I'm sitting down to use my Macbook Pro and I think I see a puff of white smoke. Hmm? Ocular migraine? I type on. Then, I smell and see smoke again. I quickly unplug my charging computer. Now as far as I know Apple, my rented apartment nor my Macbook Pro are in charge of picking the next pope. So I assume my charger just went bad. It did.
What I wasn't prepared for is that Apple, the company that almost burned my dwelling down would want $80 to replace the chord. What the hell happened to standing by your product? I blew out a $400 blender and Vitamix replaced it no question under a, get this, 7 year guarantee. My $1800 computer malfunctions and I am on my own. Sounds fair.
Is it me or did this summer fly by? I can't believe how time is beginning to compress the older I get. Remember the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas when you were six? It felt like two years. But summer at 40 seems like a day and a half.
I just watched a few episodes of Penn and Teller: Fool Us on a demand. Finally! A reason to watch the CW if you are not a superhero loving Preteen. The premise of the show is magicians attempt to fool the duo. If they do they get to perform in their show is Las Vegas. Wow. Pretty cool for the chronically dateless magician. No?
This got me thinking about magic. Do you watch it for the wonderment? Or do you stare at it with a skeptic's eye wonder how they did it? I think I fall into the later camp. Although neither is a perfect world. I go through the performance looking for mistakes and feeling swindled by some charlatan. I miss the magic. Take simpletons to the same show and they are on the edge of their seats wondering if the girl is going to get out the sword box. Because to them it could go either way. But isn't it in that childlike innocence, in that suspension of disbelief where the magic lives?
I was raised by very cautious and skeptical parents. Who above all else told me to "be careful". This helps me at the poker table. I catch a lot of buffers. But it does not serve me well as I try to navigate the new-age magic of The Secret and its ilk. My gurus are able to summon up their suspension of disbelief much more quickly. Some of them even find happiness simply in the belief.
I found this magical thinking in of all places the CW. It was episode 2 season 6 of Penn and Teller: Fool Us entitled "Now That's Bunny". In it Greg Wison, one of the competing magicians, makes Mark Wilson and Narni Darnell, former stars of appear at the end of trick. They happen to be Greg's parents. But still. Now upon seeing this. Penn and Teller leapt to their feet in ovation. Clearly they know how a sword box works. But they were lost and amazed at sight of one of their idols. They found the magic.
Today Rascal Flatts played on my front lawn. The group (although from Columbus, Ohio whoot whoot) are not my cup of tea. But when famous people are playing on the beach you go. I had free tickets. But others paid for varying V.I.P experiences. I would never do that. Well except for the Police or possibly Duran Duran.
So I got to thinking about the value of things. I live in a high rise building. So even if I find a sale and get a John Deere for 90% off, it still is not a good deal. Justin Bieber tickets have no cash value for me. Nor does and athletic cup for obvious reasons. On the flip side an audience with Pee-Wee Herman has more value than an audience with the Pope for my friend Nancy and I.
I started to think about what I value and what makes me happy. And all from the guys that brought you Life is a Highway. You just can't predict who your gurus are going to be.
Michelle Tomko's comedy is a fervent blend of tomboy sensibilities courtesy of the older brothers she grew up with in the Midwest and the barrage of perimenopausal chaos the East Coast world has heaped upon her. She pulls her humor from everyday observations and classic stories of family, travel, pets, and adversity. With razor-sharp crowd work and improvisational skills to the rock-solid timing of a veteran performer, Michelle’s act is not to be missed!
