Overthinking Champion of the World

Overthinking Convenience

Guess what word activates the voice recognition in my Chevy truck?

Hint: I was listening to this morning's Daily about the Google antitrust case...

Overthinking Social Media Schticks

I get unreasonably angry when I see a new social media account pop up on my feed that is basically ripping off the shtick of a social media account already regularly in my feed.

Don't get me wrong, #reddit can be fun, but it absolutely should not be seen as a place where you can learn about the world in any accurate way.

Overthinking Reddit

Reddit is like looking at the world in the reflection from a funhouse mirror. You can see what it might look like, but the actual image is a twisted, funny, gross, scary version of the thing. What is terrifying is that SO MANY young people go to reddit for news.
#reddit #wtaf

Overthinking Jalapeños:

You can't.

Overthinking Worms:

There is a cruel metaphor in the dead, sun dried worms you find on the sidewalk and road in the sun. They were just doing what worms do, oblivious to the inevitability of their doom. Lost in the unprotected Expanse when the sun appeared, it was hopeless. Did they know?

Overthinking Windshield Wiper Controls:

Everytime you get into a new car, you have to relearn the most basic controls in the car. Steering works the same. Gas and brake work the same. But for some reason, every make and model wants to shuffle the wiper blades, lights and seat controls.

Why?

An interesting fact about Beer is that it was used as a form of payment in the ancient world. The workers who erected the Great Pyramids of Giza were paid in beer. The sex workers of Ur who erected.. other things were paid in beer.

Perhaps we should return to a beer based economy.

Overthinking Beer

Is it possible that something so simple,so ancient, can still serve to hold the world together? Is it possible that the meaning of life can be contained in a pint glass?

Yes. Yes it is possible.

All hail Beer.

Of course, like bred and trained dogs, humans could still bite the hands that feed, or simply run away in search of their own pack (however foolhardy that might seem). And some elves had more patience than others as caregivers, and some considered themselves more owners than guardians or family.

The analogy of humans turning wolves into dogs is an apt one for the way Tolkien's elves tamed the men of Middle Earth. Not only is there the basic idea of care and feeding generations leading to a more docile and loyal kind, but the nature of their lifespans is equally important in the comparison.

Overthinking Elves and Men

Image credit: www.deviantart.com/alystraeaart...

They lurked around the light of the camp, suspicious but curious. Eventually, the campers would feed them and offer them solace, and so the lurkers' suspicion fell and was replaced by love.

These are not wolves, but men.

You can listen to Bela Lugosi Is Dead, but that is as close as you are ever going to get to black fishnets and porcelain skin again.

Nostalgia for those we lusted after at 16 is a weird, off limits kind of nostalgia. And I don't just mean it is socially unacceptable. Even within ourselves, we sense the disconnect from those objects of desire in a way we don't for the car, the music, the job. Are we too old, or are they too young?

Overthinking Nostalgia:

There are things that you can be nostalgic for: the make and model of your first car; the music that blasted from that car's stereo; the friends that rode the highway at 120mph with you; even the shitty job that bought you that car.

But one kind of nostalgia is off limits.

Overthinking Sunday

Overthinking Burgers:

Usually any trend in food is mostly hype, an opportunity for people to post about it more than eat. But every once in a while, something really great grabs the gastroimagination of the country: buffalo wings, fried pickles, and now smash burgers.

There is no better burger.

The "mile" doesn't lie. What lies are your fear and weakness and desire to get back in your car and drive to someplace where you can get donuts AND beer. And by "you" and "your" I, of course, mean "I" and "my".

But after breaking through, nothing feels as good as a run, even a shitty run.

Overthinking Running:

That meme. You know it. "Never trust the first mile; the first mile is a liar."

While this statement is thematically true, it isn't actually the "first mile" that lies. If you are a marathoner, it might be the first five. Or the first run/walk interval if you are, well, me.

You sound nice.

As parents of GenZ kids, we watched Phineas and Ferb and LOVED that show. We read Harry Potter to our kids. We watched Clone Wars with them.

Nerds break down Generational barriers. So now that we are sliding toward "boomerism" GenXers need to remember than and embrace the new nerdy of GenAlpha too.

"Only 90s kids will remember" type posts on social media miss the fact that nerds held on to their love of kid-aimed media for much longer. GenXers watched Batman: The Animated series (just by way of example) as religiously as their Millenial younger cousins. Nerdy Genxers ARE 90s kids. Sort of.

Overthinking Generations:

Everyone thinks that your generation is based on the year you were born. I don't think that is true. I think your generation is based on what media impacted you most. And here is a thing I don't think we talk about enough: nerds bridge generations because of this.

I imagine that whoever this is does it because it is a feeling of true freedom, similar to how middle aged men on motorcycles feel. Here, though, helmets and road leathers are probably no help if things go sideways.

Flying on a commercial airliner is stressful enough, and small private planes are even worse. But this is a whole new level of negotiating with gravity -- and gravity does not negotiate. Inexorable and uncaring, gravity is like an old professor with tenure: intentions don't matter, only performance.

Overthinking Flying:

It is about 7 AM, and up in the sky is a man hanging from what I imagine is a lawn chair with a lawnmower engine strapped to the back of it. I can't get a good sense of how high up he is, other than to say that if it lets go, he is a very weird statistical death.

Counterpoint: theater of the mind during exploration invites players to be more creative.

Then there is the question why certain foods are "breakfast foods" vis-à-vis "sweet vs savory". Sweet foods, such as fruit and pastries, are more common at breakfast, but breakfast itself can be purely savory and no one blinks. Or, the sausage, egg and cheese goes on a donut, no questions asked.

Bacon is particularly strange in this regard. We use bacon on and in everything, from classic BLTs to crushing up on salads or laying on burgers. When was the last time you saw a couple slices of bacon on a plate that was NOT at breakfast? There's an unspoken rule, it seems, that bacon is breakfast.

Overthinking Breakfast:

How did "breakfast food" end up "breakfast food"? It is such a strange thing to think that a particular, not insignificant selection of foods have been collectively assigned to one of our three meals per day. But here we are, saying we "had breakfast for dinner" as a staple.