Stardust in my eyes

I get all wigged out when I read stories about things that happen 300 or 2,000 light years away. 

Perhaps I've watched too many episodes of Blues Clues or The Wiggles or some other intellect and soul sucking kids' show, but light years just do. not. compute.

Last night I came across a Reuters story about two Earth-sized planets that astronomers believe collided. They think this because they see massive amounts of dusty particles orbiting a sun-like star. Presumably, the dusty particles are what's left of "Earth" and "Venus".

The story ends with one astronomer asking, Could this happen in our solar system?

Let's hope the hell not.

First of all: Fudge. Novels. Coffee. First kisses and sunny days, warm breezes. And Hawaii.

I don't like the idea of all that going away. One bit.

Although: Bailouts. Hurricanes. Cranky people. Failure.

The thing that sends me over the edge is the LIGHT YEARS.

Scientists are observing events that took 300 years to shoot through the universe and into our telescopes. That is, all the dusty particles they saw were floating around long before the US Constitution was written and ratified.

Surely, by now, another whole planet could've formed and sprouted new, intelligent life that knows how to make good soy lattes and creamy chocolate fudge.

Or maybe that is hoping for too much.

Pondering planet collision and light years makes me feel like a poodle chasing her tail around and around. So why do I try?

Why not just click over to Noggin while I wait for our solar system to explode?

See, you like me better when I talk eyeshadow and cat videos, don't you?

Comments

[all things BD]

My husband tells a story of his Great Grandmother just giving up on the great mysteries of life when we landed on the moon. Her brain simply could not fathom how that was possible. Seeing as how she'd grown up in the Aughts and Teens of the 20th century, her confusion and need to just stop trying to make sense of it all are completely understandable. I'm pretty sure I'm about 3 years away from this point.

[csquaredplus3]

Oooh. Feeling a little anxiety. But I understand your fascination with the "can't make it fit in my brain" topics.

Bobby Brown has some great new shimmering, nude shadows for Fall...

[jenn]

Yeah, and how 'bout that supercollider thingy? These nerds in Switzerland or somewhere (I've blocked it out) have built a tunnel a couple of miles long where they're sending protons and neutrons buzzing around and smashing into each other, and it might cause a black hole underground that could basically suck all matter and the entire earth right into it? (Those that know what it's really all about say that can't happen and there's nothing to worry about, but I still basically stuck my fingers in my ears and said "La la la la, I can't hear you!")

[Stacy (mama-om)]

I like you equally well whether you're talking eye shadow or mind-blowing explosions. :)

And can you tell me more what you mean by content scrapers? And how did you find out?

[slouching mom]

oh, shit. now i'm worried about the content scrapers. thanks a LOT.

(i kid. though i am worried about them -- but then again i worry about EVERYTHING.)

[Zellmer]

Yes, Backyardigans are much easier to digest.

[Jen @ blissfully caffeinated]

I worry about Supernovas. I just hope that, if our sun does go supernova, or if we do collide with another planet, that it's fast and we don't know about it ahead of time.

[Melanie @ Mel, A Dramatic Mommy]

Thanks. I was blissfully ignorant until just now. ;^)

[Katie in MA]

No! I LOVE it! I love that someone else is trying to make the person and the mommy-ness somehow fit! Because I feel like I need Stanley's Great Big Book of Everything to really get it all. So. Cool. It's not just me!

[amy]

what does that mean? content scrapers?

[JCK]

Sometimes it seems best to only know SO much. Although that is how we are in this 7 trillion zillion debacle in our economy now...

[nutmeg]

Actually, I like a little existential angst with my coffee!

[Lisa Milton]

I think I might have just met my worry quota.

It's all good, from here out...

[Nora]

One time on NPR they were talking about how some scientists theorize that there may be one or more universes, right next to ours. Universes! The very fabric of my being just unraveled because that is just too much space to wrap my mind around. I wanted to curl up in a ball and whimper, "...and I am so small."

My son tried to eat his poo this morning. Something like that is just so much more manageable than OTHER UNIVERSES.

[Karen]

This is so typical of the press. They profit by convincing us that trends exist based on a series of exceptions to the rules. The world is still a big place, but the media wants us to think it's tiny. Because a plane crashes in Columbia on the same day that a flight is diverted in Los Angeles just HAS to mean that air travel is no longer safe, and that we should all be gravely concerned. More at 11.

UGH! I hate the content scrapers too. I find new ones every day. I may follow suit and summarize posts too.

[BOSSY]

And this new potential planet -- will Bossy's hair frizz?

[Lulu]

I like having a tiny, tiny brain that only holds such ponderings as when will Kim Kardashian get voted off DWTS? Or what earrings go with this outfit? The thought of planets colliding is for Star Trek fans...much less-superficial people than I.

[goodncrazy]

I love your writing, can I just leave it at that?

"Fudge and sunny days."
could be a whole blog name, eh?

You show up on my blogger bloglist just fine?

How do you know people are stealing? What does scraping mean?