Break a Leg

Happy Jenday , everybody.

 Today I'd like to talk about coincidences: those odd little moments in your life that occur and make you think "Now that's odd.  I wonder if it means anything."  I for one would like to think they do, but I'll be damned if I know what it could possibly be.  I think it's also significant when you start noticing a lot of coincidences happening in close proximity to each other.  And then there's the whole fate string thing.  Let's start somewhere and call it a beginning...

   When I got out of the Army I moved back in with my parents.  I had decided to take a some time off and figure out my next step in life.  They had been living in Oregon at the time, but then a month later both got jobs back in our home of Marin County.  I was reunited with my childhood friend Will.  Will introduced me to Leonard who was also unemployed and a fellow gamer.  He and I started hanging out and mostly (yes, I admit it, and proudly, too) played Magic the Gathering.  He introduced me to a comic book shop where they had Magic night ever Friday.  One of the regulars was this guy named Neil.  Neil works at Waldenbooks.  I was working at a Kinko's not far from there when I discovered this.  So now, whenever I finish a book and need a new one but I'm not sure what to read, I go to Neil and he tells me "read this".  He is always right. 

   On one such occasion he introduced me to The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.  This is an amazing series of books about a wizard for hire living in modern-day Chicago.  It's written very tongue in cheek like a good film noir, but there's wizards and vampires and monsterss and Dino-Zombie-Bob.  It's fantastic.  I'm going to go see Mr. Butcher on Friday in San Francisco.

   Anywho, I told all my friends about it.  One of its immediate fans was Gail, who is the First Mate of my pirate crew, the wife of the captain, and an amazing artist.  Gail got very heavily involved on the Jim Butcher forums talking about the books.  The new one is due to be out today, so Gail called (guess who) Waldenbooks because its the closest bookstore to her house.  She wanted to see if she could reserve a copy of the book, but the lady kindly told her they don't really do that kind of thing.  So Gail went on the forums again and mentioned this and Neil, who she has never had any contact with in real life, said that he would have her copy waiting behind the counter when it came in. 

   So the guy that introduced me to the books is reserving the book for the girl that I introduced to the books without either of them having had any prior contact or knowing that the other one knows me.  Maybe not so much a coincidence as a degree of separation, but still interesting, I think.

   Ok, maybe this next one will be better:

   In my pirate crew, and in the SCA in fact, I am known as The Reverend Mochran Killington, The Horny Bard.  I know, pretty awesome, right?  I have used Killington as a handle on a number of occasions, and really have come to associate with the name as if it were my own.  I created the personna about 6 years ago.  I got the name from an old Irish song about a bloodthirsty military leader, but other than that, pretty much the only references I can find to Killington are the fat guy on Studio 60 and Killington, Vermont, which I understand is a lovely little tourist town.

    Well currently I am reading Steven King's Dark Tower series, which is pretty engrossing, and not just gross like I consider a lot of his other stuff to be.  The story is all about these strange connections between people and worlds.  It's also pretty intense.  So when I was hunkered down this last Saturday morning burning through the last 3rd of the 4th book, I got to this part where there are two people standing in an abandoned train station in a city that was once something like New York, but a thousand years ago was destroyed and now all that live there are two warring mutant factions.  They all stay out of the train station because they believe it to be haunted.  Anyway, this couple are in there and the man has this flashback: suddeny he can see all the people that once walked through these halls, hear the sounds of them going about their travel plans, and suddenly over the loudspeakers he imagines hearing "Will Passenger Killington, passenger Killington please report to the information booth on the lower level?"  I literally felt a jolt go through me as I read that.  Of all the books in which to find a passing and almost completely random-seeming reference to something that is personal to me...it blew my mind.

   Ok, one more:

One of the latest books I read was "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman.  I you like to read, read Neil Gaiman.  And if you like Neil Gaiman, read "Good Omens", co-written by Terry Pratchett.  If you like "Good Omens", read Terry Pratchett's Discworld stuff.  If you like audio books, get any of the Discworld books read by Steven Briggs, easily downloadable on I-Tunes.  Trust me, it'll be worth the $50.

    Anyway, American Gods, right.  Well, remember back when I started this whole Jenday thing?  And who did I want to take the day from?  Yeah, Odin.  And who shows up and turns out to be one of the major characters in "American Gods"? Odin.  And after reading the book I feel totally justified for stealing his day.  Then we get to another character, somewhat minor, but still important.  And what's his name?  No, not Odin.  Chad.  That's my name (the one on my birth certificate, anyway).  And then, the books ends at the beginning of spring, which is, coincidentally, when I finished it, without even planning to.

So, to sum up, my friends, there have been a LOT of coincidences going on in my life lately.  I'm not sure if they're a warning, or a message saying "Just keep on going, we're watching and we're rooting for ya."  But I can feel the change coming in the air, like that feeling you get before a storm.  Back before I was a pirate, I was a Jedi, and I'm starting to get a lot of those same feelings of premonition.  Like yesterday I was walking around all day KNOWING that my friend Nate was going to call me and see if I wanted to go get drinks and food.  And who called me JUST as I was finishing writing this blog?  Yep.  Things are getting creepy, folks.  Just remember I mentioned something when the shit hits the fan.

Chad