Is that a... *squints* Cowboy Wesley uniform on your shirt in the intro?

Smoke and Mirrors was my gateway to Gaiman! My Gaiman gateway drug? Have that much tattered and loved book on the shelf still. Fragile Things wil never get quite the same dog-eared-ness...as it's on my Kindle. I'm always interested in what other people are reading, and will now have to check out Uncertainty.

Amen, Wil. I get that something in my eye every time they go up and come home, too. I remember watching the Challenger disaster from my best friend's family's kitchen. I was 8. Not too long after, I went to Space Camp, twice. :) The second time I was in geek heaven when I found they'd modeled the new dorms after the Enterprise. I wanted to be an astronaut then. Instead I became an actor, and I couldn't imagine doing anything else, since we have the privilege of being *anyone*...but I still stargaze and wonder what it might have been like. The retiring of the shuttle fleet with no immediate plans for a replacement US manned space program makes me so very sad. Reaching for the stars has always been a wonderful part of the...human spirit, I suppose. There are a myriad of reasons why we should continue manned space exploration but on some level, the neatest reason is because we *can*. The Future is, indeed, incredibly cool. Thanks for the lovely post.

Wil, you are *never* too old to stomp in puddles! As for the dancing in the rain, your wife is a very lucky lady! Hope everything stays stable in your parents' neighborhood. I'm really worried about the land burned in the Station fire.