the 20th.

I wake up reluctantly today, exhausted. It has been a busy few weeks and today will be no exception. Wednesday December 20th will be a day of deadlines, and developments, and manically checking the email, and posting comments, and dinners and more deadlines.

This last week my life has been consumed by Carl Sagan. Falling asleep posts are on my mind, and waking up it is images from the internet. Turtleneck and stars.

Over the past week we have received many excellent submissions that praise Sagan's contributions--on the (inter)national and personal scale--as a hero, roll model, inspiration, great mind, and communicator.

It is no surprise then, that with Sagan on my mind, I find myself wondering as I grind the morning's coffee, "Did Carl drink coffee? Does he like bananas?."

Perhaps Carl was more of a tea man, and oatmeal was his favorite breakfast. Peanut butter and jelly? Did he like pizza? Surely no soda. Beer? Bourbon or Scotch? Mint chocolate chip?

The funny thing about Carl Sagan, and I say this after reading and moderating many testimonials about the man, is that even though he was a public figure, the nation's face of science, many of the people reacting to the 10th anniversary of his death are reacting in a very personal way. We all feel like we knew the good doctor. So it is strange for me to be chest deep in memories about this man while knowing so little about who he was, and how he lived his day to day.

Perhaps this speaks to his greatest accomplishment. More than being a great scientist and mind, Carl Sagan was a man who had an uncanny ability to connect individuals to great ideas, and as we are seeing now, individuals to individuals. Through this relative understanding of the universe, Carl helped us find a place in which we belong.

Thank you Dr. Sagan, we want to be your friend.