January 30, 2013

Is it odd or is it god?

Does detoxification invite the unexpected? There's a question for you. I'm supposedly in detox mode, thanks to the shenanigans of my person shaman (my naturopath, Dr. Tony). And all these weird things are coming in the mail. Well, maybe the recurring invitation to AARP is not so weird. But a letter from the University of Northern Iowa announcing a job opening for a Marketing Department Head, now that was unexpected. How on earth did they get my name? And how desperate are they, that they would undertake a nationwide search? I have to assume it's nationwide—there is no rational reason they would be singling me out.

And then there's the pamphlet from the Historic Message Church, notifying me of an event called the Bible Prophecy Conference, at which we can find out what the last night on earth will look like. Tempting, but no thanks. If it doesn't involve chocolate and a bottle of chardonnay, as I suspect it doesn't, I don't want to hear about it. I guess they probably knocked on my door, but I wasn't home. Whew. If that is not proof of the existence of god, I don't know what is.

And then, today the mail carrier delivered a box from Amazon, an occurrence that happens with some frequency at my place, I'm embarrassed to admit. Yes, I am a book junkie. But when I opened the box, I thought, hey, these aren't the smutty vampire novels I ordered, oh, no, not another Amazon mix up. What is this massive tome? A book on the history of costume illustration? What? Maybe another me, from a former life, but... oh. There is a card. Oh, hey, it's a present from a former significant other. Like, way former, from the 1980s. Wow. Totally unexpected and just the slightest bit creepy.

We like to think oddities come in threes, so there you have it, three odd things in my mailbox. But there was plenty of other crap in the mailbox, the inbox, and the cat box. And plenty of other oddities around that I probably failed to notice because I'm too self-absorbed to pay attention to anything but myself.

Now I'm wondering what Cedar Falls, Iowa, looks like. Ha, dream on. Not that I would consider moving to the Midwest, but it's nice to think they might want me. Unfortunately, I don't meet the qualifications. I haven't finished my doctorate, and I haven't published anything. (Yet.) Oh well. The last line of the letter is a request that if I don't, would I please pass the letter along to someone who does. Sigh.