One of the single most important individuals in the establishment of Blogcritics.org, John Scalzi, has some very exciting news:

Today is the official release date for The Rough Guide to the Universe. That's in the US, mind you; in the UK, it's already been out for a month, and I'm mildly confused as to why every single Briton has not gone to purchase their own copy. Well, it's early yet.

....Because I'm the author of the book, I got sent a number of author copies, most of which will be going to family and immediate friends, but to celebrate the release of the book, I thought it would be fun to have a little contest. So here it is: I will give one FREE, autographed copy of The Rough Guide to the Universe to the person who best completes this sentence:

"The Universe is..."

My personal answer to this is "The Universe is where I keep all my stuff," but I'm sure you have your own personal insights on the matter.

To provide your answer, just drop a line in the comments thread for this entry. Enter as many times as you like BUT the cut-off for entries is 11:59 pm EST Friday, May 16. I will pick the response I find the most interesting and announce the winner on May 19.

My answer is: "the universe is a construct of our collective senses," but that's not funny or anything.