it’s going to space, could you give it a second?

ah, louis ck cracks me up. and, as with most comedians, he often does it by holding a funhouse mirror up to a shared societal experience. one where you laugh because you know those people who do that, or maybe you Are those people who do that. and it’s good medicine to laugh at ourselves sometimes.

in this particular bit i’m referring to, louis is making fun of people who don’t appreciate technology for the amazing miracle that it is. those who say it’s somehow not good enough, when figuratively or sometimes literally, yesterday we didn’t even know it existed. he uses the examples of cell phones and airplanes; two things that are distinctly relevant to me today, which is why i chose to write on this topic.

right now i’m sitting in terminal 5 in london’s heathrow airport. my laptop is connected to airport wifi that Remembered Me, and plugged into the 5th outlet i tried after it wouldn’t charge on any of the others. thankfully i charged it before i left, and could send off my urgent “i’m alive” email to family (before i discovered the working outlet with the help of 3 friendly strangers) – family who didn’t get a message from me on my cell phone, via an international text messaging service (!!), because the screen has literally separated from the body of the phone and is hanging on by… well, i’m not sure by what. ah, technology.

and what brought me here? an airplane. over 10 hours in the air, on a massive two level “airbus.” this stuff was once the material of sci-fi and now i just climb aboard, eat my “chicken or beef,” watch a movie or two, sleep in seemingly endless 20 minute intervals, and i’m here. in another country, another time zone, another continent. we had a little turbulence but we actually landed 7 minutes Ahead of schedule. i mean, that’s freaking amazing. yet i hate this trip more and more every time i do it. i don’t like flying. despite evidence to the contrary via my career choices i like consecutive hours of sleep. and i like eating immediately identifiable food products. but you know what i like more than all of that? spending time with the people i love.

so, in gearing up for thanksgiving, i just want to take this moment to say thank you. thank you, martin cooper. thank you, wilber and orville wright. thank you, genuises who make my life what it is by connecting me with those who are essential to my happiness but who don’t all live in the same place (because, booooring). by allowing my world to be so wonderfully big, yet offering moments when it doesn’t have to feel that way. i am a truly lucky woman and we are truly lucky creatures. who can imagine what we’ll be able to complain about tomorrow?