A weekly affair

March 14, 2022.

Today, Pi Day, Einstein’s Birthday, and the anniversary of Stephen Hawking’s death in 2018, I’m starting to blog, by reporting on how last Saturday, on a planet with many humans fearing World War II, and astrophysicists gearing up for what scientific instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope will reveal, I took photos of Tucson’s Amateur Astronomy Association’s booth at the Tucson Festival of Books. I felt too leery to do activities with possibly unmasked kids, and if they did wear masks, I wouldn’t hear them, anyway. I shot nice-sized crowds at all our activities, including Looking for Life in The Sands of Mars, Solar Observing, and Martian Rovers. But best of all was the steady stream of kids at the Create An Extraterrestrial activity, which I’d initiated in 2020, before Covid-19 cancelled that year’s fair. This year, while Terri, our dedicated outreach leader, sanitized magic markers, kids happily used them, stickers, felt strips, pompoms, googly eyes, and more to design their creatures. Plus TAAA had a board for Post-It notes with “What Would You Say To An Extraterrestrial?” “Can You Give Us Something To Help Climate Control,” “Register As A Democrat,” “What Took You So Long,” and “Take me with you!” were some gems I read.

Other organizations under our big Science City tent included The University of Arizona’s Lunar & Planetary Lab, the Tucson L5 Space Society, MMT Observatory, and UA Arizona Mt Lemmon SkyCenter. Volunteers from all shared their love of space, and hope for tomorrow. And Terri emailed me great photos of the Extraterrestrials created, most whimsical, not frightening. That gave me hope, as did so many visitors wearing masks. Three cheers for Tucson! 

Back home, posting photos to TAAA’s Facebook page, I thought about my Website’s imminent launch, with me taking my place as…what? A cosmic poet? Sci fi writer? Comic? You laugh, but I just got an email that my NYC comedy debut—postponed, due to Covid, at the end of my zoomed Gotham NY Stand Up Comedy workshop in 2021—is set for May 6 at NYC’s Broadway Comedy Club. If I don’t chicken out, I’ll do my “Hearing Challenged” skit, with some jokes about Extraterrestrials. Speaking of which, I’m working on a new skit with the persona of one. Not an alien. We hate that abused word! We hate a lot of abused words. Extraterrestrial, please.

Anyway, while I ponder my future in comedy, it pains me to see a planet with such great potential so go to waste. On a more positive note, as one who follows coincidences; Happy Pi Day, on which my hard part’s finally done; I’ve finished Blog #1.