Today Brian and I went to the SF Zoo for the first time. In the primate area, a gorilla lumbered down to the edge of its meadow to look at us. She seemed to be staring at us as we stared at her; hoping we would do something interesting. She beat on her breast a few times, made some more hand movements, and opened and closed her mouth repeatedly. But soon she grew bored with we hairless apes, and walked up the hill on her fists toward the concrete building. A male gorilla twice her size appeared in the doorway and sat down. He had silver hair on his back and a huge crested ridge atop his skull.

We also saw giraffes and lemurs and meerkats and a polar bear and so on, but for some reason the gorilla moved me the most. Possibly it was the whole primate thing, wondering if this nearly-human creature could possibly be satisfied living its life in this acre of space.

After the zoo closed, Brian and I headed to a friend’s place to have a very good dinner and watch episodes of “Mr Show.” Plus we had brownies. Today was nice.

The shuttle disaster today was a tragedy. I think the feeling it gives me most is one of horror, just to think of what those poor people went through, and how their joyful, amazing experience in space had to end in death. My unscientific theory is that tiles damaged by chunks of ice probably led to a fire on board the craft during re-entry. Some people are already inventing conspiracy theories and politicizing this awful accident. I think that is pretty goddamn shameful.

Maybe NASA should think about not doing launches in January anymore.