RaisingDad

I can't believe that it took me this long to learn this, but in the year 2000 a truly exceptional extraterrestrial treasure was unearthed: the Fukang Meteorite! It was discovered in Fukang, China by a Fukang hiker who initially mistook it for a duck. A Fukang duck. The Fukang Meteorite is a remarkable pallasite believed to be approximately 4.5  billion years old. These kind of numbers always confuse me. If everything began at the Big Bang when God said, "Let there be light," then should everything be the same age? Anyway, this stunning space rock is not just visually captivating with its embedded olivine crystals, but also offers scientists a unique window into the early days of our solar system.   The Fukang meteorite continues to be an object of fascination for both scientists and the public, offering a tangible connection to the deep history of our solar system and the cosmic events that shaped it.   In 2000, a truly exceptional extraterrestrial treasure was unearthe...

Chapter Five    I'm having the wonderfulest dream.   In it, I'm sleeping and dreaming that I'm asleep. I can't wait to wake up, because, when I do, I'll be triply refreshed. (And, yes, I did just make up the word "triply.")   In my dream, I see my Unconscious. She's snoring like a pig.   Christian Grey walks into the room, and I rouse from my slumber. I can't believe how comfortably I slept, but then I'm used to falling asleep in strange places.   Mr. Grey--hair wet, skin glistening with beads of water--has just gotten out of the shower. He's still wearing the red rubber ball. Only not on his nose.   I yawn and stretch. Oh my gosh! I'm completely naked underneath the silk sheets!   "Did I...?" I ask, seductively.   "No," he answers.   "Did you...?" I ask, accusingly.   "No."   "Did we...?" I ask, disappointedly.   "No."   "Are you sure?"   ...

  You might think I drink a lot of coffee.  That's because I do.  I don't have a lot of bad habits, but if drinking coffee's a bad habit, then that's one of them. I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't do drugs. But put a cup of coffee in front of me, and I'll make it disappear faster than my paycheck in the hands of my ex-wife. So, after dinner the next day, my wife serves me a cup of coffee. I sit at the table. I look at the patio. I look at my wife. She looks at me. Then at my father. "Would you like some ice cream before we go outside?" she asks him. "Uh..." he says.  He's trying to be polite. My wife cuts him off at the pass. "It's new," she tells him.  I look up from my cup. I didn't know my wife had gone shopping. "What?" "The ice cream. It's new." "It is?" "It is." "What kind is it?" "The new kind." Now, before you think my father's a seni...

  Chapter Four    "I never want to see you again in my life," he tells me, his eyes soft but hard, his voice kind but cruel, his arms strong but also letting me drop to the concrete sidewalk.   I bounce back up and wiggle my way back into his arms like an intestinal parasite. He tries to soften the blow.   "It's not you, it's me," he says. "Okay, it's you, but it's also me. But just a little bit me. In fact, my part in it is so small that, statistically speaking, it's not me at all, but you. Since I'm a gentleman, however, I'll include myself. (But it's not me.)" xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx     I make it back to the apartment I share with Kate, and she immediately sees that I'm crying.   "Ana! What's wrong? What did he do? Did he take you to bed and call you by my name?"   "Worse," I tell her.   "He called you by José's name?"   "Worse than that. I was ready to give...