I just went to my friend Max's blog http://cultivateculture.wordpress.com/. He's in Chile visiting his family (and preparing to do a Master's in neurophysics, I believe) -- after having toured part of Europe in the fall. The guy is teaching me things every time I come in contact with him. He humbles me -- which is a good thing. Max is always thinking, thinking, thinking. And his enthusiasm for science and its impact on the world is infectious. Nah, that description's too general. I get the feeling Max is fascinated with the intersection of science, culture, and intellectual exploration and how that can change how we see our world.

I dig that wavelength, but I'm much less versed in the scientific side of things. For a virtually untrained amateur I don't fare too badly, and I have a good, if not great, grasp of culture (at least on the local level). But I love soaking up the insights that people like Max uncover in the world.

Max turned me on to the the TED talks http://www.ted.com/talks, which are a practical example of that intersection/confluence/clash/collision/collaboration I'm talking about. I get so jazzed by these talks that every time I go to the site, I want to spend hours jumping from one talk to the next to the next. Too bad I don't have that kind of time. Or I forget about them and spend time playing poker. How sad it that? Speaking of lack of time, mine is up. TTFN!