New Frontier

I'm a child of the 60's - I grew up thinking it was just a matter of time until I took a stroll on the moon, and that we could do ANYTHING because we had such smart scientists in America.

Today is the anniversary of Sputnik - I wasn't around then, but the race to the moon I grew up with was fueled by our need to out do the Russians and be the first in something even MORE important than a satellite.

I've heard a rumor that when NASA engineers explain relatively simple procedures to each other, they say, "After all, it's not lace knitting!"

Lace knitting takes a fair amount of technical ability, confidence, the ability to read a pattern or follow a chart, and a desire to work to the end of a motif.

Any scientist could do it - many do [hey grump!] - but I think our country would be a better place if one of the criteria for running for office was a demonstrable ability to knit lace.

I think we still have smart scientists in this country - brilliant, actually - but I also feel like they're working with their hands tied. In a society where creationism is taught with a straight face as scientific fact in some schools, and we're not permitted to fund stem cell research with public money, science is not given the respect that it deserves. After all, Guns don't kill people, pipettes kill people ...

As I said to a friend a few weeks ago - if you're against stem cell research because you feel that you're ending a human life, do you feel that in vitro fertilization must be banned, too? Because if you're not going to stop the mechanism for creating these petrie dish punkin's, then you can't really complain about stem cell research.

I've felt this way for a long time, but it's more personal now. Gerry's stem cell transplant was using his own cells, so embryonic cells didn't enter into it. However, research from one study has a way of enlightening other studies - information and knowledge expand.

I can't help but feel that, as far as we've come in treating Multiple Myeloma, we'd be further along if we'd had decent research going on in ALL areas of stem cell experimentation.

"Human-Animal Hybrids", indeed.

Sorry to get so far off the mark from the knitting. This is what's on my mind today.

And speaking of which, Gerry continues to get better - every day he seems a little stronger, a little more present, a little more his old self. But he's been wearing out in the afternoons and needing a nice nap. We all could use that. It's also time for us to get our flu shots.

Happy Birthday
Thank you so much for all of the good wishes - it made Hannah feel like a princess - a nice touch to a great day! This weekend is a 5-girl sleepover - hooray!

We had a nice little birthday dinner for Hannah last night - Grilled chicken followed by cupcakes from Wuollets (very beautiful, decorated like Autumn flowers!)

But the big news is that earlier in the day Hannah and I went to the Humane Society where she picked out a little orange kitten. Now we have two cats again, and we're very happy.

She's named it Shiloh. I'll post photos of the adorable little thing when my battery charger arrives [tapping foot...]