There Are Four Lights

I think the biggest reason behind why I like shows like Star Trek is the great science role models they have. How many times have you see a movie where, surprise surprise, the only scientist in the show is insane/evil/immoral and a superweirdo. *sigh* It seems rare to come across a hero like Indiana Jones, who is just as irresistible in his professor-bow-tie suit as he is with his whip. There are many reasons why so many people love Star Trek (I’m a TNG girl), but mine would be how it presented a world that valued intellectuals.

The crew of TNG were renaissance men (female crew included); they had a broad base of knowledge on everything–art, music, history…they read books and poetry, played instruments, and even did theatre. In the universe of Trek, if you weren’t well-read, couldn’t do math, spoke with poor grammar or you were just plain ignorant, you were very uncool indeed! A lot of shows will have a main character, who is a good leader, brave, social, charming, etc., use a nerdy socially awkward secondary character when they need ta gets some science stuff done. But in Trek, the scientists and engineers were the main characters, and those who were ignorant about science and math were the weirdos.

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen much of this myself from the general public of small towns up here in the north; I hate coming across this attitude of being proud that you can’t do math, don’t read, don’t know history, and speak with horrid grammar. But what annoys me slightly more are those who say they are “fans of science”. Why? Because every time I’ve heard this, it’s been from someone who will add a “but…” to the end of that statement.

Oh, they’re a fan of science all right. They think that Hubble and the Mars rovers are cool and will at least know what the LHC is. They like their smartphones and not-dying from smallpox. But perhaps the reason I don’t like hearing “Hey, I’m a big fan of science…” is because what immediately follows is usually a rant about new age woo, pseudoscience, or fluffy spirituality. Ugh.

This reminds me of the typical movie hero I mentioned; They’re just “fans” of science when they need it…and call upon the nerdy science wiz in their group. But when science starts to tell them something they don’t like, they put it on their ignore list. Please, if you’re going to tell me things like “faith and science will one day merge”, “I’m not religious. I’m spiritual”, or tell me that science is wrong about astrology/dowsing/numerology/pokadotpineappleology, then please don’t tell me you’re a fan of science, mmkay?

Because you’re making ME not want to say what a big fan of science I really am! So until all you pseudofans stop using that phrase, I’m going to steal the lame teenybopper style phrasing that you find on Wet Seal graphic tees and say that Music Science is my Boyfriend! lol

If I could be in anything else, besides a mangaka, and had a magic wand that could make me a professional in any other field, then I would choose to be an astronomer. I think, most likely, I’d like to be a planetary scientist. I bought a telescope a couple years ago and love going out in the backyard for some stargazing. The first planet I saw was Jupiter, on a really clear summer evening. The small town I live in doesn’t have much light pollution, which is nice. It amazed me that this little instrument could turn what was otherwise just a really bright ‘star’ in the sky into a glowing planet with tiny specks of moons around it. Then there’s Saturn…homg, RINGS~! Ha ha, it’s them Jovian planets that impress the ladies (or at least, this lady).

I did this little doodle a few months ago. I have since chopped off my hair. It was really cloudy and rainy here this summer, so I didn’t get to use my telescope much. My family doesn’t really seem interested in what I look at in the sky, so I mostly get excited all by me onesies, ha! Perhaps, I’m easily amused, but looking through an eyepiece at this dot in the sky and seeing a real planet really geeks me up inside and it blows my mind that it’s so big and so far away–LIKE, WOW~a whole other planet!

This past week, I spent some time in North Bay, about a 2.5 hour drive south of where I live. Usually, nerdtasticly cool people to hang out with have to be imported here, to Kirkland, for me to get the chance to chat non-digitally. But this time, I made the journey down from the k-hole and enjoy latenight caffeine beverage loitering in the Bay. If you mention the LHC around my family you either get a response of “…..?” or “Um, like, that’s totally gonna make a black hole thingy and destroy the Earth, like, omg“–so it’s nice to get away from their adorable hicksvilleness.

On the drive back up to the ‘Shire’ (this only refers to the small part of Kirkland that I’ve hobbitised with second breakfast and no adventures), I listened to the Astronomy Cast podcast. It was the first time I’d heard the show, and this particular episode was done live from Dragon Con and the discussion was from a panel that dealt with scientific facts and/or mistakes in science fiction–from Trek, Battlestar Gallactica, to Dr. Who. I really enjoyed it so I’m checking out more of their episodes!

Welcome to my new blog!

I wasn’t sure I needed another place on the web to ramble; there’s the Secrets of Sorcerers news blog, as well as the update blog found on the main SaraMayhew.com site, and blog spaces on myspace, facebook, and my new deviantart account. However, I decided I wanted a space where I could write about a wide range of topics that interest me and in a setting that won’t mix with my work. I’d like to keep the blog spaces on my work related sites relevant to news and updates about my manga series and professional work.

Hopefully, this space can serve as a place to write about my interests–anything from astronomy and other sciences, to the wide range of geekstuff I enjoy. I’d like to combine my little manga doodles and have a sort of sketch blog here. I’m sure there’s plenty of anime fans and manga readers out there that also enjoy sci-fi shows like Star Wars, Trek, and other geeky stuff…but, I’d like to also bring in my interest in science and critical thinking. My experience has been that the stereotype for creative artsy types is that they tend to believe in new age, metaphysical mumbo-jumbo. This is my little place on the web to show that I’m a skeptical anti-pseudoscience mangaka.