We all have them. Those insignificant things that drive us so crazy, they make us want to yank out our own hair by the fistful. But we don’t do it, because we know how painful a little paper cut is, and we can imagine that tearing out clumps of hair and scalp would have to feel a lot worse. So we keep quiet, silently simmering in our own secretions. Although sometimes we kick a solid object, such as a cinder block or a suitcase we thought was empty but wasn’t. This, too, turns out to be a mistake, and may make us wish we’d gone with the hair-yanking decision, instead.
Let me amend my first statement. I’m not sure that we all have them. I know that I have them, these unexplainable sources of annoyance, and that they’ve always been a part of me. And I don’t mean pet peeves. We love our pets, and give them endearing names and feed them whenever they get hungry. No, these are not pets. They’re more like emotional first-degree burns, a constant ringing in my brain, an itch deep within the recesses of my mental infrastructure.
Okay, there’s one of them right there, but you probably didn’t catch it because you were distracted by the ridiculous phrase, mental infrastructure. I’m talking about the word, itch. Just seeing it makes me have to scratch my neck, then my head, then a spot just below my rib cage. Any mention of mosquitoes or fleas or haircuts and I’ll be scratching for days. But what is an itch? If we could magnify its exact location on the skin, what would we see? Nerve endings tickling each other? Microscopic bugs pinching us with their tiny tentacles? Or maybe we’re having diaper rash flashbacks. All I know is, if someone tells me they have an itch, then I have one, too. It’s contagious, like yawning and laughter and memory loss. (If one person asks what the name of that big, white, shiny thing is that moves across the sky at night, I find that I can’t remember either. This causes us to all laugh uncontrollably for ten minutes, and then everyone starts yawning and falling asleep. When you’re my age, this is known as a party.)
Speaking of flashbacks, what about deja vu? Some people get some kind of weird charge out of the feeling that what just happened seems oddly familiar — that it’s happened before. I hate deja vu. It’s spooky, and makes me feel as though my mind has slipped on some slick patch of spacetime and careened face-first down a wormhole. I have to literally stop and shake it off, like a shiver. I don’t want to think something has happened before, because there’s a good chance I didn’t understand it the first time, and I don’t care to experience my own confusion again on instant replay.
Having the sensation that a brand new incident seems old is unsettling enough. I get almost as rattled when someone thinks I said something, when I didn’t. The person is standing four feet away, and I haven’t spoken in a while. Suddenly, she’ll ask what I said. When I reply that I didn’t say anything, she’ll insist that I did. “Did she hear me speak?” I’ll wonder. Because either she’s hallucinating or I’m losing my mind while cutting up celery. Even worse: When I did speak and uttered what I thought was a normal and reasonable remark, but they heard something bizarre, like the kind of thing people mumble in their sleep. I’ll say, “The car is making a squeaking sound,” and they’ll think I said, “How far is it to Tiki Town?” Is this nature’s way of balancing the books, to make up for all the times I did say something and no one heard me? If so, I can do without the attempt at fairness. Or are spoken words being sent down the wrong track at the switching station? I imagine some poor traveler stumbling into a village in the South Pacific. He stops to ask for directions to Tiki Town and the other person thinks he said, “The car is making a squeaking sound.” It’s a global misunderstanding that goes completely unnoticed.
More words that inspire me to run from the room. Snip. This is a word I’ve most often heard while undergoing a minor medical procedure. “We’re going to give you a local anesthesia, then go in and do a quick snip.” My mind wanders. Local anesthesia? Wouldn’t it have to be local? A long-distance anesthesia wouldn’t help at all. And what do they mean by “snip,” exactly? Where is the line between snip and sever? When does sever become amputate? Is there a clear distinction between amputate and dissect?
Queasy. This is one of those perfect words that not only describes the feeling, but actually causes it. If someone tells me they feel queasy, then so do I, and I still feel queasy long after they’ve recovered.
Pod. I have no idea what my problem is with this word. But it scares me, in any context.
I don’t like old movies. I hesitate to say this, because it tends to unleash a torrent of disbelief, followed by dismissive condescension, and even occasional violence. It makes me sound uncivilized and shallow, I realize, to say I can’t watch It’s A Wonderful Life, and have never made it through Casablanca. Here, I’ll save you the trouble of telling me: These are brilliant films. Classics. They broke new ground in the art of cinema. I know. But I can’t sit still for the melodrama. The bone-crunching hugs, the crazed gestures and wild facial expressions, the long gazes out windows, the endless and unbelievably uninterrupted monologues. And all that yelling. It seems unnatural and, to me, tiresome. I especially don’t like when some young guy addresses an elderly character as “Old Man.” If anyone ever calls me that, I’ll pretend to lose control and beat him senseless with my walking stick.
Yes, I like The Wizard of Oz, but Auntie Em’s hand-wringing gets on my nerves. And some of those Munchkins really overdo it, too.
Sometimes I’ll be waiting at a red light and another car pulls up next to me. It’s pumping out a tidal wave of sound that, I assume, the other driver believes to be music. But my nervous system receives it as a thumping, repetitive vibration that seems to thunder along the ground, into my tires, and straight up my spine. The convenience store and the post office begin to move around. New pot holes open up in the road ahead. Thousands of miles away, elephants are probably having an emotional breakdown. And there’s an unexpected itch calling to me from both kneecaps. I consider lowering my window and screaming at the twelve-year-old behind the wheel, but I’m sure he won’t comprehend anything I say because someone has no doubt snipped something vital inside his skull. I also resist the urge to slam my foot against his fender, or to extract a handful of my own hair. Instead, I wait for the light to change, hoping he’ll lower his window and yell, “What’s the problem, Old Man?” But even then, how can I be sure he really said that, or anything at all?
Ashley
August 3, 2012
One small irritation can certainly drive you crazy! I’ve noticed that from time to time, Stephen King will bless his main character (you know, the one that’s going to eventually lose it and kill folks) with a small, but nasty irritation. In “The Shining”, it was a toothache that Jack Torrence suffered from. Just like today – a small gnat flying around my desk almost caused me to put my fist thru the computer screen. Doesn’t take much some days. Excellent blog, as always:)
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bronxboy55
August 4, 2012
Thank you for reminding me about gnats, Ashley. There seems to be one flying in my face whenever I’m trying to eat. And it’s always one — never two or three. I think about how huge the house is compared to a gnat, and why it needs to be bothering me. I also wonder how something with three brain cells can get me so upset.
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Diane Henders
August 3, 2012
I’ve never understood the evolutionary logic behind an itch. Pain, okay. That makes sense. That’s just nature’s way of telling us dumb folks, “You’re damaging yourself. You should stop doing that now.” But an itch? Makes you need to scratch. No good ever came from scratching. If you don’t scratch enough, the itch doesn’t go away. If you scratch too much, you get pain (see “nature’s way”…). If you scratch too deeply, you break the skin and get an infection (see “pain”). And here’s the kicker: Scratching can also trigger a physiological response called a histamine reaction… which CAUSES itching! Whose stupid idea was that?
Inexplicably irritated? I don’t think so. I’d say “justifiably irritated”. 🙂
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knotrune
August 4, 2012
I think the evolutionary advantage was to get us to remove biting insects. Not just gnats, but lice etc. Now I’m itching…
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bronxboy55
August 4, 2012
It doesn’t seem to be working, knotrune, does it?
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knotrune
August 4, 2012
Most of us don’t have fleas, lice and worms anymore 🙂 Still need to get rid of those gnats of course…
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bronxboy55
August 4, 2012
Diane, you really do think in flow charts, don’t you?
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Ray Colon
August 3, 2012
I’m pretty sure that you were right the first time, Charles. We all have them. Well, except for those people who walk around smiling all of the time. (Yep, they’re on my list). That’s it. Except for them, we all have them.
Lately, I’ve found that I can be irritated and not even know why. I’d classify those as truly inexplicable irritations. Either that or some bad fish.
My wife and daughters don’t like old movies, so I’m not surprised that you don’t enjoy them either. But my brother and I play a game where we text each other old movie lines all of the time. I’m betting that receiving texts like those would annoy you. Now, what was your cell number again?
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bronxboy55
August 4, 2012
I quote movie lines all the time, Ray. Just nothing before 1960.
It’s been a long time — it was great to hear from you again.
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Sandra Parsons
August 3, 2012
I get this with written words. The German word for bad or evil is böse, and doesn’t this word stare at you with those umlaut-dots for eyes like the incarnation of Satan? Sometimes I wish I was a less visual person.
Thanks for the giggle. And the itch.
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bronxboy55
August 4, 2012
When you look at individual numbers, do they seem to have personalities, too? We should compare impressions someday.
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myonepreciouslife
August 12, 2012
I’ve read about this! It’s an actual syndrome of some kind. I think maybe a minor form of autism? That could totally be wrong. But it’s definitely a thing some people have.
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sarah9188
August 3, 2012
Thigh. I hate the word thigh. And tasty. Not sure why, but they both bother me.
And now my knee itches. Thank you. :p
(Love this post)
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Jennie Upside Down
August 3, 2012
I hate the word moist.
I don’t even know why.
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bronxboy55
August 4, 2012
Jennie, my daughter has a problem with the word moist, too. And she also can’t explain it. I’ll tell her about you — maybe you can start a club.
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bronxboy55
August 4, 2012
Sarah, I hate the word tasty, too! Not the sound of it, but the fact that it seems so neutral. What does it mean? That food has a lot of taste? It could be a lot of bad taste, couldn’t it? To me, describing food as tasty is like calling a song musical, or saying a painting is very visual.
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sarah9188
August 4, 2012
That may be part of it. And it gives my brain a mental itch. Not as easy to itch as your knee. I can’t explain it, though. But, maybe I’ll just steal your idea for now to explain myself.
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Dominique Vaz
August 3, 2012
I totally agree with most of this. Also now I’m itchy after reading this post. But didn’t you already write a post like this before? I get the feeling that you did.
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bronxboy55
August 4, 2012
I’ve no doubt written several posts like this one, Dominique. I have an entire category called Exasperating, so there’s a good chance.
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bronxboy55
August 5, 2012
And I’m sure there are more to come.
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Pleun
August 3, 2012
I recently wrote about itch http://pleunblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/something-is-bugging-me/, it turned out to be an actual disease but more so for women I believe. So I guess I really don’t know where your itch comes from either 🙂
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bronxboy55
August 5, 2012
The power of suggestion is a strange and amazing thing, Pleun. If you show or describe any itch-inducing experience, I think most people will immediately start to scratch.
I liked your post.
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Pleun
August 5, 2012
Thank you! I itched my way through writing it as I am sure you did too 🙂
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rangewriter
August 3, 2012
I’m glad someone else confesses to having problems with classic old movies. The gravelly voices get to me. Well, the males are all gravelly. The females are always on the verge of a silly attack.
Seriously, you should be getting paid to do what Andy Rooney used to do. Matter of fact, I bet you were writing material for him. Funny, I never really enjoyed watching him like I enjoy reading you. I think its because his eyebrows scared me.
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bronxboy55
August 5, 2012
And his voice was pretty gravelly, too, in a whiny kind of way.
Thank you, Linda, for always being so supportive. I’m always happy when I see your picture appear in the Comments.
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shoreacres
August 3, 2012
Thanks to your post, I finally got an explication on something that’s been irritating me no end. I feel much better – thanks!
And by-the-by – just wondering if you have an iPod!?
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bronxboy55
August 5, 2012
I don’t have an iPod, Linda. Nor would I ever sleep in one of those Japanese pod hotels, which look a little too similar to laundromat clothes dryers.
http://montaraventures.com/blog/2008/06/08/pod-hotel/
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shoreacres
August 5, 2012
Those pods are exactly the point where the cross-cultural experience comes to a screeching halt. I get claustrophobic just looking at them – hotel rooms for the hive-minded.
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greenroomgallery
August 3, 2012
I haven’t made it through Casablanca either, deja vu amaze me and I only wish they would last longer. Now I’ll be thinking all day on what irritates me which is of no value since I have so many other things I should be thinking about. Thanks for sharing your weird world with us. 🙂
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bronxboy55
August 5, 2012
Thank you, Charlotte. You’re the first person who’s ever admitted that to me about Casablanca. I’ve heard so many people talk about having watched it dozens of times.
And your world is weird, too. You know it is.
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greenroomgallery
August 10, 2012
That doesn’t surprise me ……but who decides what movie should be a classic anyway.
Yes, I’ll be the first to admit that my world has a weirdness to it as well.
I’m looking forward to your next blog entry.
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Madame Weebles
August 3, 2012
I have never made it though Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, or Citizen Kane. It’s just too brutal. And “itch” is really the perfect word for what it is. It can’t possibly resonate as well in other languages as it does in English.
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bronxboy55
August 5, 2012
I saw Citizen Kane in a college film course, as well as the others you mentioned, and It’s A Wonderful Life. I appreciated them more back then, because the course started with The Great Train Robbery — which was made in 1903 — and examined movies chronologically. Now I tend to compare the earlier films to modern ones, and I guess that isn’t fair.
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nailingjellotoatree
August 3, 2012
Ha ha. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the word “moist”. Because that one always makes me giggle like a Catholic school girl.
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bronxboy55
August 5, 2012
It sounds as though your thoughts would be much more interesting than mine. Have you written about it?
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madamfickle
August 3, 2012
You. Are. AWESOME. I mean it. I snorted, I was laughing so hard. When I finished, I went back to the beginning and read the whole thing aloud for Rock Star.
You perfectly described how I hear, all day, everyday. I hear “Do you have information on Paula Jones? ” Then I laugh and translate Paula Jones into “student loans “. True story.
I’m happy to report that I did survive. The plane and the vacation, mostly. My right thumbnail isn’t going to make it. There was an incident with a sliding glass door. However, I’ve decided to say “zombie bite ” when people ask.
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bronxboy55
August 6, 2012
Thanks, Madam. I hear that way, too, but when something makes no sense, I give the other person the benefit of the doubt and try to figure out what they probably said.
Sorry to hear about your thumbnail. I hope the trip was otherwise relaxing.
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Andrea Kelly
August 3, 2012
I hate the word “sensual”. *Shudder*. Hate it.
As a child I used to run out of the room screaming whenever anyone said “bizarre.” No idea why!
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bronxboy55
August 6, 2012
I don’t like the word sensual, either. It makes me feel like something profound has happened, and I’ve completely missed it. And it has a shrill sound — something like the word shrill itself.
Maybe we all have words we can’t stand. I wonder if there’s always a reason.
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Andrea Kelly
August 7, 2012
It is strange that we all have certain sounds that rub us the wrong way, isn’t it? But yes, I agree, it does sound shrill!
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Val
August 3, 2012
Oh dear. Sometime in the future (or was it in the past?) I’ve got a post coming up with a picture of p.o.d.s. (I put the dots there so that you don’t read that as your most unfavourite word. Well, I mean you will, but at least the letters are little less together).
Charles you’re amazing! Now does that make you think you’re trying to find your way out of a maze?
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bronxboy55
August 6, 2012
I always feel as though I’m trying to find my way out of a maze. But there’s usually another maze right there, waiting for me.
I’ll read your post anyway, Val, with or without the p.o.d.s.
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Anonymous
August 3, 2012
Move over. I hate old movies, too. In fact, I hate NEW movies. I was forced to go see “Titanic”. I couldn’t believe the hype for what was, ultimately, a tedious, boring movie (although the scenes of the ship standing on end were frightening)..never mind that it was historically inaccurate. Sitting through a movie makes me feel as if I just wasted two or even three hours of my life.
Things that drive me crazy: people using the word ‘loose’ when they mean ‘lose’. People who cannot or will not learn the difference between “there”, “they’re” and “their”. People who pronounce words incorrectly, i.e, they say ‘imporDent” instead of imporTant”. Or worse, “liberry” instead of “library”.
Some words I DO like, that say what they mean” ‘murmur” “shimmering” “silver”.
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bronxboy55
August 6, 2012
I wish they could combine the technique of new movies with the type of stories depicted in older films. It does happen, but rarely. As you said, it takes a lot of wasted time to find an occasional movie worth watching.
About loose and lose, forget it. That battle is lost, along with the disappearance of led as the past tense of lead.
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Bruce
August 3, 2012
What a great read. I had a good laugh with the ‘back scratcher’ cartoon and the ‘combing the clock’ cartoon. Bruce
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bronxboy55
August 6, 2012
Thanks, Bruce. I always appreciate your reaction.
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buckwheatsrisk
August 4, 2012
so funny i’m itching and yawning whilst snipping open a box of kleenex to wipe away my laughter tears..
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bronxboy55
August 6, 2012
Don’t your tissue boxes have those perforated tops? But they never tear off cleanly, do they? You buy this beautiful, decorative box of tissues and there’s always that unsightly ripped cardboard scar across the front of it.
I admit, that one’s pretty minor, in the scheme of things. But you started it.
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buckwheatsrisk
October 24, 2012
very true!
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knotrune
August 4, 2012
I used to think irritatingness was probably what drove the world. Things get done when someone becomes just too irritated not to come up with a solution. It certainly motivates me, except I can’t solve them all! I get irritated by so many things, hiccups for example drive me insane if I can’t make them go away and the only cure for me is to drink water. I yell at them and hit myself! Arggh!
My oddest is that my left nostril blocks far more readily than the right. It drives me nuts when the left blocks and I can’t shift it. It even wakes me up at night and I have to stay awake until it clears as there’s no way I could drop off. My right shoulder is squished from me lying on that side more than the other trying to use gravity to shift it.
What’s more annoying than an itch is when you scratch that itch on the back of your head and suddenly get an agonising pain in the elbow as a result. I have arthritis, so I have to remember to only scratch my head with my left arm.
But my husband doesn’t seem as sensitive as me, he doesn’t understand how intolerable the irritations are. He finds me irritating of course 🙂 but life’s little annoyances don’t seem to trouble him. He is a worrier though, which I’m not so much, so it balances out!
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bronxboy55
August 7, 2012
I think you’re right: nothing changes unless someone is dissatisfied with something. So while it may seem that we’re just crabby and like to complain, we’re actually the driving force behind all progress. Hiccups drive me crazy, too, especially when they last for hours — or when they seem to stop, only to start up again. Thanks for reminding me about that. And if I get the hiccups today, I’ll know who to blame.
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She's a Maineiac
August 4, 2012
Deja vu–yeah, it freaks me out big time. Like you said, why would I want to experience my confusion a second time around?
Also when someone thinks they heard you say something. “Did you say something?” and I’ll immediately think, “OH GOD! Did they hear my thoughts??”
I cannot believe you don’t like old classic movies. I live for them, I’m all about the melodrama!
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bronxboy55
August 7, 2012
Darla, I have so many conversations in my head that I’m never completely sure if I’ve just said something out loud or not. I think this means that my skull is a lot more porous than my mother always said it was.
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patricemj
August 4, 2012
As I read this I thought, what’s the matter with me, why don’t I get irritated like everyone else? Now I’m wondering if I’m in denial about my ability to feel irritation. It’s possible I’m so grandiose I can’t just see something that bothers me as only my problem. This might have something to do with my location, I live in Seattle. We are not rewarded for demonstrating irritation – we are however permitted to be sad and drink good coffee and beer.
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bronxboy55
August 7, 2012
I think you’re just bothered by bigger issues, Patrice. But the word grandiose has a somewhat negative connotation. I’d say you’re more of a visionary.
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Michelle Gillies
August 4, 2012
Sometimes I think we were separated at birth! I started scratching as soon as I saw that image of the man with the back scratcher, before I read the post. Of all the things that you nailed in this post though, this one is the one that makes me the most crazy…
“Even worse: When I did speak and uttered what I thought was a normal and reasonable remark, but they heard something bizarre, …”. It seems, these days, every conversation goes this way in my house. I will say something pertaining to the current conversation. It is repeated back to me as some ridiculous gibberish with a question mark at the end. I ask for that to be repeated. Oddly, it gets repeated. I then say, “how in your wildest dreams could you imagine me saying that? Let’s just pretend there is some common sense and think about what we were talking about, could you imagine that I would have said something like that. Perhaps, if you really thought about it you could even figure out what I really said that sounded so close to what you said…” Of course, by now, the original conversation is gone and I am shaking my head and trying to figure out exactly when I fell down the rabbit hole.
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bronxboy55
August 7, 2012
I usually have the same response, Michelle. And then the conversation is ruined, because now my mind is dwelling on the ridiculous gibberish, rather than whatever it was we were talking about.
Hey, if you ever head far enough east, maybe we can get together and figure out how we got separated . Meanwhile, I really liked this recent post of yours:
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Michelle Gillies
August 7, 2012
That would be fun Charles. Don’t think it isn’t possible. In my lifetime I have somehow acquired 15 siblings (that actually includes me) so you being among them is not beyond my realm of reality.
I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog and comment. Talk soon, My Brother from another Mother/Father (it could happen!) 😉
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Mrs. Butler
August 4, 2012
It stikes me that I like your blog so much because it makes me feel normal (and that is truly meant as a compliment). – Worrywart
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bronxboy55
August 7, 2012
Thanks, WW. I’m glad you feel a little more normal — or maybe it’s good enough that we can feel abnormal together. I hope the move went well, and that you’re enjoying this new phase.
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marymtf
August 5, 2012
I don’t mind old movies, or didn’t used to. Foxtel spoiled it all for me. No one dies on Foxtel. You could be watching child actor Dean Stockwell hamming it up in the Secret Garden one minute then Dean Stockwell, cigar in mouth, hamming it up on Quantum Leap the next and the next and the next. He won’t go away. Judy Garland was a favourite to look forward to once a year, then someone went and spoiled it all for me by inventing videos.
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bronxboy55
August 10, 2012
I can remember certain movies that, whenever they came on television, it would be a major event in our house. We’d plan for days to watch something. Now I own those same movies on VHS or DVD, and I guess because I can see them anytime I want, I never watch them.
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Stacie Chadwick
August 5, 2012
Charles,
Your posts are always filled with so much to comment on, I don’t know where to start. Today I’ll deal with getting older. I was at a concert last night and the band was still playing at 12:30 (that’s the after-midnight 12:30, not a mid-day strings in the park kind of thing). Anyway, they hadn’t even come out for an encore yet, and as I looked left my husband was fighting off sleep, as I looked right one of my friends actually appeared to be in a coma, and at that moment I decided that I was too old for concerts that end when the next day is supposed to begin. Sad but true.
Favorite line: “I hate deja vu. It’s spooky, and makes me feel as though my mind has slipped on some slick patch of spacetime and careened face-first down a wormhole.”
Another great post, as always…
Stacie
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bronxboy55
August 10, 2012
I don’t know if it’s really age, Stacie, or if we’re just worn out by all of the things we have to worry about and pay attention to during the day. It was easier to stay up late when we were teenagers, because we could go home and sleep until noon. We didn’t realize it at the time, but life was less demanding then.
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Stacie Chadwick
August 11, 2012
I was just thinking this morning about college break, and that when I went away, I was AWAY. No texting. No cell phone. No internet. There’s something our children will never understand that they’ve lost in that. Kind of makes me sad….
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Doug (@AllanDouglasDgn)
August 5, 2012
You’re such a party animal, Charles!
I’m with you on the dejavu thing: I’ve often been in a place and had the nagging suspicion I’d been there before, then realize it’s my bathroom and I go in there several times a day. But on occasion I’ll realize that a series of events or statements to a particular person have been said before and that really creeps me out. Am I having a senior moment, or have I actually told this traffic cop that green M&M’s taste better than the red ones, so I didn’t see the red light I just ran.
Now, that next part I blame on hearing loss. I find being hard of hearing insanely entertaining because what I *think* I heard someone say is most often far more interesting that what they actually said. Of course they stare at me when I break out in hysterics at their request that I open the cupboard and pass them a glass.
I love old movies, but I’ll stop there so I don’t engage in dismissive condescension.
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bronxboy55
August 10, 2012
I refuse to believe in that senior moment stuff, Allan. If we were losing our mental faculties, I don’t think we’d notice. Anyway, the yellow M&Ms are better than green or red, because they have that delicious lemony yellow-dye coating.
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Hippie Cahier
August 6, 2012
It’s been a really long time since “we” had this “discussion,” but aren’t you an INFJ? I wonder if your extra-sensitivity (and I mean that in the nicest way) is why some of these things bother you. Similar things get to me: when anyone describes a sensation, from an irritation to excruciating pain, I experience it to some degree.
I used to think deja vu was enjoyable, but for several years now, it’s been accompanied by a sense that “this didn’t turn out well the first time” and, so, a sense of foreboding.
I’m not sure I have a point. Just the reaction that came to mind as I read. 🙂
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bronxboy55
August 10, 2012
Close. I’m an INFP — not that I really know the difference. But I agree: the extra sensitivity is both a blessing and a curse. I often envy people who allow most things to just flow around them, unnoticed. I wonder if we’re also more susceptible to deja vu; that would be an interesting thing to research.
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sri
August 6, 2012
I’m visiting after a long time and am glad I did. I really needed the affirmation that I’m normal. Or there are (is?) more than one abnormal person around here. Also badly needed the laugh. I scratched my head, forearms and my right ear the whole time I read the post.
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bronxboy55
August 10, 2012
Thanks, Sri. I’m glad you’re back. And, yes, there are quite a few abnormal people around here (but don’t tell them I said that).
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ladynimue
August 7, 2012
Inexplicable irritated ?? sure !! blame the people who crib and rant without reason or pause .. i can not stand that …
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bronxboy55
August 10, 2012
I always seem to have a reason to rant, Nimue, even if I have to go looking for it. If necessary, I can invent something to complain about.
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An Idealist Thinker
August 7, 2012
I laughed out loud at “When you’re my age, this is known as a party.” 🙂 And my face hurt from smiling through the rest! Oh, the unheard words.. unspoken words.. global misunderstandings. To top it all, they also go un-noticed.
( P.S. – I am glad I made it here this time. Mostly end up reading your posts on my email. )
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bronxboy55
August 10, 2012
It’s really great to hear from you, AIT. I hope there’s a lot more humor in your world these days.
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zoetic * epics
August 7, 2012
Hahaha … Let’s make a deal – I won’t call you “old man” if you don’t call me “lady”. I detest that word. Even if I’m 100, I will still prefer being called a “girl”. 😉
And deja-vu is fascinating and creepy at the same time! Now, do you realize it’s deja-vu BEFORE or AFTER it happens? I often realize how the scene plays out split seconds before it happens! I don’t like it either; don’t like anything that has no scientific explanation, makes me feel like I’m mildly crazy. Or just crazy.
And just so you know how good you are at writing, I was scratching my head while reading this post. I don’t do that very often. Thanks for the itch! 😉
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bronxboy55
August 10, 2012
Yes, that feeling of deja vu sometimes happens beforehand, as if I know what someone is going to say. But usually I feel it right in the middle of whatever is going on, or a split-second after. No matter what, I don’t like it.
PS — Thanks for the warning. I promise to never call you Lady.
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bspargo
August 8, 2012
Thanks for helping me to remember how susceptible I am to the power of suggestion. Now that I’m itching and yawning, I think I heard you say it was time to start the party. I’m sorry I won’t be able to attend. I’m feeling a bit queasy. Just found your blog. Thanks for the laugh! Oh, and let me tell you from experience, when a doctor uses the word “snip”, run! Well, run if your foot isn’t squished.
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bronxboy55
August 13, 2012
There are many unpleasant words that doctors use. Pressure is another one, as in, “Now you’re going to feel a little pressure.”
Thanks for the nice comment, Bobbi. And I hope everyone who sees this will also read your recent post about parents.
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Marusia
August 8, 2012
Charles,
“Unexplainable sources of annoyance”… We women can even blame PMS – at least hahaha! The worse is: every month we have the same sensation… deja-vu…
Thank you for posting it!
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bronxboy55
August 13, 2012
You’re right, Marusia. I hadn’t thought of that. My little episodes suddenly seem very minor.
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rifatmursalin
August 9, 2012
Hello! I really enjoy your posts! You inspire me! 😀
I have nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. Kindly see this link: http://rifatmursalin.com/2012/08/08/very-inspiring-blogger-award/
Thanks!
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bronxboy55
August 13, 2012
Thank you, Rifat. I appreciate that you thought of me. I briefly visited your blog and was impressed with what I saw there. I’m going to try to read more when time permits. Thanks again.
http://rifatmursalin.com/
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rifatmursalin
August 14, 2012
You’re quite welcome indeed. I am amazed every time I come here 🙂
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Amiable Amiable
August 15, 2012
Thank you, thank you, thank you – I can’t make it through “It’s a Wonderful Life” either! It makes me yawn … sorry .. shouldn’t have said that … are you yawning now?
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bronxboy55
August 15, 2012
I heard someone talking about Fargo last night, and thought of you.
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Anisha Gururaj
August 28, 2012
My favorite line: “No, these are not pets. They’re more like emotional first-degree burns, a constant ringing in my brain, an itch deep within the recesses of my mental infrastructure.” That’s exactly what it is, a mental itch that is just beyond your reach. You know you shouldn’t scratch it so you resist for a while, but eventually, it becomes unbearably explosive. I love your writing, especially the way you make me say, “Exactly!”
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bronxboy55
August 29, 2012
Thank you, Anisha. I appreciate that you would take the time to read my post and give me your feedback. And it’s always nice to know there are other people out there having similar thoughts and feelings.
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verdantstranger
September 22, 2012
I sometimes struggle with descriptions. Like when I tell people that I completely loathe those perforated places on mac & cheese boxes. “Push To Open.” It takes an act of God Himself to open them that way. Back to the point, though, I just wanted to say I think your posts are amazing. I was giggling and cackling even with the comments.
Also, I detest the words “loathe” and “cackle”. Although, I use the latter often…?
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bronxboy55
September 27, 2012
I can’t seem to open anything anymore. “Push To Open” is as dishonest as “Tear Here.” And I don’t like the word cackle, either. Or guffaw, for that matter. They’re ugly words, aren’t they?
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Rufina
April 14, 2013
I just asked someone for directions to Tiki Town, and they eventually led me here…and as usual, I found the place laugh-out-loud funny. Thanks for brightening my already bright Sunday afternoon with this past post. 🙂
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bronxboy55br
April 15, 2013
I’d forgotten about this post, Rufina. Thanks for reading it, and for the nice feedback. I can always count on you.
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