Soliciting Entries for Galapedia

The alien fastened his eyes upon me as he adjusted the microphone in front of my mouth. The atmosphere was accommodating - cozy; almost like Tyler Hunsberger's cigar room. It was hard to believe that I was sitting there on some other planet. I had won the lottery of sorts. I had been selected as the only representative from earth that had ever had the opportunity to visit this lovely civilization. Everything about the place made me feel alive and aware; in intimate touch with my mind and feelings. And that was a good thing. Because the aliens words to me made me realize how important it was to be in touch with myself.

"So, Mr. Rutt … that is how you say it, right?" the being, not quite human-like, asked as he settled back in his easy chair. "You probably wonder why we brought you here. You wonder what the purpose is of having been selected for this task. It is always easier to feel comfortable with something when you know the purpose behind it. What we are doing here, is creating entries in our Galactic Almanac that will give a comprehensive understanding of all of the planets in the universe. They will be compiled into our book of knowledge that we call Galapedia. We currently know nothing about this little speck of rock that you inhabit. We discovered it floating mysteriously through space, and determined that we should select one specimen from the entities that live on this planet to be brought here to give us a thorough and comprehensive understanding of what this planet is all about. You were selected quite by random. We hope that it has been a fortunate selection so that henceforth, everyone in the universe will be able to read this Galapedia entry and readily understand what this planet is all about. Do you have a name for this lovely rock?"

"Oh," I said, squirming in my seat, but slowly becoming more comfortable with this strange creature's soft demeanor. "We call it earth. I'm not sure I know everything about it but I will try my best! What would you like to know?"

"Just start wherever you wish," he said giving me an encouraging smile and a wave of his antennae. "What do you think will be the best way for other beings, that know nothing about this place you call earth, to understand your little planet?"

Wow! Talk about challenges. This was going to outrank any I had encountered so far. Where exactly does one start? I sure was glad for that little Babblefish thingy that they had placed into both of my ears. At least communicating thoughts with this guy was not going to be hampered by the language barrier. This little "fish" was able to quickly and accurately translate any language in the universe they had said. So far it was working swimmingly! I had heard about it in the book "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" but had thought of it as just a figment of Douglas Adam's rather prolific imagination. Now it was my lifeline. 

I grabbed for that lifeline now and tried to plug it into the sum total of my life and experience. I closed my eyes, furrowed my brow and searched through my thoughts for a starting point. "Okay," I said after a moment or two of reflection. "I guess to understand the earth you need to start with this..."