The exercise:
Today's starter: just a drop in the ocean.
Mine:
Did you hear? NASA threw two hundred and seventy-eight million dollars into the Pacific Ocean this morning.
Okay, look. I'm aware of how important the work they do is. I am. But, seriously - if you're going to invest that much money into one basket, shouldn't you make sure the launch is going to work?
At the end of the day, no matter how you slice it, this was caused by human error. This thing wasn't struck by lightening, a flash hurricane didn't blow it off course, it didn't hit a flock of seagulls - somebody screwed up. It was made by humans, from scratch - that means somewhere along the line somebody, or perhaps multiple somebodies, dropped the ball. A very, very expensive ball.
Do you know what I could accomplish with $278 million dollars? More than I care to list here, but you can rest assured - I wouldn't throw a penny of it away.
Maybe it's time NASA become reacquainted with the value of a dollar.
4 comments:
- Wow, Nasa threw away that much money? I wish Nasa invested $278 million dollars back into the schools.
- I really love the rules about writing that you have on your blog.It's a good reminder. Sometimes I don't write in my own blog because I have nothing to say. Now I know that I shouldn't expect perfection everytine I write. Thanks for the tip!
I think you might be being a little harsh on NASA there, after all, that's $278million dollars to boost the economy now that they have to spend it all again.... ;-)
Good little prose piece though, the kind of thing I'd expect to see in an editorial in a newspaper. Maybe you should find somewhere to do an editorial (assuming you don't already!)
But to work, to work. A drop in the ocean:
Proteus himself stood shoulder to shoulder with me
And we watched the naiads disporting in the bay.
He was King of all we could see,
Yet it seemed he had nothing to say.
I am awed, I said, with a tremor in my voice,
Brought near to my knees with emotion.
But Proteus smiled like he had no choice,
And said, It's just a drop in the ocean.
What you see, he insisted, was independent of him,
His rule was more subtle than the light on the shore.
The power he possessed, that made him so grim,
Must be wielded in ways that are pure.
You cannot imagine, he said, how removed I must be,
How little things matter, like your devotion.
But the little things do matter, this I can see,
For together they make up the ocean.
hey Marc,
I like your site and have been also reading some chapters from your novel on protagonize. Hilarious. I've never run into anyone who also listed Nathalie Goldberg's book as a fave. I've owned it at least three times that I remember. I'll buy it and then give it away to someone because it seemed relevant at the time. Then I'll buy it again and lose it in a move. I recently picked it up again while on mat leave. I just love it!
Kim
A Closet Writer - a $278 million dollar investment in schools sounds like a fine idea to me.
I'm glad you like the rules, I hope you find them useful - and thanks for being my sweet sixteenth follower :)
Greg - ah, editorial isn't generally my style. I don't get really worked up about too many things, I just happened to be in a less than stellar mood when I came across that news story.
Okay, I'm deeply curious - do you just read a lot or was your educational background related to your writings? Either way - lovely, as always.
Kim - thank you! And Writing Down the Bones was actually the inspiration for this blog. I feel fortunate to have stumbled upon it in my writing wanderings.
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