magic

I like learning about things. You know, how they work. I used to have a book called "How Things Work" or something like that. I think it was a Random House book. Anyway, I think it's fascinating. This is why I should have been a science major.

I think I know a decent amount in regards to how things work. I've taken a lot of things apart, messed around with the insides, and even tried to reassemble things. I especially enjoy tinkering with electronics. I probably know more than a lot of people about what actually happens inside of things to make them work.

But with that being said, I think some things will always be magic to me. I like the idea of magic. Not necessarily the secular "hocus pocus" idea of magic, but the kind of lack of understanding that is wrapped up in wonder. For more about magic/wonder, you should read "Boy's Life" by Robert McCarron (how "reading rainbow" is THAT sentence?). If you were ever a boy, ever dated a boy, raised a boy, want to raise a boy, or were good friends with a boy, you should check out this book. It's not the greatest thing ever written... but it is sweet. He does such an awesome job of capturing the pure wonder and "magic" of being a boy. Sometimes I find myself missing that, but other times I find I'm in wonder of pretty much everything around me.

I was thinking about videos today, and how when you hit the record button on a video camera it captures video and audio... in a sense, life. I would say film is the most powerful form of media in the world today, and most of that is probably due to its realistic rendition of life. It's AMAZING to me that you can grab something smaller than a brick, hit a red button, and it captures the sights and sounds of life and puts them on a tape. Here's another thing... how do tapes work??? I mean, even if you explained it to me very well, I still wouldn't get it. All those memories and sensations (or at least the sounds and images that helped create them) can be put on this little brown strip of something that is thinner than a piece of paper, and rolled up in a piece of plastic. If you held up a piece of the tape part of a videocassette and a piece of a garbage bag cut the same size, I bet I couldn't tell the difference. But I will still spend 30 hours editing a video and then hit "export to tape" and watch it get recorded onto a tape in a video camera.

I'm sure someone smarter than me (or at least more technilogically knowledgable) could give a reasonable explanation for how a tape can record such an impressive amount of precious information. But for me, right now at least, it's magic.