Jay Williams

How quiet it is,' Danny said, digging in his knapsack for the canteen full of water he had brought. 'You don__ realize how scary it is, having a whole mountain on top of you, until you__e in the dark as I was in that tunnel, or when you begin hearing the silence.''I didn__ know you could hear silence,' said Irene.'Then just listen.'They sat still, and Danny added, 'Put out the flashlights for a minute.'In the dark, they understood what he meant. All the familiar noises of the upper world were gone: the wind, the rustle of branches or leaves, the chirping of birds, the sounds of automobiles and doors slamming, and people laughing. There was nothing but the faint tinkle of droplets of water, each drop like a distant musical chime, and each one pursued by tiny echoes. Then, after such a note had sounded there would be a long and empty quiet in which they could hear their own breathing and the steady beating of their hearts. They found themselves straining their eyes to see something, anything _ the slightest sign of light, but they could not even tell the difference between opening their eyes and shutting them.Irene burst out suddenly, 'Put on the lights!'Danny let out his breath with a whoosh. They all snapped on their lamps, and as the welcome light flooded the chamber, he said, 'It__ _ it__ like being buried alive.''Don__ let__ try that experiment again,' Irene said, with a shiver. 'I just hope we get out of here before our flashlights give out.

Boy! There are times when I get the feeling that science develops things that are supposed to be good for us, but that just make trouble.__r. Tresselt__ blue eyes seemed to throw out sparks of amusement. __ know how you feel, Joe,_ he said. __ut my stars, boy, nobody can be alive and never have any trouble! Being alive is just meeting troubles every day and overcoming them. Just to stand up straight against the pull of gravity is a fight, isn__ it?

Ode to Douglas AdamsIn the solar system we inhabit, we live on a small planet we all call Earth. Okay, when I say small, I mean it__ small compared to say, oh, Jupiter. Earth is something like a dime compared to Jupiter__ beach ball. On this Earth is a fairly large country we all call The United States of America. Of course, when I say fairly large, it__ like the U.S. is a piece of broccoli next to China__ really large cauliflower. Now that I think of it, that may not be a good comparison as it depends on the restaurant you go to. At the place I was at last night it would be a good comparison as the cauliflower was larger than the broccoli. Not that I__ touch either. I had a hamburger with fries and somebody at the next table had those ghastly vegetables.From the Preface to "Sex and the American Male." I was saddened by the passing of Douglas Adams and wrote the preface to sound a little like his "Hitchhiker's..." books and to honor him. I hope he's smiling.