From Blog to Reality

I spent another day in the office today and I've got to admit that on the relative scale of amusement this one was incredible. In sharp contrast to the last time I spent an entire day in the office I had an almost overwhelming number of inputs from wonderful and friendly people. It was, frankly, incredible and if today is representative of a normal day in the office (when everyone's actually there) then I'm an idiot to have ever left. I will not, however, belabor my readers with details but will take the opportunity to draw a few general observations.

I'm increasingly amused by the number of conversations that are drawn from or include some reference to this blog. In a way that's somewhat ironic when you consider that this forum basically amounts to the innermost recesses of my mind turned inside out for public display. Given the level of detail available in these 233 posts I'm not sure what else there could possibly be to talk about? (Have I mentioned that I often feel like I'm repeating myself?) I must admit that it's particularly amusing when someone sees themselves in a post and later asks for clarification (but possibly more amusing when they fail to see themselves entirely). When they do ask for more about themselves it's like you're starting a conversation at the end and you've skipped to the really interesting bit at the end. You know that part, it's the one where you get to find out someone thinks you look like Brad Pitt. I sometimes wonder how many people just never get to that part. Quite a shame really. Life's too short to deny people the right to hear phrases like, "You are just the nicest person I know" or "You look like Brad Pitt if he were a woman" because you're too embarrassed to utter them.

Speaking of repeating myself, I'd intended to write about how incredibly friendly the world was today. I wanted to write about how I went out the front door with a completely jubilant attitude and how the whole world was one big mirror and reflected my great mood back at me. I even had all this formed in my mind and ready to put down in 1,000 words or less. I wanted to describe my friendly banter with pretty close to strangers, my smiles shared with small children playing tennis and the tinkling sound of laughter and the knowledge that I had caused it... Well, I was going enumerate all this and point it all back to the fact that I started the day with a positive attitude and from there I'd point out what a great epiphany this was and how glad I was that I'd made this discovery. Then I realized that I already said that three years ago. Have I mentioned that I often feel like I'm repeating myself?

As I was driving home (Have I mentioned how many ideas come to me when I'm driving home?) I remembered the power that music has over us. Somewhat ironically, these thoughts made it completely impossible for me to pay any attention to what was coming out of my speakers at the time. But the point is that over all the years of my life I remember the people that gave me music. Dad gave me an incredibly diverse baseline from the 60s through the 80s in the person of Zappa and the Beatles when I was a lad. My grandparents gave me a handful of songs and an appreciation for Bing Crosby. Of course these are people I'm supposed to remember but even into college I remember the guy who gave me They Might Be Giants. I'm carrying around tunes from The Beautiful South, Prozzak and Miranda! in my head from my first job. In a very real way music ties us together. Now if I find the person who gave me this Lou Bega CD I'm going to shoot them.

< ... turn over CD to continue story ... >