Only the echos of my mind
Why is "he's afraid of his own shadow" disparaging? Shadows can be really scary.
Recently I was in a department store's shoe section and overheard a young woman chatting about her earrings and fiancé. She said, "I found them online," but I thought she said, "I found him online." I thought that sounded funny -- the next version of match.com will have a screen full of men (or women, as the case may be) where you can click for alternate views and compare prices.
A cat food commercial would be funny if it were from the cat's point of view. Sort of like modern commercials for Prozac and Viagra. In recent years we've had "Meow meow meow meow" (classic!) and "Kibbles and bits, oh boy, oh boy" (not cat food, but same concept). I would like to see a cat food commercial where you're watching a cat skulk around an 800 sq. ft. apartment and hearing the cat's voice-over narrative: "You know, Cynthia and I moved to the city and things were difficult -- I'm an indoor cat, and it was rough leaving that farmhouse. I liked to stalk the mice and then nibble on a tail as I basked in the morning country sunlight streaming through the kitchen window. I was a sad cat in the city until Lila set the first bowl of Purina Cat Chow down in front of me. (Cut to cat sitting with Lila and purring; passing cars heard faintly outside) Now, thanks to Purina, I am a changed cat. Lila, thank you for giving me Purina Cat Chow and giving me a second lease on life."
My mother and I recently were sitting in the 100-degree garage, in the unstarted Cavalier, debating whether to zip over to LGO or wait to hear from Neil and Paul, who were finishing a hike.
Geri: I can't sit here if we don't at least roll down a window.
Diana: Yeah. (Rummages for key) Actually, you can just roll it down -- we don't need to start the car.
Geri: (Genuinely delighted, as she rolls the window down) What will they come up with next?!
Last week Neil and I were getting ready to run an errand. I was feeling rather trollish, but I decided to make an effort. As I touched up my blush and added some lipstick I noticed that it was making not one whit of positive difference in my appearance -- quite the opposite. I thought, "It's kind of like 'gilding the lily,' but in reverse. What would be a term for that?" No sooner had I asked the universe than the answer fell into my mind: "Painting the cow."
How come people say that being dead is like being asleep? Clearly, nobody who has experienced death has reported back as much. If someone is dead they may look to the living as though they are in repose, or vice-versa, but that is what it is like from the outside. Perhaps there is an element to life that has nothing whatsoever to do with the mechanics of the body and brain, and that therefore will not alter upon death? Sometimes we talk about the soul or the spirit being bound to the body, and then after death floating elsewhere. Maybe the soul/spirit/other element to life (not that they are necessarily interchangeable, depending on one's religious outlook, but it's arguably the same general concept here) is not tied to the body. Rather, our sensory perceptions are tied to the body, but our interactions with the universe are influenced by our sensory perceptions and also the "other element," which has neither death nor location.
