Dross and other favorite words

New favorite word: dross. Replaces my other favorite word: lotus eaters.

I liked the Goodreads' book review for Shirley MacLaine's newest book. The review ends with "So read the book for the entertaining aspects. Consider she has some wisdom and much to offer. But be discerning: take the good, leave the dross, enjoy the ride with Shirley MacLaine."

Equally as nice was the review that said, "Shirley is that favorite aunt who's traveled the world and lived an incredible life, the one who has an opinion on everything, loves to be the center of attention, and who gets crotchety when she's tired."

Oh to travel the world, and then be forgiven for being crotchety when one is old and tired. This is agreeable to me.

Vitruvian man

Leonardo da Vinci believed the workings of the human body were an analogy for the workings of the universe. His 1490 drawing of the Vitruvian Man form one overlapping image depicting a cosmography of the microcosm.

Using this analogy of the symbiotic relationship of man and cosmos, could the rhythmic beating of a human heart be but the expansion and contraction of the universe?

26,000

Our solar system will be in direct alignment with the center of our galaxy in 2012. The first time in 26,000 years. The distance from our planet to the center of our galaxy will be approximately 26,000 light years. The average human life span is 26,000 days. Will we experience a magnetic reversal? A polar shift? Will we be the woolly mammoths left with half-chewed mouthfuls of grass, frozen in our denial of what our existence means, or will we expand our consciousness and embrace a new awakening? Either way we may see a shifting in our existence. To what degree depends on how we, as a species, embrace change.