I’m in need of a productive obsession. Something that will consume my free time and provide me with that sense of well being that I once used to get from books, then movies, then music, then Disney World, then science. I need something that I can research, consume and devour for a long period of time. Like a research project that never ends.
Most people remember my obsession with Disney World. Yes, the theme park in Florida. It all started when I was depressed after college. My girlfriend and I went down there and an obsession started. I think it was less about Disney and more about an extended fantasy world. Something fully immersive with an attention to detail unlike any I had ever experienced.
I still love the place. But now I look at it differently. Something I have to save and scrape money for in order to bring four people down instead of just one. I haven’t been back since May of 2000 and I am getting the itch. But it’s different now because I’m going for the kids. I want to see it through the eyes of an actual child. Not the eyes of a man-child, like myself.
Most recently the obsession has been physics and Richard Feynman. I love Feynman because of the character he presented to the world and his wild stories. I also love the fact that the mind that helped unwrap something as complicated as QED was also as playful and curious as a child. Whether it was physics, the movement patterns of ants or drawing, Feynman would throw himself into a problem with a passion unknown to most mere mortals.
I love physics for the sense of understanding and discovery. Even at my age, as I suddenly understand one of the most basic laws of the universe I feel as though I just created life. There’s something about understanding the sheer mechanics behind the world in which we live that intrigues me. Granted, I’ll never be investigating the finer points of string theory, but basic mechanics are within my grasp.
My obsession with Feynman is starting to wane. It’s not that I don’t like him anymore, but that I’ve reached an end to what I can devour and understand. After I finish my current book (not counting the biography Genius, which I’ve been trudging through for months . . .) I’ll no longer be able to read Feynman’s work without consulting a variety of references to understand what the hell he is talking about. That is to say, what are left are not mere memories of his work or his life, but the actual work itself. And that is no easy nut to crack.
What I’m reading right now is “Tuva or Bust!” which is the story of Feynman’s gang of friends attempts to reach Tannu Tuva, a remote Asian country that was part of the USSR during the Cold War. Because of Feynman’s stature as a physicist and the tensions between the US and USSR at the time, merely getting in touch with someone who would allow them into the country was nearly impossible.
Sadly, Feynman died before the quest was completed. The work wasn’t for naught, however. After his death his group did make it to Tuva. And Feynman is a sort of cultural hero to the Tuvans. Some of this is covered in the documentary “Genghis Blues” about an American’s participation in a Tuvan throat singing contest.
Born out of this quest was an organization known as Friends of Tuva, initially run by Feynman’s friend Ralph Leighton. Friends of Tuva still exists and you couldn’t meet a nicer group of people. Because of them, my car proudly proclaims “Feynman Lives!” To this day I think people are wondering who the hell Feynman is. A Jewish mystic? Nope, I say, just a Nobel Prize winning physicist. “Oh. Okay.”
But this is the quest I need. Something tantamount to Tuva. Except with fewer communists and travel. Something that I can research and work for.
So, if you have any ideas, let me know. What can I investigate?
My initial idea was to start a Corey Feldman look alike club. But that fell through. Then I was going to start a campaign to get Bert Convy back on television, but there was no support. I thought about an Abe Vigoda society devoted to bringing the philosophy of Fish to the world, but Abe probably wouldn’t like that. If Fred Gwynn were still alive I’d start an admiration society, but he’s not so I won’t. Other topics that were shot down were Monkey Culture, Squirrel Mating, Lobster Dancing, Arkansas Hair Design, Dodge Dart Owners Society, the Bring Back MC Lyte Club, Semi-Professional Dodgeball League, Mid-West Surfers Club and the Amateur Brain Surgeons Society of America.
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