I saw a space ship tonight.

I was standing on the tarmac below the pier tonight with my eyes trained to the north east. The space ship appeared to my left and continued across the night sky as a red dot for what seemed like a good two minutes. It slowly faded away as it disappeared over the southern horizon. It was interesting to fathom just how large our planet is as I watched the satellite continue southward, expecting it to dip down any moment as it followed the earth's curvature. Contrary to my expectations though, it seemed to only slightly curve downwards before fading into an indiscernible faint red light, revealing the true enormity of earth. It's hard to fathom the thought that the slowly disappearing light was the reflection of sunlight off of the metal skin of the tube that actual men were living in.

I will let you know that I love science fiction. It is a combination of realism, surrealism, existentialism, and half-science. My favorite author of all time is a science fiction writer and I don't think any other genre would have let him really reach his full potential. Kurt Vonnegut is sardonic and satirical with an unprecedented perspective of the human condition. All of his novels, though deeply rooted in the genre of science fiction are entirely written about being human; what it is to be human. He dissects and analyzes post-war western society with such skill he was awarded a honorary degree in anthropology. His writing is easily my biggest influence outside of my friends and family. Thank god for that.

I wish I could provide you with a link to one of my favorite Vonnegut stories in which the first man to be launched into space encounters something horribly surprising. As he escapes the earth's atmosphere he finds himself in the "Thanasphere" where he can hear the voices of dead people. Seeing the space station fly over me high in orbit made me remember this story, which I will read tomorrow probably. I wish I could provide a link to the story but Google has yet to take over the world and does not have it available via Google Books. I'm sorry. The story is titled "Thanasphere" and can be found in Kurt's book "Bagombo Snuff Box" which is a collection of short stories written by Kurt. I'll leave you with an awesome interview of Kurt and a link to the Google Books page about the book.

PBS Kurt Vonnegut Interview
Google Books "Bagombo Snuff Box"