What's up?

Hi there!

What's up?  Lots of things!

Up - adverb - 1. 
         a. In or to a higher position: looking up.
         b. In a direction opposite to the center of the earth or a
comparable
            gravitational center: up from the lunar surface.
   2. In or to an upright position: sat up in bed.
   3.
         a. Above a surface: coming up for air.
         b. So as to detach or unearth: pulling up weeds.
         c. Above the horizon: as the sun came up.
   4. Into view or existence: draw up a will.
   5. Into consideration: take up a new topic.
   6. In or toward a position conventionally regarded as higher, as on
a scale,
      chart, or map: temperatures heading up; up in Canada.
   7. To or at a higher price: stocks that are going up.
   8. So as to advance, increase, or improve: Our spirits went up. 

[ http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=up ]

First quarter profits at Home Depot, one of my favorite stores, are up
35%!
[ http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/020521/retail_homedepot_earns_4.html ]

Crocuses in my front yard are up, in spite of the horrid weather we're
having in the Midwest.
[ http://www.botany.com/crocus.html ]

Pretty girls are still up on walls and lockers everywhere:
[ http://www.botany.com/crocus.html ]

My neighbor's son is a Marine, home on leave this week.  He's up to
300 push-ups.
[ http://www.betterbodz.com/shoulders/push_ups.html ]

There are beautiful things up in the sky...
[ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html ]

The corners of my mouth are up, too, smiling at a fun question.

Have a terrific day!

missy-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by missy-ga on 21 May 2002 17:07 PDT

That pin up link should read:

[ http://www.greatamericanpinup.com/ ]

...and now the color in my cheeks is up, too, embarrassed that I
didn't proofread closely enough!

I was going to give you 4 stars, but I laughed at your clarification
so I gave you 5.

Dear wantstoknow,

In reference to your question "What's up?" I believe any of 
the following answers clearly define what "up" is:

 1) The direction opposite to gravitational pull
 2) A negative direction on the Z axis of a left-handed rectangular
coordinate system
 3) An outward projecting perpendicular to a normal to the earth's
surface

NASA has several resources describing both gravity and 
coordinate systems in detail:

Gravity
http://spaceprojects.arc.nasa.gov/Space_Projects/SSBRP/gravity.html

Introduction to the Aerodynamics of Flight, Appendix C: COORDINATE
SYSTEMS
http://history.nasa.gov/SP-367/appendc.htm

These answers make great ice-breakers at SciFi conventions, too.

Have fun, and keep smiling.

Spot

Ha! Now that's a great answer.  I'd give it a 5-star rating.

Great answer, missy!

Excellent answer missy-ga!

I would of gave you 5 stars too!

mistajon-ga

........not only a great answer but perhaps Missy's finest hour in the
research business

Once again, the woman has amazed me, lol