Bill Bryson writes that if we measured the age of our planet with outstretched
arms, the bits of a nail file swipe off the tip of our left middle fingernail would
just about represent the totality of man's time here on earth.

And this includes the dinosaurs.

Its a little scary really. It means everything we know and understand about art
and orangutans, global economics, smelly socks, books and wars, stone age tools,
aquariums, fission, pizza and cave paintings has happened as an eye blink in our
tumbling universe of time and matter. Its scary because its difficult to imagine
that our intense little planet with all its humanity, intellect and emotion exists as
an eyeblink, one tiny moment of chance in spacetime. Like a flipped coin which
landed on edge. It makes prioritizing anything feel just a little bit trite if you
understand what i mean. Rationally and from a human perspective, it means all
this, the universe, stars, the supernovas and white dwarfs, the black holes and
the outstretched arms of 4 billion years all happened for the sake of a single
nailfile swipe. How about that for context?

What it makes me want to do is live for chance. Like the planetary stew that
absently cooked protozoan life or the first fish which found dry land nice, i want
to float down white slopes on skis, scream when i jump and hit water, smell the
tuberoses and feel the wind in my hair. Be totally responsible and irreverently
care less at the same time. Teach. Learn. Eat like a pig.

And live like life is death.

And once in a while, like now, wonder if god prefers risk to monopoly.