Look out there's a sign post up ahead!

“There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.”

God those words are so good. I love, love, love the Twilight Zone. It’s sort of a guilty pleasure of mine. A couple years ago I was really into it, much more so then I am now. I still love it, but I don’t go out of my way to watch it like I used to. But, if it’s on, I’ll always flip to it.

It’s still so…intriguing. I think that’s the best word. The stories are still great. While it is at times dated, that only adds to the flavor of it. It aged like a fine wine, becoming a source of entertainment not only in the actual narrative of the episode, but also as something of a cultural study.

That show was made from 1959-1964, at a time when the future seemed just around the corner. I love the curiousity that show displayed. I love to discover things and when I get it in my head to learn something, I learn it. I can tell you the back story behind just about every Beatles song. I can tell you if it was released as a single, what album it came on (and probably what track number it is on that album), what song comes before it and after it, etc.

But while I love to find out about all the Beatles records, I’m always somewhat disappointed because it loses some of the meaning that it held for me. “I Am the Walrus” is just John saying a bunch of random words, not some deep song that I had always thought it to be. John said that he was disappointed with the way that “Strawberry Fields Forever,” one of my all time favorite songs, turned out when I think it’s just perfect.

I guess what I’m trying to get at is I love the mindset that they had “back then.” I wish I didn’t know everything about the Beatles because it deadens the imagination. If you know everything about a particular subject, you no longer have to fill in the holes with your brain. I don’t particularly enjoy hearing a teacher tell me how to do something because I much prefer to do it my own way.

I think I’m getting off track again, so let me get back on subject. In 1959 the world was a wonderous place full of new discoveries waiting to be found and explored. But, now that we’ve explored everything and discovered most of life’s great secrets, what else is there? Are we any better off knowing that Mars is millions and millions of miles away and that it can never support life? While I know this, I always like to think that maybe there was an epic battle on Mars and billions of people were killed and all the sand was stained red. I don’t know why Mars’s sand is red but I can find out with a quick little Google search. And while I hate not knowing, part of me loves it. So I think I’ll stick with my Martian civil war. It’s not logical in the least and all of my atoms are screaming out for me to research it. But, my version is much more fun then anything that science could tell me at this point. And, frankly, fun tastes much better then knowledge sometimes.

What I'm listening to: Plans, Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie