Saturday, August 14, 2010

You're Never Too Old For Space Camp!

I love great movie lines, when I can find them. No, not necessarily the "Here's looking at you, kid," classic line. Those are great, don't get me wrong. But occasionally, a more recent line in a more recent movie catches my fancy, and I love to mull it over when that happens.

Two specific lines in the movie Stranger Than Fiction fall into that category. One is about “making the world better…with cookies.” As a person who does 15 cookie boxes every year for Christmas presents--yup, I gotta love that one.

But there’s one more great line in that movie that, both times I've seen it, has made me grin. And I think it’s a great line to end a week, or start a week, with.

At one point in the movie, our hero is staying with an acquaintance from work, and they’re talking about what he would do if he found out he was dying “in the near future.” After much wheedling, talking about superpowers (!), and the like, when the rubber meets the road, the friend finally blurts out what he’s really thinking:

“I’d go to Space Camp.”

Our hero is astonished. Isn’t Space Camp just for kids?

“Oh, no,” his friend assures him. “You’re never too old for Space Camp.”

Interestingly enough, it turns out that in real life, you never are too old for Space Camp.
As, in reality, you’re truly never too old for a lot of things. (Just ask Susan Boyle.)
But most of us forget this. To our peril.

So I’d like to propose the humble assertion that if there’s any banner a writer--especially a novelist--can fly over her particular ship, it ought to be something like that.
Some of us remember this, and capture our particular special moment in “Space Camp,” in time.
Many of us don’t.

Let’s us, this week, be among the people who remember it.
You’re never too old for Space Camp. But you can wait too long for it.

So, whatever your Space Camp is, stop waiting for it. Start now. Do it this week.
And then come back here and tell us all about it.

Thoughts?

Janny

1 comment:

  1. Although Space Camp sounds pretty good ... I plan to start horseback riding again but also ... maybe I will learn to barrel race.

    Or not. Depends.

    But, riding again, yes. I'm thinking "all grist to this mill ..." More experiences will give me more things to write about. More people, more details, more ideas. Gotta be good!

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