A couple weeks ago, I started following a site (not sure if you could call it a blog or a comic strip or what) called Zen Pencils: Cartoon Quotes from Inspirational Folks, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. The proprietor, an artist called Gavin Aung Than, illustrates poems, speeches, witticisms, and observations made by admirable people, ranging from Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Dalai Lama to Carl Sagan and Neil Gaiman. Normally this wouldn’t really be my thing, cynic that I am, but many of Gavin’s concepts are quite wonderful, and they’re all very well executed, without the sticky schmaltz that so often goes along with would-be inspirational stuff. I especially liked today‘s:

Great imagery in general, and the lighting effect on Goddard’s gravestone as the Saturn V raises the goose pimples on my arms. By coincidence — or maybe not — yesterday was the anniversary of Apollo 11’s launch; this coming Friday, the 20th, will mark 43 years since Neil Armstrong took that giant leap for mankind, the one we’re still trying to catch up to. Neat stuff…