I have to admit — I have been rather detached to the plight of the Chilean miners.  True, I followed the story, albeit rather loosely.  The updates I’d get every few weeks would elicit the appropriate responses from me.  The miners have been found alive . . . that’s miraculous!  They are surviving . . . wonderful.  A rescue is planned . . . feeling hopeful.  The rescues begin . . . relief.  I did not initially tune into the rescues because they mostly occurred during hours I was working or sleeping.  Tonight, after I returned home from school,  I tuned in and was instantly sucked in.

By that time, they were on the 25th rescue.  I had missed the majority of the rescues, obviously, but the 25th struck me as strongly as if I had seen the very first.  It was my first, yes, but not the nation’s first. I had been getting updates throughout the day, so I knew the rescues were progressing well.  But seeing it live on the TV . . . well, I felt instant gratitude for modern technology.

I have never been to Chile.  I don’t know squat about the mining industry.  I don’t know anything about any of the rescued miners, aside from the tidbits the news would share.  In short, these were strangers in a strange land, and I was a disinterested viewer.  It only took a few seconds for me to realize that I was watching the best reality TV available — TRUE reality.

I cried when the 25th miner was rescued . . . then the 26th, the 27th, etc., and I saved the most for the final miner.  Normally, I’m not a crier.  I used to pride myself in being able to control my emotions when others crumbled.  However, tonight I realized a simple truth: the range of human emotions is universal.

I didn’t know anyone I was viewing on TV, but I read the joy on their faces.  I felt the relief.  And as the news droned on with the details about how all these different countries came together in order to orchestrate this rescue, I felt a moment of clarity that only comes about every now and again.  I’m not one to foolishly believe that if we just all try to get along that we can and we will, for human nature seems to demand a trip to the dark side every now and then, but the sheer beauty in what happens when the forces all point the same positive way is breathtaking in itself.

For a few hours tonight, I felt the joy of people I’ve never met from a country I’ve never visited.

Joy is universal.

I usually write posts for Cracked Ice & Chrome during the weekend, when I don’t have “school stuff” on the brain and I can actually sit down and think for extended periods of time.  Well, the powers that be in the internet world decided that I didn’t deserve internet this weekend, so I had go without during Saturday and Sunday.  After a call to customer service of our local ISP, however, I not only received a new modem, but also realized that my router might need new firmware.  After a quick update, all was right in the world.

I had a feeling that “all y’all” wanted to desperately view some really wacked-out internet ads, so I clipped one for your viewing enjoyment.  I don’t even remember where I saw this ad, but it still astounds me, for several reasons.  For one thing, don’t ever make a picture of a baby blue.  EVER.  It’s not normal, it’s not right, and it makes mothers everywhere cringe.

I’m sure the developers of this “tool” meant well . . . or maybe their site was designed to deliver fifteen bajillion spam messages from your email account — who knows.  Whatever the case, they should never, ever have created this image:

All I can tell from the above picture is that this baby is the product of an asphyxiated clown.

Do me a favor and don’t give these dorks any hits on their site, k?

Sorry to leave you with this image, but it’s midterms and I have roughly 150 things to grade.  Where’s that teaching assistant of mine?  Oh, yeah.  There I go dreaming again.

Until next time . . . (when I have more pleasant things to write about, I hope.)