– Definition: noun the perfect form or example of something : quintessence
– Used in a sentence: Fred Rogers is the apotheosis of a kind, smart, and decent teacher.
– Why: Despite the modern now-a-go-go dystopia we’re headed for, it’s important to know what to call our remaining best and brightest. Very important.
Category: Crit
Examination, interpretation, appreciation.
Convergence
“In science truth is always our goal but rarely our attainment. We move from error toward truth by successive approximations. Just as parallel lines are said to meet at infinity, we, as the human race, might expect to arrive at absolute truth only if given infinite time in which to flounder intelligently.”
— E.H. Cherrington Jr, Exploring the Moon Through Binoculars and Small Telescopes
Pithyism #26a-z
WHEN WORDS ENTER the picture, experience goes right out the window.
Eyes Above
“The longer I spend in this hobby, the more convinced I become that astronomy isn’t about checking objects off a list. It’s about slowing down long enough to truly appreciate what’s already waiting overhead.”
-Mike from Astronomics
Ponderness
“ABSENCE OF EVIDENCE is not evidence of absence.”
– some wise soul or other
Secret Signposts
HIDDEN SOCIAL NETS surround us everywhere we go, and those who know – know.
Example? Sure!
I was shopping in one of my favorite grocery stores earlier today when the guy behind the butchers’ counter noticed my black Firefly T-shirt.
“Nice shirt!” he said with a wide grin.
“Thank you,” I said, bowing.
Now, he could have added something like, “I’m a Firefly fan too.” Or “I really like that series.” Or even “How long have you been a fan?”
But instead, he indicated the leather bomber-jacket I was wearing (Sonoma mornings are cold these days) and said with a wider grin, “I see you’re a real Browncoat.”
If none of this makes sense to you, allow me to explain. Instead of stating the obvious, my fellow fan responded with another insider’s reference. You see, the shirt in question doesn’t feature the title of the show or anything like that – the only way to “get it” is if you recognize the image and motto: a burnt-umber image of the titular spaceship above the motto, “STAY SHINY.” If you don’t, then no harm done. His comment told me right away that he got it. And his grin told me that he was enjoying our little secret signpost as much as I was.
Connections. Isn’t that what it’s all about?
Father’s Time
SOME TRADITIONS ARE axiomatic: just as a woman should inherit her mom’s wedding ring, so should a man wear his father’s watch.
My dad, who died at the end of January, didn’t like to faff around much. He was a happily simple man with happily simple tastes, and preferred straightforwardness in all things. That’s reflected in his choice of timepiece – a white-and-gold Timex Indiglo Easy Reader, mounted on a gold stainless-steel expansion band that conforms to the wrist without constant buckling and unbuckling. Simple and tasteful, and accurate without nerding out about it – it’s easier to say “a quarter to three” than “2:47 and 38 seconds.” After more than 40 years of wearing a cheap but rugged Casio Illuminator on a plastic strap that buckles, I actually and seriously feel “grown up.”
Maybe that’s why we inherit these things, or rather, that’s what it means to inherit them. In my dad’s absence, I am now the “man of the family” (for some values of “man of the family,” anyway, since now there’s just my sister and me), and in trying to figure out exactly what that means, it occurs to me that part of it means adopting certain cultural traditions.
Hence the watch.
Might there be the same effect as inheriting his car or house? I don’t think so, as these are not as intimate as, say, what I now wear to bed every night so that I can see what time I wake up. Or to synagogue board meetings. Or to conduct services. Or to the grocery store. Or even to simply look at and think about the man who wore it before I did, and wonder what he thought about when he looked at it.
Thanks, Dad. It’s good to feel like the man who’s your son.
Put Your Hand on the Radio
A RABBINICAL ASSISTANT, two deacons, and a lay mystic walk into a radio studio.
Seriously.
Welcome to the Sonoma Valley Interfaith Radio Hour, a years-old, live and lively round-robin every Thursday afternoon from 3-4pm Pacific Time on Sonoma Valley’s independent station KSVY (91.3 FM and streaming/archived at ksvy.org). It features one Jew (me), the deacons (Presbyterian and Roman Catholic), and a Christian Science practitioner. (With occasional guesting by my rabbi, by an Irish Catholic priest, and by whoever else we can grab from our local ecumenical Cobb salad.)
Our informal discussions cover broad ground: e.g., different faith traditions’ understandings and manifestations of moral and ethical ideals; life-cycle events such as birth, coming of age, marriage and divorce, and dying/mourning; the multiform flavors of our worship services; observing holidays and holy days; encounters with the Bible and other holy books; and how we ourselves each came to our respective “ministries.” We have deep respect for each other’s religious backgrounds and deep attachments to our own – as our Presbyterian emcee puts it, “We’re all swimming in the same direction” – and are on the air not to convert or proselytize, but to educate, enlighten, and (we hope) edify.
What also makes the show work, I think, is that outside of our collegial collective, the Valley prides itself on a thriving interfaith fellowship; we’re so geographically isolated, it’s to our evolutionary advantage to get along as well as we do. It helps, too, that through our long association we have become quite close – itself a byproduct of sharing intensely real conversations every week. And speaking personally, I find that learning about others’ sacred practices makes me understand and appreciate my own that much more. Tune us in and see if that’s true for you!
Moon Shot
THE FOUR ASTRONAUTS who recently swooped around the Moon and back again – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, may their names live forever – did more than visually explore Earth’s neighboring world from close quarters for the first time in decades.
They injected into this world a burst of hope and vicarious glory sorely needed in this age of cynicism, distrust, chaos and doomcrying.
Think of it. When’s the last time you felt a surge of positivity and pride at human accomplishments? Speaking strictly for myself, it’s been more than one year, three months, and a day or two.
But watching the Artemis mission’s textbook-perfect splashdown and recovery had me shedding at least one tear of grateful joy.
This is what humans can do when we all work together, I thought, dabbing my eyes with a tissue. This is what’s possible.
I don’t know about you, but I needed that.
Skygazer’s Arsenal
A FRIEND OF MINE, rarely rendered speechless, became so when I let slip an astronomical secret. She pressed me for details, and because you might want to know too, I’m passing them along:
The reason I have 18 astronomy apps on my [smartphone] is that, although some do overlap, each has a little something the others lack. Most are free, but I have also tossed a few bucks at my personal faves. They are… (drumroll)
– Star atlases/planetarium programs: Stellarium, SkySafari, SkyView, Sky Map
– Target catalogues (where and when to look for cool, if sometimes transient, stuff): TheSkyLive, Nightshift, Stargazing Hub, Telescopius
– International Space Station trackers: ISS Detector, Heavens-Above, ISS Live Now, Spot the Station
– Weather: Astrospheric, Field Guide to Clouds
– Solar/lunar observation: SpaceWeatherLive, LunarMap HD
– Misc: The Golden Record, NASA
And there you have it. Mystery solved, I hope!
Almost all of these are available at the Google Play Store. (Nightshift is no longer in development, alas, but it’s still my go-to for current weather-satellite imagery and customized-to-my-equipment “targets.”) If you find any of these useful, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Arms Call
“Don’t spectate: CREATE!”
–Barbatus the Elder
Wholly Toil
IT’S NO SECRET that I loathe AI.
Well, “loathe” is rather strong language, especially since I believe modern tech in general to be an evolutionary leap comparable to the discovery of fire, or the invention of the wheel. Let’s just say I am deeply distrustful of AI, and more than a little saddened and dismayed by how quickly and eagerly it’s infiltrated our culture, our devices, and our minds.
Fortunately, I have some Jewish ammunition backing up my “danger-Will-Robinson” disdain. In this week’s edition of The Forward‘s “Looking Forward” newsletter, Louis Keene makes a good case for why Judaism may hold the key to the AI Resistance.
“That key is the Jewish value of עֲמֵילוּת (ameilut), or toil,” Keene writes. “As far as Jewish values go, ameilut is an obscure one. It lacks the celebrity swagger of its better-known peers like chesed [lovingkindness] and tzedakah [righteousness] or the political power of tikkun olam [“repairing the world,” sometimes understood as social action]. … Yet I believe it is just as crucial. Yes, toiling is a mitzvah. And in the age of AI, ameilut can be a human road map.”
The concern among fervently religious Jews and others, Keene relates, is that anyone can feed, say, the week’s Torah portion into ChatGPT and have it spit out a sermon. But that misses the point. Knowledge shouldn’t be commodified – it should be earned through a lengthy (and rewarding) process. Ameilut means toiling for the sake of personal growth. It’s about the means, not the end; the discovery, not the destination.
A cliche, perhaps, but an apt and important one. And a warning: don’t embrace a shiny new toy without examining, or at least giving serious thought to, any consequences.