
"Tell me are you a Christian child?"
And I said "Ma'am I am tonight"

I just keep telling myself, keep the faith, better days are ahead.   ... You gotta believe! 


"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."
...  Martin Luther King, Jr.

WOW, 

I see my last entry was April of 2006.  That's about the time I started my adventures on a new career path.  As I stop to think, and regroup, I see, wow, it's been almost two years since I've really taken the time to reflect.

In July of 2006, I went full time with the one consulting company I was working with initially on a part time basis. A year and a half into the consulting gig the travel is starting to get a bit much. Always on the road.  Even commuting between job sites during the week sometimes involves  hundreds of miles of traveling on a daily basis.

To those of you that I have ignored over this time, my apologies.  It is time to refocus, and acheive some balance in my life.   I will re-explore, and find my way back into this community.

I just got done reading a web site where folks are arguing over all the details of what's wrong with various science fiction shows on television.  After several minutes of reading, I realized that everyone was so hung up on all the details, I couldn't see how any of them could ever just sit back and enjoy the stories.

I love science fiction.  Growing up my favorite authors were Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke.  The thing I remember about Heinlein and Asimov is they created characters that I cared about, characters that no matter how far off, or different they were, seemed real to me. When I try to remember Clarke's works, I remember less about the characters, but I remember worlds, that no matter how far off, or different they were, seemed real to me. I didn't analyze every character, every theme, but as I read the words, the story they told seemed believable, made me care about it, and want to learn more.

Television has a bit of a disadvantage over books, or even movies, in that it must tell a story, and get me to believe it, in a much shorter time frame.

I fondly remember the orginal Star Trek and Lost in Space when they were first run in prime time on network television. While some folks may see Lost in Space as more as a spoof than serious science fiction, another Irwin Allen series of the 1960's, "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" while probably not as well remembered is a great works of science fiction of that era.  The works of Irwin Allen did not spend as much time on characters as it did themes, but Allen did create "worlds" that I enjoyed.

I was fairly young when the original "Outer Limits" was on, but I do remember many of the episodes, as I probably watched many of them in reruns and sydication throughout the 1960's and beyond.  I was thrilled when they were released on DVD.  While many of today's viewers might laugh at times at the quality of the special effects, the stories hold up well over the years, and that shows just how far ahead of the crowd this series was in its own time.

Escapism is not a bad thing. To put ourself in someone else's place, to see ourself in another world, is not merely an exercise in entertainment.  To imagine things, beyond where we are right now, helps us to see our own possibilities and potential.  Sometimes in order to see beyond where we are right now, we need to open our minds just a bit.

More on this to come...

I have joined this community, and have another blog to maintain....  more to maintain... more to think about....  hmmm, just another day in my world.

I'm sure there will be more to say, and rants to share, but for today, it is just to say hello, and check out the new neighborhood.


"You got to be careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there."
    - Yogi Berra