Lost Things

[poliphilo]

"Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges-
Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!"

I'm fascinated by things that are lost. Even if they never existed in the first place- The Holy Grail, Atlantis. Tell me that something's lost and I immediately want to go hareing off to look for it.

Well Google it anyway.... 

That's why I love archaeology. And why I wear a Roman ring on a thong round my neck. It's all green and crusty and has obviously spent a long time underground. It's a lost thing we got back.

The list of lost things goes on forever. The Colossus of Rhodes, a couple of Shakespeare plays,  most of Sappho, the last 20 minutes of The Magnificent Ambersons,  Brian Wilson's Smile....

But- heh, heh, heh- we just retrieved the last of those. I was listening to it while I cooked lunch. It makes me so happy.

And one day we're gonna find the others. Right?

 

Comments

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

Right. This post made me smile, for which I thank you.

:-)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

My pleasure. Drop by any time. :)

[beentothemoon.livejournal.com]

but would they be as special if we did find them? What if we found out the Loch Ness Monster was just an overgrown eel?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

You have a point.

On the other hand if the Loch Ness monster turned out to be a plesiosaur...

Defining the universe

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

This all goes back to the need many humans have to know the extent of the universe and everything in it. They want to KNOW. I, on the other hand, do not. I think that if we ever found all the things that were lost, if we ever got to the point where we could say, "These are the boundaries of the universe and here it all is," then this existence would be utterly boring.

That there are things which have been lost and will never be recovered, that there are things out there which will forever remain a mystery is GOOD. At least, that is how I feel.

This in no way means that I believe we should all return to the days of complete and utter ignorance. Far from it. I guess I simply feel that sometimes, certain members of the human race are far too concerned with turning everything into "fact" or being able to dismiss it as "fiction." I rather like my boundaries between the two being blurry and fuzzy.

Re: Defining the universe

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

But we're so so far from knowing it All. Here we are sitting on a tiny planet orbiting a medium sized star at the edge of one of many billions of galaxies. We've only just begun to find out about this enormous home of ours.

Speaking for myself, the more I know the more I become convinced of my own ignorance. Every door opens onto another door and so- to all intents and purposes- ad infinitum.

I don't think we're going to be running out of mysteries any time soon. :)

[morrison-maiden.livejournal.com]

It would be really neat if we found these things, but I also think they would kind of lose their appeal. It would be as if the mystery had dissolved and they might not be as fascinating :\

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

This is true. But what about the thrill of the chase? When Indiana Jones finds the Holy Grail its a bit of a let-down, but the getting there is enormous fun.

[morrison-maiden.livejournal.com]

Oh, well that's true...Going on an exciting journey and all that :)