intro to guest blogging 101

From guest blogger, Smarticus:

For those of you out there who aren't nerds, you probably aren't aware that Christie's Auction House over the last three days has been selling off 1,000 items of Star Trek paraphernalia, garnering over 7million dollars. The model of the Starship Enterprise (that is, the Enterprise D, the ship from the Star Trek: The Next Generation) went for a cool $500,000.

Some of you are probably horrified that so much money has chased something so seemingly kitschy. I, however, have been in lust. The chance to own Jean Luc's chair, or a pair of vulcan ears, or the holy of holies -- the good ship Enterprise-D -- is worth every penny. I can't say I'd buy Captain Kirk's shirt, but someone did. Were there a date with Seven-of-Nine, I might be tempted to break my "$20 first date" rule.

So why would a grown man of modest means and relative sanity want a transporter console, the ship's dedication plaque, and a phaser? For me, these props are talismans of a show I loved and an ideology I embrace. Simply put, there should come a point where we put aside our petty squabbles, get serious about solving the world's problems, embrace each other for our similarities and differences, and discover the limits of human potential. Hot alien babes are just a bonus.

In a world where a prestigious university has to hire extra security because crazies want to assassinate its newest writer in residence, Salman Rushie, I have to walk through metal detectors to get to my job, grown men say nothing about an important official abusing his power to extract sexual favors from minors, and the clear denial of science in making domestic policy and ignorance of reality when making foreign policy, I long for reassurance that men and women worship more than the accumulation of power and gratification of narcissism.

I don't pretend Spock had it easy every time Dr. McCoy called him green-blooded and pointy-eared, or that Worf's discommendation for doing what was in the best interest of all 'people' and not just the faction in power was a light burden, but these were characters whose quiet dignity shaped the universe. They are models for our behavior-- to do what is right, not just expedient or convenient. There is no vengeful God laying out the metes and bounds of acceptable behavior -- but rather each one's consciences and the understanding that we are all in this together.

I know it's hokey, but who doesn't want to have a piece of that? It may be styrofoam and painted wood, or perhaps a painted moon beneath a cardboard sea, but it's real to me. Tell Scotty I'm on my way-- and Warp Factor Five.