Dearest Rachel –
This morning, I was just heading out from the gym (and having to turn back after passing the office complex behind the strip mall it’s in because I left my cap there; it was bright and sunny when I left, which caused me to forget that I’d worn it in the drizzle on my way over) when I was struck with an earworm. Not a whole song, just a single line – the one you see here as the title of this letter, in fact – whose source I couldn’t identify as I was walking, but whose sentiment resonated with me, for reasons I’ll get into further on.
The problem is – and you know this better than anyone, since you suffered from earworms on a regular basis – without knowing where it came from, it was impossible to do anything with it. It’s a mystery that has to be solved before being able to proceed on any but the most mindless of tasks. Thankfully, walking home doesn’t require more than the most rudimentary of brain power, so I could ruminate on the line, and try to recall the surrounding text and music…
…to absolutely no avail; for the life of me, I couldn’t remember where I’d heard the line, even though it was something I quite possibly listened to hundreds of times in the past. But at least I could remember the line (how could I not, after having it run through my head over and over for the entire half-mile walk out, back and home from the gym?), so I could ask one of my AI assistants if they could ‘recall’ the line. After all, they have the entire internet wired into their ‘brain’; surely they could pull up the line and its source with a minimal amount of effort.
Except I made the mistake of quoting the line as “this is freedom in the land of plenty,” which brought a response of “[it] definitely has a powerful, evocative ring to it, but it doesn’t appear to match any widely known or officially published songs in the usual databases or lyric archives. It’s possible the song is more obscure, independently released, or perhaps even a remix or live version where the lyrics vary slightly.” In other words, “¯\_(ツ)_/¯ – I dunno.” Not exactly what you want to see from your computer, which you’ve been conditioned to believe knows – or at least, can find – anything and everything you can ask it. And while I’ve mentioned dealing with the Mandela effect before in these letters, I have a hard time believing I’d come up with a lyric – and the slight hint of a tune, although I remember the line being half sung and half shouted – like this on my own; I’m just not that creative, much as I wish I was.
I was left pondering it while I showered, rinsing off the sweat of my workout (although somehow, my body drank in the moisture as I did so, since I gained a pound and a half between stepping in and out of the shower. Maybe I was overly dehydrated. In any event, I was still below two-fifteen despite that, so I was only concerned enough to comment about it to you). I don’t know how it managed to click during that time – it’s not like I sing in the shower, as you’ll recall – but I finally thought I remembered where it had come from:
Of course, this whole kerfuffle with my AI assistant was only a sidelight to the thought that this earworm had sprung to mind in the first place, especially when it did. The thing was, I woke up this morning and weighed myself, as I always do, only to find myself once again well over the two-fifteen mark again, despite (in my mind) not having eaten since lunch with Lars (and even that I could only finish half of my bowl of ramen).
But on considering it further, I realized that I had had several bags surrounding my recliner, with both savory and sweet snacks, that I indulged in while watching stuff both with Daniel and by myself yesterday afternoon and evening. All of which I was and am perfectly free to do – and I have the opportunity to do so, both because places like Costco exist nearby, and I have the money to purchase from them at will – but I have to remember that such actions bring consequences.
At the same time, I’m also free to ignore those consequences should I so choose; it doesn’t really matter to anyone else whether I gain weight or not. I’m free to do as I please; this is what is meant by having “freedom in the land of plenty,” for what it’s worth. Which I’m pretty sure is how the line got stuck in my mind this morning – although I never expected to have such difficulty figuring out where it came from, and once I did, I just had to tell you about both the trials of discovery as well as wading through my stream of consciousness to show you how I got here. I hope you find it as amusing as I did.
Anyway, that’s quite sufficient for this morning, I think. As usual, honey, I’ll ask you once again to keep an eye on me, and wish me luck, as I’m sure I’m going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 