when heisuke and i started discussing the creation of the telescope web
site, we came up with dozens of ideas. we weren't exactly sure which ones
would actually see the light of day. but one thing we WERE sure of, is
that we wanted to provide the readers with as much back ground information
on the project as we could. i started typing out the history of this
collaboration. the inception of the story. the recording of the songs.
my excitement of seeing the wonderful illustrations set to the music and
the sentences. but in a way, it seemed to take the magic out of things
for me. there is a part of myself that desperately wants to feel like an
outsider of this experience. when i look at things too sharply, all i see
our mistakes. so instead, I decided to write about something that ran
through my mind a few weeks ago.

monday, november 20th, 2006

as i was digging through a box of old papers last month, i came across an
essay i wrote when i was about 9 years old. it was entitled "my dream."
and written on that old delicate paper in naive childlike patterns..were
the following words:

"my dream in life is to be a writer. i would write many books. some
would be small. some would be large. some would be for kids. some would
be for grown ups. that is my dream."

and then it hit me. in a way, the release of the telescope is a dream
come true for me. i imagine, if that young boy who wrote those words down
so many years ago, held the telescope in his hands..he would shyly say
that the book would fall into the "small" category. but despite the fact
that the telescope is a short, simple tale, it will always be one of the
biggest books to sit on my shelf. because no matter how it is received by
the readers, or reviewed by the writers, it exists. beyond the
imagination of a boy too small to stand up, pull the satin from his ears
and shout "this world is nonsense...i'm gonna make my own!"

of course, in the end, i would love for readers to be able to connect with
the story. but more importantly, i would like people to walk away with
the sense of infinite possibility to wards their own "essay." the
telescope is living proof that even the quietest of notions can one day
scream out loud.

marc bianchi