(sometimes) It's not as important as it seems

For those who read my post on hobbies, you already know that flytying is one of my hobbies.  Flytying is the 'art' of attaching bits and pieces of fur and feathers and string, and whatnot  (purchased at the whatnot store, of course)... to a hook.  Flyfishing -- which I do NOT do -- consists of throwing those hooks into the water, and pulling out a fish.

Now, I could bore you with the story of how I got into flytying, but I won't.  Ok, maybe I will, but just the short version.  Some years ago, we used to go fishing in lakes and streams, and people tried to talk me into flyfishing.  While I had no interest in that, I declared that I would prefer to tie those flies.    And everyone laughed.  So -- I got a book and a video, and some bits and pieces, and the ever-essential whatnot, and by golly,  I tied flies.

Not all of them looked quite as pretty as the ones in the book, but I felt they were good enough.  So, to humor me, my husband fished with some of my flies.  And by golly, he caught fish with the flies I'd tied!



But, as time went on, I started to suspect that perhaps he could have caught fish with just about anything... there was nothing special or magical about my flies, and that the manner in which I attached the bits and pieces of whatnot, really wasn't that important.

And I was right.

Today, I came across a blog about a man who caught a trout, flyfishing with a key .  Yes,  plain, ordinary house car.. or it might have been a car key.. I'm not sure.  But it's not important.  And that was the whole point of his post.  If you're in the right place, at the right time, with the right fish, you're going to catch it, no matter what you throw at it.

Teapot Musings is not about fishing, or flytying..  so why am I boring you with this?   Because I'm thinking that there are lots of things that just aren't as important as they seem.  Now, don't get me wrong.    Regular readers of teapot musing certainly know better than to think I'm suggesting that nothing is important, so don't worry about it.  No, what I am suggesting is that we should think about things, and not just take them at face value.  You can't just throw a teapot into the water and catch a fish, BUT..  it really doesn't matter if you're thread isn't quite as straight, or if the whole thing slips and is a bit catawampus on the hook, or if the glob of glue at the end is a bit globbier than it should be.
And a blog might have some good stuff in it, even if the layout is awkward.  And that frumpy looking man with his hair all askew might be an excellent attorney.  And that funny looking girl might be a better auto mechanic than anyone else around.  The blog content needs to be well-written; the attorney needs to be knowledgeable, the mechanic needs to be skilled.  And the hook with the bits and pieces needs to be in the right place... but it might not even need the whatnot, in order to work.

Sometimes, it's important.  But sometimes, it's not as important as it seems.

Now, my tea....  that's important.

Anticipation: the act of looking forward

I know someone...  a young person, in her early twenties .. who is on the verge of some major changes in her life.  Nothing bad or ominous,  just part of the normal progression of things.  And in fact, not only are these changes neither bad nor ominous, but they are wonderful opportunities; they're not accidental, they are part of her plan... and a good plan it is.  She was excited when she shared the good news with me, and I was excited for her.

So I was initially a little surprised when she started listing all of the things she was going to miss about her present life. On the one hand, it's not as if her present life is bad, so of course she's going to miss it.. she has a lot of good things she's leaving behind.  But I was more than a little surprised when she insisted on focusing on what she was going to miss, even when others  (well, ok, maybe it was just me!) suggested that she should instead be thinking  about what was ahead.

I think back to those times in my life when I was on the verge of major changes.  I was someone who had never been away from home, and I moved across the country, away from family and friends, to a place where I knew no one.  But it was a good move, and I made new friends, and acquired additional family when I got married.  But then, as a new bride, I moved across more of the country, once again leaving family and friends, to a place where my new husband and I knew no one.  Of course I missed what I'd left behind, but the 'missing' was far outweighed by the 'anticipation'.   Perhaps more importantly, I waited until I'd actually moved on, before I started missing things...   I didn't 'miss' them, before I'd even left them behind.

I'm sure this young woman will do very well, as she wends her way down her new path.  She'll survive, she'll adapt, she'll find new things that become her favorites.  Nevertheless, I'm saddened that she spent what could have been a time of anticipation, and expectation, and excitement..  cataloging those things she was leaving behind.  She'll have plenty of time to miss the old...  but she's missed her opportunity to anticipate the new.  Rather than looking forward, she chose to look back -- before it was even behind her.

Of course I can't hear the word anticipation, without thinking of the ketchup commercial, but the song was originally Carly Simon's song  Anticipation... I can remember the tune, but not the words, so  I decided to look at the lyrics.   And I was sorely disappointed.  Carly sings of Anticipation keeping her waiting, but than at the end of the song, she concludes that she's going to stay right where she is, because "these are the good old days"....   so maybe I have it wrong.  But I don't think so.

My young person has now already moved on...she missed the chance to anticipate, and is already stepping into her new life.  I wish her the very best, and - at least for the moment, I'm going to quit worrying about something that it's too late to change.  And I'm looking forward to my next cup of tea.

Knowledge

I have this really cool app on my iPad, called Knowledge.  

Actually, if you go to the app store, it's called Unnecessary Knowledge  

...  in other words, it's a bunch of trivia.   Although, in all fairness, I suppose I need to admit that while I may think this is a really cool app, I've had more than one family member threaten to break every bone in my fingers if I read one more bit of trivia, out loud.   But I like trivia... funny trivia, serious trivia, odd trivia, even trivial trivia.    This app claims to have over 2000 pieces of
information, and one of the things that I like, is that it allows me to tag my favorites.

I haven't looked at this app in awhile (the fear of bodily harm thing), but the other day, I was killing some time... and decided to browse through my favorites.. and seeing how none of you are physically close enough to commit any injuries, I thought it would be safe to share some of them with you.


Let's see .. oh, here's one.. "When ants die of poisoning, they always fall to the right."   

Now see?  Isn't that cool?                                        

Oh!  Here are a couple, about snails... Snails kiss before mating,  and snails have 25, 000 teeth.  Wow.  I did not know that.           

Hmmm.....  polar bears are left handed.   That's pretty interesting...  both my sister and my brother are left-handed... I wonder if they're actually polar bears... I'll have to check with mom on that one. 

Ooh.. another goody.. seals get seasick on boats.       

WAIT.  That makes no sense at all.  I can't believe seals get seasick... on or off boats.  That just doesn't make sense.     Up until now, it had been interesting, but I've spent a lot of time on boats, and I've actually seen a bunch of seals, and I'm just not buying this one.  And now that I think about it.... does it really make sense that poisoned ants would always fall to the right?  or that my siblings are polar bears in disguise?

So... I head off to google, to check out some of these things.  Sadly, people, I must report that none of these things are actually true.  Oh sure, you might be able to find things on the internet that support each of these bits of 'knowledge'..  but if you check out serious and legitimate sources, you'll discover that they aren't knowledge, at all.  I guess you really do have to consider the source, when someone tells you something.

By the way, while I was googling around, and looking up trivia, and checking out sources, I came across this really cute cartoon...

All of this trivia, has made me thirsty.  And I have it on the best authority, that drinking tea, will satisfy your thirst.