genetically, the default gender for animals is female � nevertheless, one should aspire to a higher standard � recently, a scientist measured the ring fingers of college track team sprinters to see if he could determine (mind you, solely from this n sight unseen) which one of them would be the winner in a quick 100m dash � the gentleman with the longest ring finger won; n likewise, he with the shortest, came in last � it should be noted for doubters that the runners were not informed of the modus behind said opperandi � yay, this lends further credence to the theory that testosterone builds a better beast; behold the impetus: as a male's ring finger is always longer than the same male's index finger, and a female's ring finger is always shorter than the same female's index finger � complimentary as that may seem, to the poet's eye, it is only mildly interesting to the layman (or laywoman, as it were)

from the days of the caves, men were hunters and women were gatherers; as this seemed to work out more effectively for some reason � n sexually, we are the same: men conquer n women nest � some people will sneer at this, especially those of us of the more girlish persuation, but they're jus bein silly � besides: a woman will laugh harder when she's interested in he or she that has just told a funny joke, or tried to; and a man will not do this, under most circumstances � although it is assumed that everyone's tryin to seem cool � chromosomes n kidding aside, a female so inclined may ascribe to testosterone injections to become more masculine � in a few short months time, she will run faster and lose pesky superfluous communication skills � n those rare chix born XY may become more comfortable in their own bodies � but the real test would be to see if they eventually quit whispering � now: to cure all those damn double-Y males of their homicidal tendancies ;o)

stars are cool � while it is easy to see stars more clearly in the winter (because of less atmospheric distortion), the best time to kick back n check em out is the summertime � this time of year, there is the Summer Triangle: Vega, Altair and Deneb; 3 Blue-White twinklers that are always almost directly overhead pretty much all summer long � these triplets are so much alike, it's hard to tell them apart, unless yer half an expert (such a person would also be able to tell you the constellations each is the boss of: Lyra, Aquila and Cygnus, respectively) � in fact, Vega and Altair may be related to each other; or for that matter, to Sirius (but more about that one later)

if you live in the northern hemisphere, the Big Dipper is easy enough to find (aka: Ursa Major, or the Great Bear) � seven brilliant stars shine in a familiar pattern of something no one of this age has ever likely seen: a cup with a spoon handle on the end

once you have found this, locate the 2 stars marking the forward edge of the cup in question � the top one is Dubhe, an Orange Giant with an ordinary Blue White companion star, about 124 light years away � now, notice how far apart those 2 forward facing stars are from each other (for us), n follow that line "up" (for the cup) about 5 times that standard unit of measurement, to find Polaris, the North Star: a White Supergiant, some 430 light years in the distance � this star is always north of wherever you are (unless yer at the North Pole, in which case it's jus straight up) � in a 24 hour period, it makes a tiny circle that only astronomers can detect � or, rather, that's how close it is to the center of our spin, being on Earth

right: back to the Big Dipper again � notice how the handle curves a gentle arc � now, follow that "arc" to Arcturus, which is an awesome Yellow-Orange Giant only 36 light years away � Arcturus is named for this arc, and is the 4th brightest star in the sky: bright enough to see its orange color � continue this arc about the same distance and curve as before to find another bright star, Spica: (Latin for "ear of wheat" for some reason) which lies almost exactly on the Ecliptic (which is the path in the sky that the sun, moon and all the planets will follow) � Spica is a groovy Blue Binary star system about 260 light years away, n one of the pair is a Giant

so now that you've found the Ecliptic, trace it east, (about twice the distance before) to the constellation Scorpio (which looks kinda like a giant Scorpion from the side), where you will not be able to miss a really cool Red Supergiant about 600 light years away called Antares (Latin for "rival of Mars" cuz they're both red, n Mars is almost always brighter) � if you have a telescope, see if you can detect its faint Blue companion star, Alpha 2, which appears green in contrast to its parent, bright Red Alpha 1, which it is assumed to be in orbit around (this situation is called an Orbital Binary, in case you were wondering)

if it's the wrong time of year, or night, for Antares, try the opposite direction, west (if yer facing south, that's to the right), n more or less the same recommended distance across our sky, to the constellation Leo (which looks exactly like a Lion from the side), to find Regulus, right on the Ecliptic, an ordinary Main Sequence star, like ours, only Blue; which is thought to be only 77 light years away � if you have a telescope, see if you can detect its faint Yellow Dwarf companion star, which is even closer at just 68 light years away, n contrasts an Aqua hue, thus adding to the twinkle

even further to the west is the brightest star in the sky, Sirius, the Dog Star (or Alpha Canis Majoris, as it is also the brightest star in Canis Major, the Greater Dog) � a little south of the ecliptic, n only about 8 light years away, Sirius is the 5th Closest star to us n shone bright Red only 2000 yrs. ago � but now (for whatever reason) the system consists of a Blue-White Sub-Giant with one faint White Dwarf companion, called Sirius B, or "The Pup" aka The Dogon Star, after the Dogon tribe of Africa who seem to have known of its existence for centuries (perhaps even longer), and also had correct knowledge of the solar system for as long, including Jupier's 4 major moons and Saturn's rings, among other things � they claim to have received this knowledge not from not their gods, but just some very nice and smart people who once visited them, and claimed to be from there � the Dogon people are some Sirius stargazers ;o)

in the same general region of the sky is a wealth of very bright stars including Procyon (the brightest star in Canis Minor, the Lesser Dog): a pretty, Yellow-White Sub-Giant with one very faint White Dwarf companion � this system is the 8th Brightest star in the sky and 14th Nearest known at only 11 light years or so � slightly north is the constellation Gemini (the Twins), home to Castor and Pollux (a couple of very famous twins from very long ago) � slightly west is Bright Yellow Capella, then Green Algol (the Ghoul Star)

all of those stars are fairly close by, and very interesting in their own right, but the king of the winter sky scene is the constellation Orion, which has 2 of the brightest stars in the sky: Betelgeuse and Rigel � Betelgeuse, at 430 light years distant, is a Red Supergiant (larger in diameter than the orbit of Venus) and has 5 very faint companions; and Rigel is a Blue Supergiant with 3 very faint companions at about 770 light years out � Orion's Belt is a sequence of 3 stars in a row, but not quite a straight line � what freaks out alotta people is how the 3 pyramids of Giza in Egypt are aligned to them exactly; but not only that, this entire area of the sky corresponds to the whole general pyramid vicinity as those stars appeared in the sky, way back in the astrological Age of Leo, roughly around 10,500 BC (including the Sphinx facing Leo rising in the east on the first day of spring, as the Milky Way corresponds precisely to the Nile River) � just below Orion's Belt is the Trapezium, or Orion's Sword, which includes the Orion Nebula � but the coolest thing in the whole sky, most people seem to agree, is the Pleiades: literally hundreds of Baby Blue Sub Giants, roughly 7 of which are visible to any given person (thus, they are nicknamed the Seven Sisters) � between Orion and the Pleiades is a slightly older star cluster called the Hyades, which forms the V of the horns, forming the constellation Taurus, the Bull � between us and The Hyades, at a mere 65 light years out, is the very bright Orange Red Giant, Aldebaran; which has one faint companion that you will not be able to detect in your average telescope

the closest star to us is Alpha Centauri, but you can't see it if you live north of Florida � this star is actually a pair of fraternal twins: Alpha A and Alpha B; Yellow and Orange Main Sequence stars, very much like ours (in fact, they were most definitely created in the same celestial event which made our sun, long ago) � the extremely local Binary known as Alpha Centauri has one faint Red Dwarf companion, called Proxima Centauri, which orbits the inner pair at the extraordinary distance of one tenth of a light year (it is, in some circles, speculated that our system has an even fainter companion star, a Brown Dwarf; which is essentially a dead star, or very large planet that never ignited into solar status) � Proxima is thus named because it is officially the closest to us, of all bright things out there; and this is most likely the first place humans will go if we ever make it out of this solar system � it will be interesting to see if there are any planets there, in that system, under such conditions; and if there are any people living on them, and if they turned out anything like us

see, the problem with americans is, even tho most of us don realize it, we all surely sense on some level, that we live in a country that doesn't love most of its citizens

n there are a few different ways of dealing with that - u can agree with the permeating mindset, that most are unworthy of respect - but most people take some of that inwardly, n agree that they are unworthy

in the tall fields of grass, lies a lame cow � in the blind reaches of weeds, wades a mean sow � in the high piles of leaves, lives a lively dog, who knows how � in all these things, is a message of the mess we're all in, n yet but know not, anon

live in the trees and know � be with the trees and see true � see as the trees do, n believe in that untouchable beyond that seeps through � for if anything can, it is that which the trees command n have at their hand

so when a teardrop falls, let it be for you n i, n not for what we have done, or not done, unto them � n when the raindrops cease, let there be peace, n more a place for them, with us, wherever it is we choose to go