Sunday, August 28, 2016

poetry (part 3) - Success

North Ridge/everystockphoto.com

Success

We want it. Especially its fruits. But it costs us. And it's not guaranteed.

Recently, we had a international exhibition of that. The Olympics  in Rio earlier this month.

Hard work. Not giving up. Going for the gold.

As ABC sports used to hype:  The thrill of victory. And the agony of defeat. The human drama of athletic competition. [reference: ABC Wide World of Sports Intro 1981 ]

Also striving for success applies to other challenges in life. And Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011) is still an inspiration in following your dreams and doing what you love. In spite of rejection, setbacks, failures:



Forty years ago, as a youngster, I wrote a poem about this theme when I was just starting out in life.


Success

Don't be afraid to fail
Or your dreams you'll cease to strive
Heed not the mockings of those
Who really are not alive 

Look not to the side for direction
To the lamb-skinned wolves nearby
Who say that they do speak the truth
But devour with a lie 

Look above for your direction
To the star in the sky
And don't be afraid to fail
And be not afraid to try!

© S. K. Smith, winter of 1976

40 years later?

Still trying. Still striving. And still working on being not so afraid.


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Previous Posts in this series: 

Poetry (part 1) - Snow (2016) 

Poetry (part 2) - The Fool's Prayer (2016)  


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Monday, August 8, 2016

Science 101 (part 5) - August Meteor Showers

2010 Perseids/wikipedia


Space can be a dangerous place. Especially when you are by things going really, really fast. Like debris. Even those those of us on earth.

One of the effects of such a collision is meteors. And below is a "crash course" on that space junk crashing into our atmosphere:






This coming August 13-14, 2016 will be a peak of the Perseid Meteor Showers.  And they can be quite awesome if you live in the neck of the woods with a dark sky.




If you are one to look at the night sky, there's plenty of advise out there, such as:

Perseid Meteor Shower 2016: When, Where & How to See It

As the late great Jack Horkheimer (the original Star Hustler and advocate for naked eye astronomy) would say:

Keep looking up!


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Previous posts in this series:

Science 101 (part 1) - Vernal Equinox  (2013)

Science 101 (part 2) - The Sound of Music? (2013)

Science 101 (part 3) - From Galileo to Apollo (2013)

Science 101 (part 4) - Cosmos Continued ... (2014) 

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Photo:  2010 Perseids/wikipedia