I never had the chance to own a telescope but I hope to some day, if I can save enough. It would be fantastic to see the great spot of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn with my own eyes.
All this started off when I was a kid when I had this habit of staring at the night sky. The twinkly little lights mystified me to no end. And then it happened. One night I saw not one but three streaks of light darting across the sky! I got hooked on everything cosmic from then on.
It was fun to imagine about other beings out there. What do they look like? How come they don't visit us? Why don't we build intergalactic ships and see what's out there? Why don't people want to live on the moon or Mars?
As a teen I started reading Stephen Hawking and watching Star Wars and it later transformed into an almost academic interest in cosmology. Cosmology has nothing to do with horoscopes but everything to do with studying the physics and mathematics of the universe.
I must admit that my fascination with distant galaxies is rooted in wanting to get away from the knowns - the unsolvables, things about man and his society that I know will never change in my lifetime no matter how much I try. Who among us have never wished that things are different.
Of course I have no reason to believe that any space-faring society out there are doing any better than us but sometimes the anything-but-this feeling can be overwhelming. Call it escapism if you like but you have to admit if not for it, no new worlds would have been discovered a thousand years ago.
Maybe that's why I feel especially connected to the old movie "An American Tail" so much. Its about the story of the life of a family of Jewish-Russian mice who emigrate to New York City, believing that there are no cats in America and the roads are paved with cheese.
So escapism rocks and whatever's out there in the stars, I'm game to find out. Now if only I can get my hands on a ship.
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