2004.08.27
If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulder of giants.
If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing on my shoulders.
In computer science, we stand on each other's feet.
Animation of the Moment
 | --this happy frolicking monster, via Bruce Sterling's Blog, but he doesn't know it's origin either. Still it's absolutely great. UPDATE: Dan points out it's Bunchies! |
Story of the Moment
"No, you don't see...this is a dream...I'm dreaming you. I'm dreaming this. All of this."
She reads the disbelief in my eyes.
"Look...I can do this, just by wanting to--" She takes one step, two, down the sidewalk, then begins a glide down its length, her feet a few inches above the concrete, her white skirt fluttering around her legs. She touches down lightly, returns.
"So?" I say, "What do you mean? What are you saying? What does it matter?"
"It's...it's just..." She slumps onto a bench, runs a hand across her face. "I don't want to go. I don't know if I can come back to this. But where I come from, where I really am...I need to move. Shift, in bed. I can't help it. And maybe you won't be here when I come back, if I can come back."
I join her on the bench, afraid to touch her. "It's ok. Do what you need to do."
She gives me one last look with wide, wet eyes, then leans back into the bench, eyes closed. I wait. The wind shifts, a new breeze from the east.
Her eyes open. She looks at me, smiles, stretches. She punches me in the arm, stands, takes a few running steps that skip into a glide down the sidewalk to the corner.
I follow.