Friday, August 25, 2006

Goodbye, Pluto and Other Small Things

Astronomers recently announced that the former planet Pluto has lost its planet status. Why? Basically it's too small, so now it'll be called a dwarf. Poor Pluto. Poor kids. Just think of all those textbooks that'll have to be changed now, to say nothing of all the old science fiction stories that have anything at all to do with Pluto. At least we won't have to eliminate a movement from Holst's The Planets. (Pluto hadn't been discovered when he wrote the suite between 1914 and 1916.)

But are any of us really safe? Watch out, Rhode Island: somebody might take away your statehood and declare you a "district." And how about the country Monaco? At 0.7 square miles, it might now be called a city. Maybe even a town or a village.

What about writers? Since I've only had a couple of short stories published, do I still get called a writer?....

Look out....

3 comments:

John said...

Rhode Island is a state?

Anonymous said...

Hey, I live in Rhode Island and it's not a state. It's a foreign country.

John said...

Oh, I get it. Like Texas, but without the brisket.