After talking to a long distance friend I made a run for smokes. Apon obtaining the product of my addiction (boy, I gotta quit) I decided to go visit my ol’ buddy - Dude (as I’m not gonna post his real name here). He is a good person I befriended back in my hectic in high school days. Now dude’s parents passed away a year ago - sadly - and so he and his girlfriend were forced to move out and work work work. Since then I rarely see him. They’re good people.
After socializing with dude and his girlfriend, stepping in dog shit, talking about his buddy that recently died, catching up on our lives, etc… We went to a laundrymat. (He just got a car and wanted to take me for a spin.) Preceding laundry help and fun (afterwards), we came back to his apartment. I decided to head home and drove off.
A peaceful 10 minute drive left me where I started–back at my place. But rather than go inside, I just stood outside on the front lawn. Looked up towards the sky, at the stars. And pondered… Why are we here? (I like to think a lot–it’s a seemingly perpetual hobby of mine.)
Going from us to a molecule, to an atom, to a proton (electron, neutron etc…), to a quark. And on the flipside from us - to a planet, to the solar system, to our galaxy, to the local group, to a supercluster of galaxys, to a sheet of superclusters, to the Universe. The Universe itself is so fucking large and scaled it’s practically incomprehensible. The thing exists on so many levels which we neatly fall somewhat in the middle of. And here I am, a minute later, puffing on my ciggarette while starting at the stars. Thinking the redshifted speck of light falling into my eyes was created by nuclear fusion which ended up creating the packets of light. But only after (a) million(s) of years of bouncing around in the star randomly. The light was released in space. Free. And after thousands to millions of years later, depending on distance, it reaches us. What a beautiful time machine.
But then! we’re here on this pretty little planet revolving around an average star - our sun. With something on the order of like 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 other stars surrounding us throughout the Universe. This planet we call home is so meaningless. It seems certain (to me) that life could probably exist most everywhere you see a star at one time or another. But what about intelligent life? How prevelent is that? I wait for the day, with amazement, that SETI will pick up something. I hope to see it in my life. It could be the most profound discovery of mankind. Even if we could find some form of simple life in our solar system. THAT would be SO profound!
But look at us! We’re just another step in the cycle of evolution. Go one billion years in the past and the pinnicle of life on this planet was a worm! A billion years later here we are. But just think, after a billion years of evolution beyond us the life that would exist… we’d esentially be worms to. It’s kinda incomprehendible. I’m sure life already exists on this level or further. I wonder if they’ve figured it all out. If they have the answers.
One thing I’ve noticed in this world is a powerful drive among us–the need to reproduce. It’s such an important modivating drive. And one of the most powerful forces in our daily lives. The life force! Get laid! contribute to the cause of furthering the species! 
Wow! I just spent an hour typing and rambling. Anyway if you want to get away from the everyday problems of life, stop and observe the world, look at the stars. It’s really beautiful. And a good way to get away from it all.
Anyway, why are we here? (Is it just a big nintendo game? is there a god? etc…?) These are the questions I pose to you, the Teeming Millions.
