Let me tell you the story
Of a man named Charlie
On a tragic and fateful day
He put ten cents in his pocket,
Kissed his wife and family
Went to ride on the MTA

Charlie handed in his dime
At the Kendall Square Station
And he changed for Jamaica Plain
When he got there the conductor told him,
"One more nickel."
Charlie could not get off that train.

Chorus:
                                                Did he ever return,
                                                No he never returned
                                                And his fate is still unlearn'd
                                                He may ride forever
                                                'neath the streets of Boston
                                                He's the man who never returned.

Now all night long
Charlie rides through the tunnels
                                                                  the station
Saying, "What will become of me?
Crying
How can I afford to see
My sister in Chelsea
Or my cousin in Roxbury?"

"A space probe that takes 9 years to go from earth to Pluto would take over 100,000 years to get to even our closest neighbor, a mere 4.2 light years away."

Your major point that stars are really really far away is an important one. Stross or Scalzi blogged about that a while back.

However, I'm going to nitpick your sentence quoted above,and suggest that your conclusion may be wrong as well.

Talking about a space probe that takes 9 years to go to pluto is like talking about how long a snail would take to go to hawaii. In snail terms, it's too far. But I've been to hawaii and back. Also, I think you used a linear projection. But spacecraft don't usually travel linearly. Assuming some sort of fuel or propulsive mechanism, (a problematic assumption, i know) they keep accelerating to turn-around point. Speed of spacecraft increases by exponential factors, sort of a moore's law of spaceships. Within 100 years, some kind of fusion drive or other advanced technology should be doable. Make yourself into a software simulation, on a piece of hardware that can withstand 20 g's and weighs a gram, and has a fusion drive first stage to get it started,and you shave a lot of time off the trip. How to slow down at the other end I don't have a solution for yet.

the best touch screen based system i've seen, designed for ease of use by non-computer users, was the PLATO-IV system.
in 1982.

thanks. i wasn't sure if endor and endore were the same person. endore wrote the screenplay for that peter lorre movie where he gets transplanted hands from a murderer. also wrote other horror-type screenplays.

found it, with help from redditt
http://www.scribbleandshutter.com/2007/writing/daybeaver/daydragon01.htm

there's a wonderful story in some sf anthology i read back in the dim ages. a scientist does an operation on some alligators to restore the 4chambered heart, and the alligators then grow wings, become dragons, and conquer the world.

story as submitted says "this week". but now it's been sitting there for a week, should read last week. it used to take about two days for my submissions to get accepted or rejected. now they sit until they are no longer relevant,and eventually get rejected. don't know what that's about.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/1970-09-01/Dandelion-Wine.aspx
yours is a good plan tho.