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I believe fully in the power of unconditional love.  My parents had it for me, and as a result, I am proud to be the man I am today.  I am a product of such selflessness.  Sometimes I cogitate on such things, I wonder how I will ever measure to the astounding bar that has been set before me.  Every day I attempt to spread that kindness; I smile at the stranger, say hello to the driver, spare my change for the beggar. These are the small things I can do. These are the small things we can all do.  We can only stand in the shadows of those who have cared so deeply for us, until some day, maybe, we will take it upon ourselves to care for another so.  Some will pass these acts on to lovers, some to children.  Some of us will find in our professions the opportunity to pass these acts on to strangers.  We will find magic again, as pure as it was when we were new.  There is still magic in the world. 

I compose two reactants in the lab...The clear liquids quite unremarkable.  But the relationship they foster when married together is like seeing the face of Father Time when he was young.  One gives to the other; selflessly, altruistically.  The electromagnetic waves burst from the beaker like it did in the beginning.  The birth of light and heat, made possible by the simple mechanism of giving.  The beaker glows as the sun does, and the cones in my eyes convert that light to the image of world that I see.  How cyclically perfect. Chemiluminescence is not just chemistry, it's philosophy. It's been many years since that day, and how I've changed.  Give.  Give to lovers, give to friends, give to strangers.  Give, and you may be forever altered by what you see, what you feel, what you learn.  As always, live long.

Spatter