Monday, May 23, 2011

What's all this then?

As I thought this morning of the universe, churning and thrashing and kicking some (or all) of us in the head as it seems to be doing of late, the visual that appeared was of George Clooney from the Coens' Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou? His Ulysses, startled, mystified and unprepared for the events which overtake him, expresses those emotions as they rampage through me.



My state-of-mind veers from peaceful and reasonably content to confused and distraught, without apparent cause and definitely without warning. "Boys, we're in a tight spot," Ulysses says on more than one harrowing occasion. It is just that I'm not sure what the tight spot is.

Mixing protagonists, I would say it seems the game is afoot, but again, what game? Going where and for what reason? Is it just me, a wonky chemistry, a wobbly constitution, or are these unsteady times, uncertain in a way that eludes capture? Things feel jittery around the edges, a bit carsick at the core. Then it subsides. If I am in this alone, I've made a low-grade spectacle of myself here. There are times when a modest readership is a good thing.

Ulysses, as he and his fellow chain-gang escapees wrangle with each other over who will lead their trio, says his vision is for someone with, "...the capacity for abstract thought." May be there is such a thing as too abstract.

24 comments:

37paddington said...

You are definitely not alone, hon. I feel it too.

wv: tiesseau (Tissue? let's have a good cry?)

Marylinn Kelly said...

Angella - Thank you so much. There are 14 variations of weird and unsettling playing dodge ball on and about my person. Tissues - by any spelling - quite in demand.

T. said...

Add me to the list. xo

Melissa Green said...

Carsick at the core--oh, yes. And on the brink of tears without warning 24/7. And the 'pretzelizing' of body parts that never barked before. It feels like being at the top of the highest peak of a Monster Roller Coaster---we have got to hold on as we go screaming bloody murder all the way to the bottom, praying not be become airborne. xoxo

Marylinn Kelly said...

T. - Thank you. I won't say the more, the merrier, but it may be so. I am not comfortable being the lone voice in the wilderness. xo

Marylinn Kelly said...

Melissa - Sorry you get to be a partner-in-carsickness, but that's it exactly. The pretzelizing sounds truly awful. It is a sort of malaise but with electric jolts and other unpleasantness. Hang on, my friend. xo

Marylinn Kelly said...

Angella - Mind slippage...I meant to say: xo

Jayne said...

I'm joining the party, too, if you don't mind. And it usually feels like I'm sitting in mud with rocks on my knees.
I think, maybe, we should all go down to the river and pray. ;)

Marylinn Kelly said...

Jayne - Please join us and welcome. (what a great scene and song from O.B.W.A.T.) That is about a mired as anyone needs to be. If the river has answers, I'm for it. xo

Hannah Stephenson said...

Embrace the absurdity :). I hear you.

I absolutely love that movie.

Sultan said...

The world is a confusing place for everyone

Marylinn Kelly said...

Hannah - Better to embrace than keep resisting, at least that's my best guess, as long as we aren't required to have many answers. And isn't it a fine movie? We.thought.you.was.a.toad. :D

Marylinn Kelly said...

Laoch - It really is reassuring to know I'm not the only one blinking and scratching her head. =^..^=

Claire Beynon said...

Dear Marylinn

You are definitely not alone in your blinking and head-scratching. Things we once relied on and considered 'known' and dependable are changing shape from moment to moment.

I used to think in terms of tightening the buckles on my seatbelt for the wild ride, but now I wonder whether the exact opposite might be what's called for? There'll be a way through this that accommodates our bewilderment and hollering and at the same time seems ultimately to be all about letting go, trusting, becoming airborne? 'Tis smushy en-route, though, that's for sure.

Again, there's comfort in knowing our arms are linked; we're all hollering and drawing the new map together. It's a strange kind of music, but music nevertheless?

L, C xo

Marylinn Kelly said...

Claire - In most aspects of my life, surrender seems the best - or only sane - option. So yes,the loosening rather than the tightening, holding fast to one another. Something has Butch Cassidy playing in my mind, as he and Sundance leap together into the torrent. Sometimes I seem to be nothing but fictional references. There must be some meaning in this. So glad to see you back. xo

beth coyote said...

How's my hair?

Antares Cryptos said...

We're all floating in space. Sometimes it's good to just breathe.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Beth - Got some Dapper Dan stockpiled if you've run out.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Antares Cryptos - That is what seems to work, just breathing and, when possible, letting go. :D

Radish King said...

(Me 2)
<3 U

Marylinn Kelly said...

Rebecca - I think we need someone to invent the emoticon for either carsick or confused. <3 U 2

Robert the Skeptic said...

I was unable to comment on this post previously as blogger seemed in need of the Maytag Repairman.

That said, as I take in the daily news, I find myself in agreement with Ulysses when he points out that " [many are missing] the capacity for abstract thought."

A bit further back, Gen. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) in the immortal film, Dr. Strangelove laments how " politicians have neither the time, the training nor the inclination for strategic thought."

I share the sentiments of Ulysses Everett T. McGill and General Jack Ripper regarding these unsteady times. I am ill at ease as well.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Response on Sunday, I promise.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Robert - What fine and cogent fictional representatives for what we hear about too little in real life. Even just thought, not necessarily strategic or abstract, but a puzzling through of information...if I spend too much time with it, ill at ease is the result.