American Idol audition caught on tape!

Margaret and I have been walking together at the sports center. 2 miles four times a week. We are on week 2. After our walk on Wednesday, we went to McAlister's for a healthy dinner treat. When we were leaving said restaurant, I for some reason had Addicted to Love in my head and started belting it on out.......badly. Margaret says "Dude, you should totally try out for American Idol!" I said, "Yeah, and it would go a little somethin' like this..." Once again, I started singing badly and strangely, you know, being the typical dumbass that I am.

We got back to her house and I got in my car to leave. I checked my phone and saw I had 2 missed calls. They were from the assistant director at the library. First thought, "My phone has accidentally called her again." Second thought, "Oh Shit." My phone called her over the xmas break and she had a long message of me talking to someone. Not good. I wasn't sure if I had once again left a message, but just shrugged it off and figured I'd ask her on Thursday.

I get to work Thursday morning and the director says "Ok, I have to make fun of Jesslyn again." I said "Crap, what did I do now?" She said "W. called me laughing and said she had a message from you. She tried to call you back before listening to the message, but you didn't answer so she listened to the message. She said you were just singing along with the radio...."
Grrrrrreeeaaaat. No, I wasn't singing along with the radio. It wasn't even on. W. comes in and I say "Hey sorry about that free concert I left on your voicemail." She laughs and says, "It's okay." I said "I don't know why my phone likes to call you. I wonder if it somehow has you on speed dial. Anyways, I wasn't singing along with the radio. I was doing a pretend try out for American Idol." She laughs again and says, "Yeah my boys really enjoyed it."

D'Oh!

The Vus

My brain is constantly playing tricks on me. I've experienced deja vu ever since I can remember. Even as a small child, I can recall instances where I felt something that was said or something that happened had already occured. Lately I have been experiencing weird versions of deja vu where initially I feel as though I am learning something new or seeing something new, but then all of a sudden it seems as though I really did already know that or have already seen it. I know that most of the time that is not really the case which brings me to the next type of "vu" which is jamais vu (French for "never seen"). I have only recently discovered this term.

Jamais vu is the opposite of deja vu in which a person has actually experienced something, but it is not familar to that person in any way. Jamais vu involves a sense of eeriness and the observer's impression of seeing the situation for the first time, despite rationally knowing that he or she has been in the situation before. Jamais vu is more commonly explained as when a person momentarily doesn't recognize a word, person, or place that he/she already knows (I love Wikipedia!). I know I've experienced jamais vu after looking at a word for too long and it starts looking really weird. I'm convincing myself for a split second that the word isn't a word at all when rationality thankfully sets in and I realize ummmm yeah, pretty sure tree is a word.

I've been wondering if the situations I have been experiencing lately are sort of like jamais vu. I think I don't know what a word means or feel as though a juicy story has never been told and then once I've heard it, my brain tells me "You already knew that." But rationally I know that can't be! This has to be some sort of "vu" concoction!

There's a third kind of vu as well. Presque vu (from French, meaning "almost seen") is the sensation of being on the brink of an epiphany. Often very disorienting and distracting, presque vu rarely leads to an actual breakthrough. Frequently, one experiencing presque vu will say that they have something "on the tip of their tongue." This has to be the most annoying of the vus. I can't tell you how many times I've had a word lingering or worse a great idea that just can't come to full light. That happens alot when I'm trying to write something which I don't do often enough for it to be a real problem.

So there's already seen, never seen, and almost seen. All three = FRUSTRATION! I can say that I've experienced deja and presque quite a deal more than jamais. I'm sure with old age comes jamais vu as well as a much heartier helping of deja and presque. Eh, C'est la vie.

Science nerd is the phrase that comes to mind

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  The hydromedusa is such a beautiful creature! I saw this picture the other day in Aududon Magazine. There's an article about iceburgs and the creatures that live under them. This is one of them. Their life expectancy is only a few days and they are bioluminescent. They have two main components to their life cycle. They have a benthic (lives on the sea floor) phase that is a polyp which is kind of like a sea anemone. That phase produces the hydromedusae that looks like a jellyfish. The hydromedusae can bud asexually but will also produce eggs and sperm that result in the polyp.
  
  
  
  Another favorite ocean critter of mine is the leafy sea dragon. I first saw one at the aquarium in Atlanta. Oh how I miss Atlanta!
  
  Some facts about the leafy sea dragon:
  
  Yes, it is related to the seahorse.
  
• Their leaf-like protusions are not weapons, but rather serve as a camouflage from predators as well as to disguise themselves from possible snacks.
• Females deposit eggs on the tail of the male where they grow to maturity. It takes a total of nine weeks for the eggs to begin to hatch, depending on water conditions. The eggs turn a ripe purple or orange over this period. After this period, the male pumps its tail until the infants emerge, a process which takes place over 24-48 hours. The male aids in the babies hatching by shaking his tail, and rubbing it against the seaweed and rocks. (I stole this from wiki)
• They have become endangered through pollution and industrial runoff as well as collection by fascinated divers who are entranced by their unique appearance. In response to these dangers they have been officially protected by the Australian government. (stole this too)

P.S. "Science is interesting...and if you don't think so, you can fuck off." - Richard Dawkins