The Coolest Physicist EVER!

Here's a poem that my fabulous aunt Linda wrote. It's totally awesome - she teaches physics and I love talking with her about this kind of stuff. Thanks, Linda!

Truth:
Cats comprehend
Quantum Physics better than we humans
ever will.

Quantum gives us
alternative universes,
parallel lives,
infinite possibilities.
Unimaginable options,
until we imagine them.
An endless array of places to look
until we venture to take a peek at what's there.

Schroedinger's cat was famous to physicists.
A feline whose life was suspended by belief.
His fortunes limitless in his box
until we looked
and assigned him his fate.

My cat,
Artemis,
jumps on the counter everyday.
oblivious to the scolding the day before.
The previous day's life has no connection to the present.
His quantum leap onto the forbidden Formica
is just one of many directions for his paws
and his purpose.

Schroedinger abandoned Quantum Theory
in the end-
and its relentless and eternal options.
It gave us permission
to blast apart atoms and blast away
lives,
offering an apology for our brutality
while we sifted through the shards
to look for God's secrets.

Quantum made war
a surreal sculptress:
Athena leaving behind interpretations of buildings
and bodies.

I embrace Quantum because
I know that in another version of this life
I am sepia-toned
or a girl named Leslie
or a jazz guitarist
in a French cafe.

I visit these places in my dreams.
Who is to say they
aren't the true me?
In one my father,
the truck driver,
doesn't die alone in an Atlanta truck stop
when his heart bursts like
a semi tire
on the day that was supposed to be my sister's birthday.

Artemis plays with the same toys
every day.
They are new to him
every day.
He wakes up in another of his nine lives
ready to pounce upon the catnip
or the counter.

Linda Lee Kennedy

Veteran's Day

I heard this song on the radio this morning and it made me cry and think of all the veterans that have served for our country, and those fighting for us now. I would definitely suggest taking a moment to read the lyrics or listen to the song below.

Billy Joel - Goodnight Saigon

We met as soul mates
On Parris Island
We left as inmates
From an asylum
And we were sharp
As sharp as knives
And we were so gung ho
To lay down our lives
We came in spastic
Like tameless horses
We left in plastic
As numbered corpses
And we learned fast
To travel light
Our arms were heavy
But our bellies were tight
We had no home front
We had no soft soap
They sent us playboy
They gave us bob hope
We dug in deep
And shot on sight
And prayed to Jesus Christ
With all our might
We had no cameras
To shoot the landscape
We passed the hash pipe
And played our doors tapes
And it was dark
So dark at night
And we held on to each other
Like brother to brother
We promised our mothers we'd write
And we would all go down together
We said we'd all go down together
Yes we would all go down together
Remember charlie
Remember baker
They left their childhood
On every acre
And who was wrong?
And who was right?
It didn’t matter in the thick of the fight
We held the day
In the palm
Of our hand
They ruled the night
And the night
Seemed to last as long as six weeks
On Parris Island
We held the coastline
They held the highlands
And they were sharp
As sharp as knives
They heard the hum of our motors
They counted the rotors
And waited for us to arrive
And we would all go down together
We said we'd all go down together
Yes we would all go down together