Lileks has the words on space exploration.

NPR had an interview with one of those people who think we should not send people into space, but rely entirely on robots. As I pulled into the parking lot at the mall he casually asked “what can a man do on Mars that a robot cannot?”

PLANT A FUCKING FLAG ON THE PLANET, I shouted at the radio. Pardon my language. But. On a day when seven brave people died while fulfilling their brightest ambitions, this was the wrong day to suggest we all stay tethered to the dirt until the sun grows cold.

Read it. All. You’ll be glad you did.

He’d imagined this moment as oddly private; he’d thought of himself, the red land, the flag in his hand, and he heard music, as though the moment would be fully scored when it happened. But there isn’t any music; there’s the sound of his breath and the thrum of his pulse. It seems like everyone who ever lived is standing behind him at the other end of a vast dark auditorium, waiting for the flag to stand on the ground of Mars. Then he will say something. He might stumble on a word or two, because he’s only human.

But look what humans have done. Again.

Let’s try one of those egg timer thingies again, as the last one was kind of fun and I really, really want sleep now. Sleep good.

A silverfish just welcomed me back home to the apartment, at a good 2:50 in the morning. Got back from the after-party that took place after our gig (with Indefinite Particle Article) at Pizza Luce. People enjoyed themselves thoroughly, and the music flowed sweet and strong like the blood of Mount Olympus.

The last few days in Duluth have been foggy. I’m a sucker for winter fog. I like how it frosts everything up right nice like those spray cans of fake snow you can get around the holidays. The irony of those cans is that they carve little tiny holes in the ozone every time you use them, so one day, because of those cans, there will BE NO SNOW! And the only snow you’ll be able to see is the snow that comes from the can, but when you use the can you’re just ensuring that we’ll never ever ever ever see snow again!

Today was quite a long day. Homework, classes, photo-editing, 2 1/2 hours in a practice room memorizing parts for tonight’s gig… but after it all I got to chill in a house stocked with hippies and patchouli and hand drums. For some reason all the lights weren’t on in the house, so a few people ended up twirling and dancing in the dark in the next room.

It was also kind of strange, as in the darkness I could just barely make out the gossamer threads that held the group of people together. Like, how you know that two people know each other, but as the evening unfolds and you listen in on conversations and witness interactions, you are often surprised by how many people know each other. Like when your separate circles of friends start to mingle, you may think, “Oh, this could be bad because these people don’t know each other…” Strangely enough, you often discover social overlapping that you never considered. The circles manage to spin together without your steady hand.

I’ve got one minute. Perhaps I should mention what the silverfish said when I got home. Well, that’s an interesting story, but it-