After the end of the world

Under music, “The Fall” (free download) by Peter and the Wolf is a strangely comforting after-the-end-of-the-world song. I can listen to it over and over again. I finally purchased the album it’s off of, and that’s pretty haunting, too. (Said album lists itself as a “hand-drawn CD,” and it really is.)

The idea of post-apocalyptic non-fiction sounds strange; the world is still here, after all. But I’m in the middle of The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman, which is a thought experiment: if every last hidden abruptly disappeared from the planet without warning, what would happen to the world we left behind? More on that when I finish it, but interesting so far.

And behind the cut, just for fun, a post-apocalyptic meme. (Via _twilight_.) By which we know that I might not actually survive the end of the world, but I’d at least last longer than 99 percent of the rest of you. 🙂

The Apocalypse Survival Test

Your chance of survival: Preparedness: 45%, City Skills: 71%, Survival Skills: 47%, Nature Skills: 7%

How I compared to other people my age and gender:
– I scored higher than 99% on Preparedness
– I scored higher than 99% on City Skills
– I scored higher than 99% on Survival Skills
– I scored higher than 99% on Nature Skills

“There are things that we never want to let go of, people we never want to leave behind. But keep in mind that letting go isn’t the end of the world, it’s the beginning of a new life.”

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.”

“Even the end of the world is described as if it were only an exceptionally hot afternoon.”

“The heart of a man to the heart of a maid – Light of my tents, be fleet – Morning awaits at the end of the world, And the world is all at our feet.”

“If I left you alone in the woods with a hatchet, how long before you could send me an e-mail?”