Aug 17 2008
Perspective
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Click on the link for the full text of Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot speech.
Over a century earlier…
Ozymandias
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said–”Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert….Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A giant problem can seem so very very small from a distance. It’s always good to get a new perspective once in a while from across the desert.
Speedy!! A good night’s sleep and a meal helps, too!
You know me all to well. I do get plenty of chow! (tonight was a buffet) / with chicken as far as the eye can see. ha haa! True story
Cool necklace.
Speedy!! Buffet?? I try to avoid buffets because I WILL OVEREAT. I also like chicken dishes. Buffet places can be scary. When I worked in Georgia there were Giant Chinese Buffets (billboards along the freeway) and the were indeed multi-island buffets. More than just Chinese food - Italian, Japanese, BBQ, it was incredible.
Glad you like the necklace. The stone was purchased in NYC - maybe 2 bucks. The cord was 19 cents and the connector stuff with a dab of glue, let’s say 75 cents total. Lately I’ve been very “crafty”!
So this is a post about buffets?!?!?
I don’t overeat at buffets as badly as I used to, but I still like them because you don’t have to choose one thing to eat. Especially pizza buffets because then you don’t have to all agree on one type of pizza. Yum! Now I want pizza buffet. :-0
Interesting coincidence with the Shelley poem. At first, I glossed over it. This weekend I started a new book (SF) where the main character’s AI is called Ozymandias. Then, I come back here, and spot the poem.
For the curious, the book is “Deathstalker” by Simon R. Green. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/simon-r-green/
Jill: Pizza buffet? I like pizza but can’t see buffet-ing on it! I go crazy at any type of Asian buffet. URK. If it’s an Indian buffet - the naan!
ack: aaahh. those “coincidences” huh?