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Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Alarm

It's October 1st, but don't be alarmed: I'm not going to talk about the government shutdown. It's the first Tuesday of the month, so the sirens went off here at 10:00 a.m., the monthly test, sort of a mournful, scary sound, though, since the sad sound means the sirens are working, vaguely reassuring.

Meanwhile, I was vaguely alarmed at the recent loss of sound from videos on youtube or posted on Facebook. I knew I would be too technologically challenged to sort out what my computer had done to mute or block sound, so I asked my son. Other helpful people had advised me to turn on my speakers or turn up the volume. I am not being sarcastic here. I do know that this is often the solution, as is unplugging and re-plugging one's computer when it keeps kicking you off the Internet. Thank you, Al Gore.

My son instructed me, by email, to go to Chrome, click the 3 bars in the upper right corner, and clear my browsing history. I had a choice here, about how far back to clear it, and chose From the beginning of time. I found this thrilling as well as alarming, and waited to see if I would actually explode, or just disintegrate little by little.

Also, I am reading The Fermata, by Nicholson Baker, about a guy who can stop time. People kept telling me I would love Nicholson Baker, and I saw him interviewed by Stephen Colbert and thought it was time to give him a try. Why did people think I would like a book about a guy who can stop time in order to take off women's shirts? Well, true, they thought I would like The Anthologist, about a poet, which was not on the shelf at the library, and Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper, a nonfiction book about preserving words on paper, also missing, and I probably will, because I am pretty darned fascinated (and simultaneously alarmed) by The Fermata.

So, anyway, just because sound was paused indefinitely on my computer, it didn't mean 3 million other people couldn't hear the delightful daughter of Ben Ames sing "Tonight You Belong To Me" to ward off fear of fireworks. They could! I couldn't! Not till I cleared my browsing history From the beginning of time. And now I can. She is very cute.

And that, my friends, is a Random Coinciday in the blog.

8 comments:

  1. Here, the sirens go off on Wednesday. So tomorrow, I'll hear them.

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  2. Happy vaguely reassuring, mournful, alarming sound, Emily!

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  3. Clearing browsing history to the beginning of time is always a scary exciting rush for me, too. (Though the NSA will probably keep the records anyway...)

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  4. I can identify. This morning I couldn't read my son's text message until I cleared all the others out, certain ones I saved because I liked to re-read them. I hope the NSA loves D.'s "I love you" as much as I did.

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  5. Coincidence for you. I am reading Traveling Sprinkler.

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  6. You know I love coincidence! How are you liking the book? I need to read The Anthologist first, I guess, and then Traveling Sprinkler, and the library doesn't have either of them at the moment.

    The Fermata continued to alarm me when I wasn't giggling innerly: intellectual hilarity.

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  7. Traveling Sprinkler propelled me along, but seemed a bit like listening to the crazy neighbor on the other side of the fence. Three and a half stars, and trying to find my cd of bassoon concertos. The book stands alone.

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  8. Good to know. Speaking of bassoons, I recommend "Cougar Bassoon" on Prayer for the Wild Things, Paul Winter....

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