It's All a Matter of Perspective

While I was in LA I was struck by something... no not lightning! I was struck by the fact that so many things in life are so entirely dependent upon your perspective. Is this a novel idea? No of course it's not but in the context of how this occurred to me it made me realize that all of us need to stop and think about this sometimes even though it's a common idea/thought.

Let me explain...

Before I went to work at NASA I put astronauts on pedestals and thought them to be in the same company as the Greek Gods... okay so I am exaggerating a bit but you get the idea. However after working with them (and eventually marrying one!) I quickly realized that they are just regular people who happen to be extraordinarily good in their field who have worked hard and ended up with a cool out of this world job. (Sorry couldn't resist the pun there... I've been with Ken - aka the Punmaster - too long!) Don't get me wrong - I was giddy as a school girl when I ran into Gene Cernan a few months back because in my eyes he's still a bit of a rock star.

Does it mean that the other astronauts aren't rock stars? No, not at all. But I realized it's a matter of perspective and where you are "sitting" and in what context. But let's face it if I treated my husband and all our friends who happen to be astronauts like "rock stars" in the star-struck fan essence then we wouldn't have much of a relationship. Generally when we get together we talk about anything but space or maybe just a little space.

So there I am in LA. I am not generally the star struck giddy school girl (okay well except when it comes to Glee - I am a little crazy about them!) but here I am in a city that is known for it's glitz, glamour and stars..... and I wanted to see some stars! I kept my eyes peeled everywhere we went because I certainly didn't want to miss a star sighting opportunity!

Got a dose of "perspective" when we went to hang out with our friend Dan who happens to be a musician in a pretty famous band. I had to laugh when I realized that in addition to typical friend talk I wanted to hear about the awesomeness that must occur in the music business whereas he wanted to hear all about space! Perspective!

Went and hung out with another buddy of mine who is an incredible actor (been on Broadway and recently was on NCIS) and a wonderfully talented musician. Found that while I was interested in that he was also interested in space... in addition of course to our myriad of random topics we went through as typical friends :)

Bottom line is it's all about perspective! People are as star struck with an astronaut as I was with movie stars and it gave me a recage on just how cool astronauts (Even my husband!)  are.

That said - when I was at Paramount Studios for the tour I was beyond beside myself when I saw Chris Colfer ride by on the back of a golf cart! To say I was "Gleeful" (sorry had to go there with that pun!) was an understatement even though I couldn't get a good picture because it's frowned upon I did manage to snag this shot discretely. (Chris is the guy in the black shirt with his back to the camera in the left area of this picture as you look at it.) Yes I am THAT person who just had to manage to get a picture anyway...

 I was beyond excited just to see where Glee was filming that day too. And it wasn't just "Glee" stars I saw... I also got to see the cast of NCIS LA - in fact we drove right pas them but couldn't get a picture then it would have been to obvious so I got a shot (again discretely) as we were driving up. Stacey this one is for you... can you tell who that behind belongs to? ;)

So I am not ashamed to admit I was star struck and had a blast with it! Personally I think it's okay to be star struck now and then because it's a fun feeling! Just remember it's all about perspective... a star to one is just another dude/gal to someone else and that's okay! Life is all about variety!