twenty-seven years and one million words
A couple of weeks ago, some free tickets from Jon and Manami-san got us into the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium down in/near Yokohama.
See, I have proof.
In the wake of 9/11, we [in America] have made the decision as a society that we can never again create something in which we can take pride, for fear that someone will destroy it. Moreover, we must suppress any trace of individualism, lest someone have the desire to rise above the bland sameness that protects us. I have, alas, no idea how to recapture our courage.
—Anonymous post to boingboing.net, 2009