It’s Complicated, But Not Unusual.

It’s not unusual for bloggers to hit on similar themes at the same time. What is unusual is that I happened to run across graffiti that seemed to speak to the theme that I felt three of my favorite bloggers had in common recently. Admittedly it’s also not unusual for me to extrapolate wildly and tie together completely unrelated things which meant that sometimes in English classes my interpretations of stories and poems were so wildly off the mark one of my teachers suggested I stop freebasing banana peels in the parking lot at lunch, but that’s another story.

This week Ann Koplow of The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally is at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and while she writes daily about a variety of subjects and started the week with Wishes. But more broadly there’s something significant about her time there right now because her son is going to be attending the University of Edinburgh.

That’s why it struck me that Gilly, whose blog is Anything Except Housework, has a post contemplating her empty nest, and reflecting on her time raising two boys and what she might have missed, but more importantly she reminds herself of the need to remember the good she’s done.

And Chuck Baudelaire of Always Drunk contemplated moments that changed her life, moments that led her to where she is now.

All three were reflective and I somehow had all three in mind when I saw this:

simple1simple

And it made me think about how quickly a life can change but every moment is complicated. Every moment is embedded in every other moment. Singling out one is like extracting a crystal from a matrix.

If the connection seems vague it’s because, like I said, it’s not unusual for me to tie unrelated things together, but maybe that’s because everything really is related.

And that also reminds me of a joke. A guy goes to the doctor and says, “Doc, every time I pass a park I start singing ‘Green Green Grass Of Home’ and every time I see a cat I start singing ‘What’s New, Pussycat?'”

The doctor says, “It sounds like you’ve got Tom Jones syndrome.”

The guy says, “Tom Jones syndrome? I’ve never heard of that. Is it rare?”

The doctor says, “It’s not unusual.”

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15 Comments

  1. Ray V.
    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      Wow. What an amazing coincidence, and I’m glad I could provide a small spark of inspiration. Thank you.

      Reply
  2. halfa1000miles

    Sentence #1. AMEN. But it’s usually YOU that posts it first for me. You often post something that relates somehow to my next post that’s only in draft. Then I feel like I’m “copying”, but I swear I’m not. It overlapped.

    I had not seen or heard the word “anthrax” in probably a decade. Kristine at http://www.mumrevised.com released a post with that word, RIGHT before I was going to publish my draft that featured the word. I was so not copying! Were we both triggered by something? Was that completely random? I haven’t seen the word again since.

    It also happens so often AFTER my post and I wonder about the coincidence. IS it a coincidence? Was theirs already in draft? Did mine stir something in their memory? Were both our posts sparked by something we collectively saw? Or are they blatantly ripping me off (I doubt it)? The answer is not as simple as I want it to be. I FREAKING LOVE THAT SIGN.

    Reply
    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      Since you’re the one who taught me what the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon is I think you’re in a better position to say how these things occur, but it seems to be one of those mysteries of the universe. And I’m okay with it being a mystery. Some things are just best left unsolved.
      And now I want to go and find what both you and Kristine wrote about anthrax. Or maybe the band Anthrax.

      Reply
      1. halfa1000miles

        Ha! Smart people may chalk it up to the B-M. Other people will think you piggybacked 🙂

        Reply
        1. Arionis

          I saw this comment about the Baader-Menhof phenomenon and wondered what it was, so I looked it up. Very interesting. Just a few months ago I started thinking about buying a new vehicle to replace my old truck. I’d always wanted a Jeep Wrangler. All of a sudden I started seeing Jeep Wranglers everywhere! I’m sure they were always there but I never took much notice until I started thinking about them. Still, it sure seemed like they came out of the woodwork.

          Reply
  3. Ann Koplow

    It’s not unusual for me to be grateful for you and your blog, Chris. Thanks for insights so rare, pussycat.

    Reply
    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      It’s also not unusual for your comments to make me incredibly happy.

      Reply
  4. Gilly Maddison

    Thank you! The word ‘time remaining’ just leapt out at me and made me wish there had been a sign along the road at the appropriate time. It left me me thinking, ‘why, why, why Delilah?’ Something special coming up for you Sir!

    Reply
    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      I’m flabbergasted. And here I was thinking of myself as I who have nothing, but clearly there’s so much.

      Reply
  5. mydangblog

    Tom Jones with Art of Noise covering Prince’s Kiss. Now it’s in my head and I’m happy. Also, that’s a very complicated set of instructions on the pole–how does anyone ever get across the road? Maybe the poster also refers to the crosswalk.

    Reply
    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      In that area the complicated instructions are designed to make sure that no one ever tries to cross the road.

      Reply
  6. Arionis

    Love the sign! If you’ll allow me to steal from you and extrapolate wildly, it kind of ties in with the theme of a small cog that can affect the much bigger machine of life.

    The joke was hilarious! Mars attacks is one of those movies that is so bad it is good.

    Now it looks like I have some more bloggers to check out.

    Reply
    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      Please extrapolate wildly. I really think you’re on to something with how a small cog can affect the bigger machine of life. The more complicated any system is the easier it is for even a small thing to completely muck it up, and the harder it is to find the small things that can affect the big things.

      Reply
      1. Arionis

        Well said!

        Reply

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