A little explanation...
I have been thinking of a polite way to explain the name of this blog, and what the significance is to me. Since I am the person who named the thing I suppose you might be curious why it is called Like Pollution.
So here it is. First, I love astronomy. I really love it and I wish I knew more about it; I would love to be able to afford a really nice telescope and be able to get into photography and some serious stargazing. But I can't, it is an expensive hobby and currently it isn't feasible. But in astronomy there is this phenomenon called Light Pollution. Light Pollution is effectively the drowning out of the night sky by the ambient light that humans generate. Street lights, house lights, buildings cars. All these things kick up light and it creates a sort of "drowning" of the lights of the night sky. I grew up in New Mexico, southern New Mexico and one of the most amazing things I have ever seen is the sight of the Milky Way stretching across the sky. It is truly one of the most breath-taking experiences I have ever had; and the damnable misery of it that I didn't miss it until I lived in New York, which has this awful yellow haze of a night sky. So the really horrible part of light pollution is that it drowns out all of the minor stars and in some cities, New York for example, the only thing you see in the night sky is the Moon and Jupiter (which is the brightest night sky object outside of the moon). This is really sad.
So keeping that in mind, I am sick of the word "like". I was involved in a conversation and I heard this person (my counterpart) use the word like no less than twenty-five times -- the conversation was about what their favorite part of Princess Bride was. When I was in middle school my teachers were very big on driving home that nice and good were lame words and that they should be avoided whenever possible. As a result, when someone asks me how I am doing, my first response is usually, "good," but then I start to dry heave and convulse so know I say well. I try to confine good and nice to the very smallest portion of my vocabulary, but to do it in a way that is not condescending. Which is easy to do, there are great words out there to substitute for them. But the word "like" has somehow managed to permeate the vernacular in a very pervasive way, and I have, quite frankly, had enough.
So the original name of this blog was going to be light pollution, but it didn't pan out, someone here on blogspot already has it. So I chose like pollution instead. I kind of enjoy it. (See I could have said I kind-of like it, but why enjoy is more fun). It reminds me of the beauty of the written word sometimes. It reminds me that when everything is said and done, the English language is a growing, evolving one and that there is always a better word than the one I want to use.
So that is sort of the history of the name of this blog.
There are two types of people in this world. People that use similes to illustrate their points, and people that learned to make a constructive argument properly.
So here it is. First, I love astronomy. I really love it and I wish I knew more about it; I would love to be able to afford a really nice telescope and be able to get into photography and some serious stargazing. But I can't, it is an expensive hobby and currently it isn't feasible. But in astronomy there is this phenomenon called Light Pollution. Light Pollution is effectively the drowning out of the night sky by the ambient light that humans generate. Street lights, house lights, buildings cars. All these things kick up light and it creates a sort of "drowning" of the lights of the night sky. I grew up in New Mexico, southern New Mexico and one of the most amazing things I have ever seen is the sight of the Milky Way stretching across the sky. It is truly one of the most breath-taking experiences I have ever had; and the damnable misery of it that I didn't miss it until I lived in New York, which has this awful yellow haze of a night sky. So the really horrible part of light pollution is that it drowns out all of the minor stars and in some cities, New York for example, the only thing you see in the night sky is the Moon and Jupiter (which is the brightest night sky object outside of the moon). This is really sad.
So keeping that in mind, I am sick of the word "like". I was involved in a conversation and I heard this person (my counterpart) use the word like no less than twenty-five times -- the conversation was about what their favorite part of Princess Bride was. When I was in middle school my teachers were very big on driving home that nice and good were lame words and that they should be avoided whenever possible. As a result, when someone asks me how I am doing, my first response is usually, "good," but then I start to dry heave and convulse so know I say well. I try to confine good and nice to the very smallest portion of my vocabulary, but to do it in a way that is not condescending. Which is easy to do, there are great words out there to substitute for them. But the word "like" has somehow managed to permeate the vernacular in a very pervasive way, and I have, quite frankly, had enough.
So the original name of this blog was going to be light pollution, but it didn't pan out, someone here on blogspot already has it. So I chose like pollution instead. I kind of enjoy it. (See I could have said I kind-of like it, but why enjoy is more fun). It reminds me of the beauty of the written word sometimes. It reminds me that when everything is said and done, the English language is a growing, evolving one and that there is always a better word than the one I want to use.
So that is sort of the history of the name of this blog.
There are two types of people in this world. People that use similes to illustrate their points, and people that learned to make a constructive argument properly.
posted by V. at 12:02 AM
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