People Have Said That Before. I Still Don’t See It. Does It Bother You Dr. Lecter?

Twilight Hazy Moon. 97% illumination. 6:45 am. 54° F. March 11, 2025. Darien, CT (@dkct25)

what’s your opinion on life in space? i personally believe that with so many planets its impossible not to have somehow have life, even if it’s just a single cell being

-🔭

I really quite like the emoji you used!

Statistically, the probability of life existing elsewhere in the universe is high. There are billions of galaxies, each with billions of stars and potentially habitable planets. Even if the conditions for life are rare, the sheer number of possibilities makes it unlikely that Earth is the only place where life has developed. I don’t know if we’ll ever find it, but mathematically, it makes sense that it exists. As for my own opinion; I really hope we get to discover more about possible life in space soon! It is an unrealistic wish but I dream of it nonetheless.

@deerrdarling Abigail and I recently watched ‘Carol‘ together.

It was fun, I liked this dialogue from the movie a lot :

Do you have a favorite planet Adam? I feel like nobody asks you about your interests anymore

I am always happy when I can answer questions that relate to my life or interests!. Maybe even more these days than ever, it sort of calms me down, talking about things I know.

If we’re being technical, Pluto doesn’t qualify as an answer. It was reclassified as a ‘dwarf planet’ in 2006, which means it no longer holds planetary status. That being said, when I was younger, it was my favorite—small, distant, and debated over by scientists who couldn’t quite decide where it belonged. It might be irrational but i always thought there was something unfair about that. If something existed, if it mattered for years, how could people just decide it didn’t count anymore?

Neptune is my usual answer. Its winds are the fastest in the solar system, yet it remains so far away that people rarely think about it. It exists in quiet extremes.

Venus also comes to mind… It’s hostile to life, and most people don’t think much of it beyond its brightness in the sky. But I’ve learned that brightness can be deceptive. Just because something appears beautiful doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous, and just because something is dangerous doesn’t mean it isn’t worth understanding.

Adam, have you ever seen Cosmos with Carl Sagan? I've always wanted to watch the original but I've only seen the reboot with Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

- 🧷 (safetypin-non)

Yes, I watched it many times. More than I can count. It’s my favorite show.

You should watch it, I can only recommend it.

Everything is too loud today. My skin feels too tight. My head won’t stop running in circles.

I wish it was possible to turn everything off for a while.

Tied together, but never the same.

A love that tortures.

Thought you’d be interested in this, stea. You think Keats was talking about Polaris? Can’t say I’m well versed on the subject. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44468/bright-star-would-i-were-stedfast-as-thou-art

— Nigel

Fomalhaut was the first star that came to mind. People call it the lonely one, and that feels closer to what Keats was describing—‘not in lone splendour hung aloft the night’—watching in silence like some sleepless, distant observer. Polaris is constant, sure, but Fomalhaut is solitary. It sits far apart from the other bright stars in the sky. Easy to notice. Easy to feel something about.

It makes sense to me, logistically too. Fomalhaut is visible from Earth without much effort. But more than that, it carries the weight of solitude, of being out there and unmistakably alone.

I don’t think he wanted to be the star. I think he recognized something of himself in it. When we admire things people, stars, it’s often because they mirror something we’re missing or trying to understand. Maybe he wasn’t longing for distance, but for connection. To feel less alone by seeing that loneliness reflected back.

And even if they’re separated by lifetimes of space, the star and the observer exist in that moment together. No one else might understand that connection, perhaps not even the two of them, but it’s there nonetheless.

The winter air is good for stargazing. Less humidity means clearer skies. If you stayed out longer, you might have seen more. Smokers often feel temperature differently because of circulation changes. I wonder if that affects how long you would’ve stayed otherwise.

@parallaxshift-raki stars were pretty last night :)

Well, actually no

historically speaking, Andromeda wasn’t exactly a helpless damsel.

Most modern versions of the myth paint her that way, sure, but if you go back far enough, Andromeda was considered pretty courageous. She didn’t just sit there crying and waiting to be saved. A lot of early accounts show her facing her fate with dignity, knowing she was being sacrificed to atone for something she didn’t even cause.

And , surviving something like that, being left to fend for yourself against a literal sea monster, without losing who you are? That’s not weak. That’s strength. Thats how I see it. She was strong enough to endure the whatever was coming her way.

You’re right, though. Chained or not, she could still bite.

If you could assign constellations to your associates/friends what would they be and why?

I don't know much about constellations but I'd love to hear you talk about it :)

- 🧷

I actually spent some time thinking about this. It’s a interesting question, astronomy as a mirror for people. It’s not the first time I’ve made that comparison in my head.

So Nigel would probably be Andromeda. There’s something about Andromedas story that reminds me of him , chained and waiting, not exactly helpless, but holding back. Andromeda’s one of those constellations that’s easy to overlook unless you know where to look. But once you do, you stay looking. He’s like that. Quiet and beautiful, and much more capable than most realize. There’s distance there too. Something unspoken and mysterious. And maybe that’s part of it.

Abby is Lyra. Steady, constant sound in the background that makes everything else feel less chaotic. She’s the kind of friend that doesn’t try to change the rhythm, she plays along, and somehow makes the melody make sense. She won’t try to change but instead accept the people around her. I trust her more than I trust most people. Probably more than I know to articulate.

Duncan is definitely Ursa Major. He’s calm and grounded. One of those people you automatically listen to when they speak. Like the Big Dipper, It’s just always been there. Reliable. Big presence. Never unpleasantly overwhelming.

I see Tonny as Gemini. There is some sort of double-sided energy to him. Always talking, always bouncing between ten things at once. Sometimes it’s annoying. But he makes things feel alive. That counts for something. Very unapologetically himself.

Beth… She’d be Scorpius..I think. There was beauty, but also something sharp underneath. I thought I understood her. Maybe I didn’t. It’s hard not to associate that constellation with betrayal once you’ve been stung by someone you trusted. But I also think Scorpius is about change. You don’t walk away from it unchanged.

Lastly Hannibal , Aquarius. There’s a logic to him that i understand. The kind of person who thinks about everything three steps ahead. Our conversations are always sharp. Always interesting. We don’t need to be close emotionally to have a kind of mutual respect, and I appreciate that.

That’s how I see it right now.

That could change, maybe it won’t.

I saw a guy today wearing sunglasses indoors. The sun wasn’t out.

Neither was common sense, apparently.