Carl Sagan wrote a book called "a candle in the dark" (or somethingequally reminiscent of an Elton John song) about our tendency tobelieve in UFO abductions and past lives and faith healing. He writesabout the science of sleep paralysis and other explanations for theexperiences that lead people to believe in these psuedo sciences. Now, Carl Sagan is a very smart man, but I would not want to have tolook at life the way he does and I believe that he would make ahorrible roomate. Science has the answers, and maybe it will somedayhave all the answers. But life isn't always about truth. Life is aboutadventure and mystery and magic and excitement. When I have enough money, I will live in a broken down and hauntedhouse. This is one of my dreams. I want to believe that there issomeone or some THING moving around upstairs in the dead of night. Iwant to rifle through the newspaper archives at town hall, looking fora tragedy that may have happened there. Can you imagine how obnoxiousit would be if Carl Sagan was my roomate? He would make fun of me at dinner. He would explain the way woodenfloors age, how the moisture in the air affects them, and when heclimbed those creaking stairs to bed, he would probably sleep like ababy. But I like to think that, laying in my bed and imagining Old LadyMcMurdered dragging her head behind her on a chain up and down ourhallways, that I would be living a more full and interesting life thanthe good doctor in the next room. Magic enriches us.The other night I was looking up at the stars and thinking about mychildhood at Bible Camp, how awful and broken it was, but how funny alot of it was now that it was just a memory. I thought to myself thatthis would make a good basis for another novel, and just as I thoughtthis, I saw a shooting star. Now, that's just ridiculous, Carl wouldsay. He would explain to me how frequently that sort of thing occurred,and how I was laying there for ten minutes thinking about the samething - how at any moment I could have seen a shooting star and stillbelieved it was a sign. But my response to him would be simple. I wenthome and I started writing. I've written two chapters so far, and itmakes me shake with excitement when i reread those chapters. I amwriting something good, something I am proud of, and if my motivationis based on a real sign or based on my misinterpretation of an everyday event, what does it matter? In the end I will have a book.I never want them to prove that Nessie is a myth. I never want them to explain the construction of the pyramids to my satisfaction. I willwatch any show about how the faked the moon landing, about how thekennedies killed monroe. I get into arguments with friends about thissort of thing all the time. If there is not enough evidence to prove,one way or the other, what happened - I will always pick theexplanation that is the most exciting, the explanation that makes theworld a more interesting and magical place. When they disprove it, I'llaccept the science. But I'll resent them for it, too.

Joey