Obviouservations

One of my favorite Pete Townshend songs is entitled "Misunderstood" (from the album Rough Mix, Atco, 1977). In it, the Who guitarist / songwriter sings about how badly he wants to be deep and impressive with his words. (Somehow I doubt this was in the forefront of his thoughts while penning "Happy Jack" or those goofy fake adverts on The Who Sell Out - my fave Who LP.)

I know how Pete feels. I always want to be impressive in what I say (or write). Unfortunately, what seem like wry perceptions and deep cognitions at the time of writing end up being, more often than not, obviouservations - conclusions that require not special gifts of cognition and could be drawn by any multi-celled being or regular watcher of The Jerry Springer Show.

My thoughts are not deep. Indeed, most of my musings will never make it out of the kiddie pool. They are not even tall enough to reach the bottom of the outstretched hand of the life-sized Officer Bob cut-out at the amusement park.

Like, right now. I'm sitting outside on our lovely patio, which my beautiful wife has made into a relaxing, quaint little garden. It's 9:45 pm, the sun is all but gone but the sky is still deep azure blue to the north. Crickets provide the background music - as done the Media Player on the laptop (currently playing: "One Hit Wonder" by Keller Williams). Jennie is sitting across the glass-top table from me, knitting another blanket for Lily. Our young neighbors have just come home, and are also outside enjoying this most perfect of late spring evenings.

Now... in that paragraph lies the seeds of a multitude of opportunities for deep-word mining. Possible topics I could launch from the above paragraph:
The Joys of Long Minnesota Summer Evenings
The Joys of Patio Greenery
10 Tips for Greening Up Your Cozy Little Patio
The Beauty of Pollution (after all, it's all those greenhouse gases and anti-perspirant propellants floating above us that make our sky so royal blue)
If I Rub My Legs Together Fast Enough, Will I Recreate the Sound of Crickets (or just end up with friction burns on my thighs?)
Why I Love My Media Player
Why You Should Love Your Media Player
Media Players and the Nerds Who Love Them
Media Players and the Nerds Who Hate All Things Microsoft
How Binary Code Makes Keller Williams Come Out Of My Computer Speakers
Who is Keller Williams?
Why Listen to Indie Music?
Lily, Come Home!
The Joys of Chinese Adoption (OK... the joys will come later...)
The Stress of Adoption (that's more in line with our experience thus far!)
Ahhh... To Be Young Again!

I could go on. But, as you can see, no matter how far I go, I get no closer to the deep end. Just keep going round and round in the shallow water.

And - here's some irony for you - I just clicked over to the thesaurus website I use when I write, and there before me flashed a pop-up ad: "CHANCE TO WIN A VACUUM!" I think I'll pass on that. I create enough vacuum with my writing.

Or maybe the word is suction.

Actually, I just read earlier this evening about how many of the great writers deal / dealt with painful self-esteem issues. Even the great F. Scott Fitzgerald questioned the worthiness of The Great Gatsby, his best known work.

But I'm not F. Scott Fitzgerald.

And this is no Great Gatsby. It isn't even Mediocre Gatsby.

Time for another lap. I think I can outswim that little fourth grader in the Spiderman trunks - the kid that won't let go of the side of the kiddie pool.