Looked Over

Paper

Zack — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:00:31 +0000

Oh man! What could be more exciting than paper? It’s seriously the best, right? Oh wait, never mind. I was confusing paper with something that is actually interesting. Hmmm… I should take that back just in case Michael Scott is reading my blog. It’s always a good idea to make sure that you are being sensitive to fictitious television characters. Just in case. Anyway, paper is pretty overlooked in our daily lives, but could you imagine life without it? Look around the room. Do you see any books? Now imagine them without any paper! How about all of the speakers around you? They only work by vibrating little pieces of paper. The money in your wallet? Paper. The postcard from your grandmom? Paper. The photograph of your wedding? Paper. The box your cereal comes in? Paper. Paper is EVERYWHERE and we would be completely lost without it. So when you throw away your 680 pounds of paper this year, just think about how indebted you are to paper and all of its uses.

Time

Zack — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 14:00:35 +0000

Let’s talk about time for a minute here. Actually, I can’t make that promise because I don’t know how long it will take you to read this. Let’s talk about time for exactly as long as it takes for you to read this post. That’s better. Anyway, time is crazy. I know I use that adjective a lot on this blog, but it’s true. Think about it. Have you ever lived a single moment that wasn’t right now? You can remember the past and think about the future, but you will never live a single second that isn’t right now in the eternal present. C.S. Lewis noted that the present is where we actually experience eternity and dwelling either on the future or the past distracts us from experiencing it. But what is time? Honestly, I don’t really know, but it’s not as simple as it might seem. Time and space are actually a part of the same thing that scientists call space-time (creative, right?), and changing gravity or velocity will change how time moves. If you lived your entire life on the top of a mountain, your life would be the tiniest nanosecond shorter than someone in a valley because gravity is stronger as you get closer to the center of the Earth. However, if we managed to get a spaceship moving near the speed of light, those people could be gone for what seems to them to be minutes but find themselves thousands of years in the future when they slowed down. Crazy! That’s time travel right there, folks. Bet you thought time was so steady and constant didn’t you? Bet you didn’t know time was so subjective and crazy, huh? In that case, I guess it’s not a big deal that I took a 4 month hiatus from this blog because to someone living near the center of the Earth where gravity is strongest, that would be like 2 days. So this one goes out to you, oh center of the Earth dwellers and your poor choice of real estate. Sorry for the 2 day break. I’m back!

Hats

Zack — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 17:56:16 +0000

Today I left my favorite hat of the past 5 years on the bus. As I watched the bus drive away and realized that my right hand which had been holding my hat was empty, I felt a little like I did as a child when my favorite toy plane’s wing came off and my dad said that it couldn’t be fixed. So it is in that spirit of child-like loss and nostalgia that I write this entry about something that we so often take for granted. Hats are easy to overlook because they spend most of their time above our eyes, but they are wonderful because they make up for what is lacking in our own hair. Even when I had long, thick, wavy hair, my head still got cold, so I used to wear this MASSIVE wool beanie to keep me warm during those harsh Chicago winters. Later, after I cut my hair to a more respectable (and boring) length, my massive hat no longer fit, so I started wearing a smaller beanie which is now probably on some stranger’s head. It’s kind of a funny idea if you think about it. At some point, someone’s head was cold and noticed that sheep seemed to be doin alright. So they cut of the sheep’s wool and put it on their own head. I love hats. Most of my life is spent with something covering my head. I’m sure that I will replace my lost hat soon enough and all will be well again, but today I am extra thankful for whoever first thought to put a sheep on their head. Thank you Mr. or Ms. Sheep-head and thank you to that sheep who was probably pretty cold for a while.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Zack — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 14:57:32 +0000

I considered the idea of trying to update this blog while I’m in Ohio visiting Nichole’s family this week, but I’d rather spend that time actually being present with people that I care about. So, since it is Thanksgiving after all, why don’t you come up with some things that you are thankful for which you would otherwise look over, and write em down. This would be a great time to put together some guest entries!

I hope everyone has a great week. See ya on Monday!

Mountains

Zack — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:39:11 +0000

I don’t know if mountains officially qualify as being “looked over” unless you are CRAZY tall in which case you must also have an enormous computer to be reading this or have awesome vision. Either way, let the records show that I am pro-giant. Please don’t eat me. So we’re talking about mountains, eh? Everyone who has looked at a mountain range has had a kind of still, reverent experience where you realize just how tiny you really are. They look overpowering and stoically silent, confident in their sheer size. In reality, they have a CRAZY history. They are either the result of MASSIVE plates under the Earth colliding and forcing tons of rock up to the sky OR the result of hundreds of years of molten lava spewing out of the ground, hardening into the form that we see today. Not quite the peaceful giants that we think of. Despite the haters out there, I’m still a huge fan of the Appalachians because those mountains are the oldest in the world, so the rocks that you see when you are walking around up there are probably about 450 million years old. Try to find rocks THAT ancient in your precious Rocky Mountains. Not gonna happen! There are just so many reasons to stand near mountains and be completely in awe of how powerful and ancient the world is, and how fleshy and transient we are. Today is now unofficial “go hug a mountain day”, so go do it!

Bees

Zack — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 14:00:57 +0000

Have I seriously gone this long without making a post about bees?! I beg your forgiveness a thousand times. I don’t know how this happened. Bees are like the coolest bug out there. Any creature whose entire language consists of dance moves is pretty dang cool. It’s like bees are so suave that they didn’t even need words to talk to each other. One bee just kind of saunters up to another one and starts dancing. Pretty soon, they’ve had an entire conversation and the bee knows exactly where to find the good pollen. Somehow these dudes end up 5 miles away from their home collecting pollen and can STILL make it back to the hive! I know people that get lost MUCH closer to their own home and they have smart phones! The bees were like, “Google maps? Nah. Marvin here will just dance for a while, and I’ll get us there”. And honey? Don’t even get me started. You can take the honey from pyramids, add some water, and it’s edible again. Those honey combs? PERFECT hexagons! Why not? They’re already a super-devoted, dance-crazed species who are amazing chefs. They might as well also be the world’s best architects. If you are wondering whether or not I love bees… then you haven’t been reading this entry. Wasps and hornets can all die and burn in bug-Hell, but bees are welcome in my world any day of the week!

Bikes

Zack — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 14:00:47 +0000

Oh man. This one is really close to my heart. I love my bike even if is too “adult contemporary” for the likes of one Mr. John Lattanzio ::ahem::. I realized on Wednesday as I was biking over the newly finished South Street Bridge how thankful I am for my SUV of a bicycle. I feel SO much more connected to the world around me when I’m on my bike as compared to in a car. I love feeling every little bump in the road, the personalities of each neighborhood, and the random sounds that one hears on the streets of Philadelphia. I wouldn’t be able to experience any of these things if I were cloistered up inside of a car. I’ll admit that I’m not a huge fan of biking in the snow or the cold rain, but with my MASSIVE tires, it’s really no biggie. Bikes are seriously the coolest though. They are the most efficient means of self-powered transportation in existence. Wikipedia tells me that 99% of the energy that I put into the pedals is converted into forward movement. In fact, I can travel between 10-15 mph on the amount of energy that it takes to WALK! If there were a god of walking, his name would be Mario because he just got ONE UPPED! I think that drivers are jealous of me and my absurdly efficient vehicle. That’s why they always try to hit me with their doors, cut me off, and get all up in my bike lane. Dear jealous drivers, it’s ok! You TOO can own a bicycle in 3 simple steps! Step 1: Stop trying to kill me with your cars. Step 2: Buy a bicycle. Step 3: Ride said bicycle. Repeat step 1 as necessary.

Hair

Zack — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:44:57 +0000

Ya know, for a species that is mostly naked, we sure do spend a lot of time obsessing over the small amount of hair that we do have. I wonder how many thousands of dollars the average person spends in their lifetime on hair-care products and salon visits. Evolutionary biologists think that the reason why we have so little hair is because we as a species evolved in Africa where it was very hot and it was advantageous to go the naked way of the elephant and the rhino. We also have sweat glands covering our entire body where most animals can only sweat in one or two places. That’s useful! Anyway, back to hair. Those little guys are pretty intense. In the “bulb” of your hair is a whole bunch of stem cells that is always trying to make more hair and heal your wounds. They make the hair out of keratin which is the same stuff that is in horns, nails, claws, beaks, turtle shells, feathers and hoofs. That’s pretty versatile stuff! Basically, sheep’s wool is made of the same basic stuff as Rhinoceros horns. I guess what I’m trying to say here is that hair is all kinds of cool. With that being said, I’m going to go shave most of mine off because I look like a caveman muppet and I have to look presentable for Thanksgiving. Oh social norms. Once again, you are getting in the way of my keratin growth!

The 6300 Block of Lancaster Ave

Zack — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 15:04:59 +0000

For about 2 weeks out of the year, the 6300 block of Lancaster Ave. is the most amazing stretch of road in Philly. I have no idea what kind of trees are planted here, but they all turn this mesmerizing shade of bright yellow. I tried to take a picture of it with my cell phone, but it doesn’t capture a tenth of the beauty that is there. I bike through this part just as I’m leaving the city and arriving at seminary, and it always feels like I’m going through some kind of magical portal to another world. That other world is really just Wynnewood and it’s not very magical at all, but that’s just how it seeeeeeeeems. There’s an episode of Man vs. Wild where Bear Grylls comes across this beautiful flower in the middle of the jungle and says something to the effect of, “This flower is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. There are no people out here for miles and miles. This flower isn’t beautiful so that people can appreciate it. It can’t help but be beautiful. It’s beautiful just for the sake of its creator”. That’s kind of how I feel about this block. The trees don’t care that I’m there. They aren’t putting on a show or anything. They are just beautiful because that’s exactly how they were created. So if you have a spare moment in the next week, go take a drive up Lancaster Ave. and check out the magic that I’m talking about.

Carbon

Zack — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:06:35 +0000

When I say the word “carbon”, what do you think of first? Carbon paper? Your super-light fixed gear hipster bike? Burnt toast? Han Solo being frozen in Carbonite? If you guessed any of these things, you are right! All of these things have carbon in them. In fact, your entire body is made of chains of carbon. Not only that, but every living thing that you see if made of carbon. This stuff is awesome. It makes these super-strong, stable chemical bonds that allow for mind-bogglingly (is that even a word?) complex organisms. If it weren’t for carbon and its gluey self, then life as we know it would not be possible. That’s not even the most awesome part about carbon either. Do you have any idea where carbon comes from? SUPERNOVAS! A star has to become incredibly massive in order to start producing carbon, and then when it EXPLODES with more force than is humanly conceivable, it sends all the carbon that it has rocketing into the empty void of space. That’s right. The stuff that you are made of was created when gigantic stars exploded millions of light-years farther away than humans will ever visit. Our carbon has come a LONG way to make it to a place where it can start thinking about where it came from. To quote Astrophysicist (and Akinola impersonator) Neil Degrasse Tyson, “I know that the molecules in my body are traceable to phenomenon in the cosmos. It makes me want to grab people in the street, and say ‘HAVE YOU HEARD THIS?!’”