Is the glass half-full or half-empty?

An optimistic person is supposed to see the glass as half-full. A pessimistic person is supposed to see the glass as half-empty. Personally, I think it matters what last happened in the glass. Were you filling it or drinking it? Either way, one very important person -- one whom I've never met -- taught me that the glass is always completely full, because the other half of "emptiness" is actually full of air.

Don Herbert, also known as Mr. Wizard, had a TV show on Nickelodeon over twenty years ago. Of course, I didn't have cable then, but I did catch all of the reruns (and the goofy 1980s hairstyles and clothes) a few years later. There was a three-year stretch where I got up so early for school that I could watch Mr. Wizard's World, and I did, every morning.

Mr. Wizard taught me so many interesting things about science and admittedly, if not for that show, I probably wouldn't have been so interested by it in school (the organic chemistry unit in sophomore year of high school was, for some reason, absolutely fascinating), and I wouldn't have done so well. I might not have even gotten into Science. Who knows how different my life would have been? So it is with great sadness that I must relay news of Mr. Herbert's death; he passed away yesterday in California. I'm actually crying while writing this.

Thanks for so much, Mr. Wizard. At this risk of being horribly sappy, my heart is completely full: of memories. :D