Life is a Placebo Masquerading as a Simile
These lines of a They Might Be Giants Song have been running through my head all afternoon. In my mother’s last years music would creep into my mother’s subconscious. The popular song would crawl out of her subcranial terrain and enter into her conscious world. She would find herself humming a tune and realize/create a greater meaning in connection with her life at that moment.
I’m feeling that way today, too – and I can’t decide if this particular ditty is refreshingly honest, and fun- or just totally depressing.
I have – of late – been obsessed with a computer simulation game. Mendon can attest to this- I’ve been playing it every time he calls for the last couple of weeks. I am a farmer. In the game the farm gal loses stamina faster when completing tasks if she hasn’t gotten good rest the night before. I came home from work and tried my hand at an afternoon siesta. I don't expect sympathy - but rising at 6:30 has never been natural for me. I was in great need of rest. As I lay in bed thinking about my farmer gal I realized that my life was just like the game. I wanted to go and get stuff done- but if I kept going I would lose stamina faster… and get much less accomplished. It’s weird when life imitates video games. Frankly – it means I’ve been playing so long that the game has become my dominant concept of thought.
And this had me thinking about the movie You’ve Got Mail, where the main character is run out of the book selling business- and trying to find what to do next. She writes “Everything reminds me of something in a book, when isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?” She’s commenting on her very timid, safe life- and stating that she hasn’t really had the courage to go out and live. The stuff she reads should remind her of her own real adventures in life.
And then I really hit the wall, because my life reminded me of a video game, and that reminded me of a movie. And now, as I write this, I feel a little bit like I’m writing some existential paper for an English class.
I haven’t blogged in a while. I am teaching now- full time hostile takeover of a high school English class.
Speaking of hostile takeovers- I have a beloved brother who needs to get in contact with a certain storage facility.
Comments
Rae, the video game is imitating life. I promise. It has pretty much always been that if we humans don't get enough rest that we lose stamina faster. :-)
I love you. Life sucks sometimes. I've been in a bit of a tailspin this past week. Snapping at Mark, irritable. Ugh. I'm not even enjoying this cooler weather and it's the weather I swear up and down to people that I enjoy the most. Liam is crazy teething (two year molars take MONTHS to come in).
Anywho, I love you.
Posted by: Mara | October 28, 2008 10:35 AM