Why, Mike, Why?
I used to think that Michael Crichton was the shit, but that was back when I was 15, wanted to be a paleontologist, and had a mad crush on both Phil Currie and Sam Neil’s character in Jurassic Park. (And mind you, chipmunks and chippettes, this was before the piece of crud called The Lost World, which I didn’t pay money to see because I was interning at a freebie-loaded magazine back then. Come to think of it, I didn’t pay to see Jurassic Park III either, because my mother scored us free tickets. The real question is why I even bothered to step into the theater when the first sequel made me want to commit hara-kiri with the industrial-size staple from my press kit. Oh yeah, Alessandro Nivola. S’hot. In fact, I think my sister’s precise words during his apparent demise were, “He can’t be dead! He’s so … CUTE!”)
Anyway, long digression later, I filled up on Crichton’s novels like they were heaven-sent pearls of divine wisdom and I was the ignorant, thirsting novitiate, though I felt the first seismic rumblings of doubt after I finished Sphere. And you know what happens—you grow up, you move on to different things and different cities—and so move on and grow up I did, even though I always carried my well-thumbed copy of Jurassic Park with me, lovingly embalmed in protective plastic by my then-teenage hands.
I think Crichton’s success at the box office (and his role in creating the phenomenon known as George Clooney) eventually made him go mad with the power. He churned out stinker after stinker, each one making increasingly less sense. And now that I know he thinks global warming was engineered by a cabal of tech-savvy, hemp-clad hippy terrorists, not to mention the fact that he and Dubya may have exchanged macramé friendship bracelets while pledging to be Best Friends 4Ever … well … you can assume he’s dead to me now. So goodnight, sweet prince. The ritual wailing and chest-beating will commence after this word from our sponsor.
Tread lightly! Living sustainably doesn’t require a lot of effort, nor will it result in any noticeable changes to your quality of life if you make the right choices. The phrase to remember is “conscious consumption”—before you buy, look beyond the price tag to consider what a product’s made of, where it comes from, and who made it. Most of all, ask yourself, “Do I really need this?” and, if you do, “Is there a more responsible alternative?”
jasmine said,
March 11, 2006 at 8:58 am
Ahh, and Checkov, remember to look who is selling it as well because a large percentage of your dollar goes there. If they support practices you don’t agree with you probably shouldn’t support them.