In Which I Muse On Expanded Sensoria

A prayerful silence often seems the norm

'Mongst strangers gathered publicly, it seems.

To each his own has never taken form

So powerfully as now; we watch our dreams

Played out before us on our jeejahs, each

According to his fondest wishes. We

Ignore each other, all but eschew speech

Though still we're talking; we don't hear but see

What's being said by others far from us,

Communing with our private worlds; our god,

Now customized, sits on our laps and thus

Absorbs us so, we smile and mutely nod

And look solipsists, but we are aware

Of more; not less. The world is is ours to share.

In Which I Indulge In Solar Physics From My Patio

My iPod Touch has brought me lots of fun,

Podcasts and tweets al fresco, but there's more,

For 'mongst the apps I've got is 3D Sun

(I went a little crazy at the store

This first month). Each new day, my gadget brings

New data from our two STEREO probes

That orbit Sol, our star. They snoop on things

That once were stellar secrets. How the lobes

Of my brain light up like a solar flare

(Occipital, parietal and, indeed

The frontal, too!) whenever I look there!

Auroras and coronal masses! Need

I say more? Just today, for me to crave

The program played some wild sunspot shortwave!