My good friend Sr. Jefe made an excellent point yesterday: he said it's time I stop "relaxing" and post a new blog entry. Indeed, I agree that it is time. Given that I have so much stuff to blog, I need to get on the ball. And so here I am, writing this entry. Where to begin, though? A number of you requested the story of how I met Robert, but for the moment, I'm saving that one for another day. Rather, I wanted to post an entry relating to our recent trip to Phoenix.

While visiting Phoenix, we noticed a billboard for the Phoenix Science Museum stating that Body Worlds was on exhibit there. If you haven't heard of Body Worlds, here's the scoop: it's a traveling science exhibit that has actual human bodies on display. People donated their bodies for use in the exhibit, and a German doctor named Gunther von Hagens preserved their bodies using a technique he calls plastination. Basically, the bodies are preserved in a natural-appearing state, can be posed in an infinite number of ways, all without the smell of more traditional preservation methods (e.g. formaldehyde). To use Gunther von Hagens's own quote: "Plastination unveils the beauty beneath the skin, frozen in time between death and decay."

Robert first saw this exhibit in Denver last year, told me about it, and a month later, I saw it when I was in St. Paul. We both loved it so much that we decided to check it out again, and this time, I had a camera handy. The beauty of the exhibit is that, even if you have seen it once, it's so much to take in that it's really more amazing the second time you see it. And if I chance upon it again in the near future, you can bet that I'll be going to see it.

From time to time, I tell people about this amazing exhibit, and repeatedly get told that that's just too gross to see. I feel I have to report that, as a person with a notoriously weak stomach (less so now than when I was five), it's not bad at all. I find the exhibit amazing, and am exhilarated by the splendor that I see. For it is indeed amazing. I've taken anatomy class in college, and nothing I learned in the classroom comes even close to what you can learn by seeing the real thing. Seriously, if you have the opportunity to see this exhibit, you should. It's the opportunity of a lifetime.

And now for a little pictorial tour. We first begin with the building housing the science museum. It may look small in the picture, but the building is huge, as is that poster.

Next up, the sign directing us to Body Worlds. After having seen the exhibit once before (I saw Body Worlds 2, I think, so the bodies I saw were a different group than the ones I saw in Phoenix).

Walking down the line toward the entrance, I decided to snap this picture. It gets more exciting by the second!

Robert and me, taking Body Worlds by storm. My eyes are practically closed because it's so *bleep*ing bright outside.

And now, because you can't take pictures in the exhibit itself, here's some pictures I grabbed off the website, to give you an idea of how cool Body Worlds is.

This is the soccer player guy. We saw him in Phoenix.

This guy's a dancer. I saw him at the St. Paul exhibit.

Finally, I give you a picture of me, yours truly, showing just how much I heart Body Worlds. Spectacular!

And that concludes your tour of Body Worlds. Now, get it out there and go see the Body Worlds exhibit near you. (Brought to you by Phil, a not for profit entity, who plans on making no money from this blog entry.)