I see you there… lurking about… wanting to know what I’m doing with this box. Do you know what this box is? It is the internet. I know, weird, right? Why do I have the internet in a box? Because no one uses the internet on Friday so I can borrow it for a bit and do whatever I want with it.
This Sunday is Valentine’s Day or Valloween as I prefer to call it. Many people who know me think I’m just being a curmudgeon about Valentine’s Day, that I shun it because I’m one of the many miserable single people who have to suffer through couples going out to dinner and making googoo eyes at each other. That is untrue. The secret is I believe in love. Real love. Deep seated, growing in your bones, beaming out of your eyes, all encompassing and all inspiring love. I know, I know you are incredulous that such a love can exist, but I have proof.
I present to you the love story of Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan.
For Druyan, though, the summer of 1977 and the Voyager project carry a deeply personal meaning, too. It was during the Voyager project that she and Sagan fell in love.
After searching endlessly for a piece of Chinese music to put on the record, Druyan had finally found a 2,500-year-old song called “Flowing Stream.” In her excitement, she called Sagan and left a message at his hotel. At that point, Druyan and Sagan had been professional acquaintances and friends, but nothing more. But an hour later, when Sagan called back, something happened. By the end of that call, Druyan and Sagan were engaged to be married.
“We both hung up the phone, and I just screamed out loud,” says Druyan, “It was this great eureka moment. It was like a scientific discovery.” The first of the Voyager project’s two spacecraft launched on Aug. 20, 1977. Druyan and Sagan announced their engagement two days later. They married in 1981, and were together until Sagan’s death in December 1996. Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan’s Ultimate Mix Tape
The audio of this story will be available on NPR later and I highly recommend listening to it because you can here the love in Ann’s voice to this day. This is a sustaining love. As if these two people tapped into a secret binding force of the universe.
Finding love is hard, no matter where you are in the world. You’d think with our greater level of connectivity to each other, that finding that right person would become easier. But as we build up social networks, I think the risks of failed relationships become steeper. Before if a date failed you could safely avoid that person. Now, it is very likely they are a part of the social network you carefully created and if the date fails, it could disrupt the network. A lot of unintended consequences.
In China a supermarket is stepping in to help singles meet with a Singles Day.
Gao Shan, the supermarket’s manager, said the concept was inspired by people’s need to meet in a safe, friendly and relaxing environment, and by the negative experiences some singles have had using Internet dating services.
“The love supermarket was not created to satisfy a holiday need,” she said. “It was created so that singles can have the opportunity to leave behind their single life.”
Many single Chinese complain that hectic work and school schedules in the highly competitive society leave them with little time to socialize, Gao said. There’s only love at new supermarket
And since they were such a hit last week, I’m going to close out with 2 Hot Girls in the Shower talking about Valentine’s Day surprises.
Okay, time for me to put the internet away. Have a good weekend and come back next Friday when no one will be using the internet and I can do whatever I want with it.
Related posts:
