Dispatches from Suburbia

If I played an instrument, I would have a band called "The Simon Thomsen Sex Tape"; and other musings, rants, and disconnected ramblings.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Astronomical Ambition

Quote of the Day: "War, children, its just a shot away."
-The Rolling Stones, "Gimme Shelter"

When I was younger, much younger, I thought I'd enjoy being an astronaut, not realizing that there was lots of science and schooling involved. I must've thought that astronauts were on-a-whim adventurers, not the scientific scholars that they most likely are. I think I had a similar attitude towards doctors and lawyers.

Now, I'm going to school to be a writer, and every time I tell somebody I'm an English major the response is a befuddled "why?" It's as if I've set an equally unrealistic goal for myself.

So the astronaut thing isn't going to happen, and I've accepted this. As far as my other goals are concerned, I've settled on a baby-step approach, beginning with a smaller set of ambitions for the summer:

1. Finish a short story and submit it to various magazines (I've never done this, and I'm a little intimidated by the idea).

2. Begin a collection of rejection letters (I need to stay realistic in my ambitions).

3. Get the "Sexy Chemists" writing trio so we can re-evaluate and polish our script.

4. Find somebody to shoot the script.

5. Play some tennis.

6. Write a novel.

Just kidding on that last one. So it's a short list, but these are baby steps, and I'm feeling pretty enthusiastic about these new goals. I'd probably get claustrophobic in rocket anyway. I have everything I need on my laptop: Microsoft Word, iTunes, a scriptwriting program, and even access to images from the Hubble Space Telescope.

3 Comments:

At 5:41 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I honestly don't think those are unrealistic goals. Like you said, baby steps. I'm still taking baby steps and I received my AARP card in the mail yesterday (pretty sad, huh?). I know you can do it.

 
At 10:04 AM, Blogger ZZZZZZZ said...

what a beautiful picture! When I was younger I wanted to be an astronomer... then it turns out, that I love science and detest math... and you can't be an astronomer when you aren't great at math... pitty. I don't think that you have unrealistic goals!

 
At 9:21 AM, Blogger Erik Donald France said...

You could always write a script about astronauts in a love triangle. These are definitely not the scholarly type -- samples of their email exchanges are on the web. It's scary how they come across like a teenage frat party. Might make a good show or film, though. Melrose Place in space!

 

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