"I'm not entirely sure if I became a rational scientific person by nature or nurture. Whether it is genetic or whether it is the obvious result of too many years of study. Whatever the case may be, I am a slave to my curiosity, and sometimes I swear I bleed science. To me, everything needs an answer, deserves an explanation, or craves a solution. Even Ben.
And it would not be a stretch to say that I have known Ben for his entire life. In fact, I was even there at his birth - an intense, wet and happy event that will forever resonate in my head. Not all that surprising when you consider that Ben is still an infant and also my son. And as a father, I know that children are truly marvelous creatures - they are like noisy habits, capable of providing endless emotion, delivering that bullet of equal parts joy, worry and fatigue.
They are also mysterious to me. Not in the sense that being a parent fills me with fear, but more in the sense that I am often in wonder at how perfect these small beings really are - a testament, if you will, to the marvel of biology. I mean really, what exactly makes them do the things that they do?"
In one of my earlier humour pieces, I made some quick reference to the "second" child getting the shaft. You know the situation - where you take less pictures, are a little more blase about cleanliness, spend less money on new stuff, etc. It sometimes gets to the point where you actually feel a little guilty, and I suppose one way to compensate for this, is to try writing a piece specifically for him.
Not only that, but this piece was going to be a huge leap of faith in that I was aiming for publication in the songbook section of McSweeney's, an area that is decidely void of science. Despite this, I took to the challenge with a certain amount of zeal (helped, no doubt by my fondness for all things musical), and worked on an essay that ultimately, I was very proud of.
Except that it ended up being quite long. Ended up focusing on an idea rather than a song per se. Ended up being quite science heavy, with an emphasis that looked into the links between biology and music, and how that happen to affect my own scientific beliefs. Ended up being rejected not because it wasn't a good read, but because of all of the above reasons which made it out of place in the songbook section.
And so I had this piece - a showcase of affection that would hopefully lessen the pain of the "second child syndrome." Which ended up only finding a home at my SCQ, which I hope he's o.k. with - at least when he becomes old enough to care, anyway.
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