Losing my Mind

Anyone reading this is going to think I'm crazy, but I've discovered a hidden talent in myself that's apparently lain dormant my entire life.

I can change the radio in my truck with my mind.

Sure don't believe me, but it's happened too many times for me to not notice it. When I put a CD in the player and put it on 'shuffle,' if I concentrate hard enough and with enough confidence, I can pick what song is going to play next.

Today on the way home was the 10th time it's happened, and I'd say my ratio of accomplishment when I actually try to do it is about one out of three.

Now if this happens once or twice you might write it off as a happy coincidence, a little bit of cosmic serendipity that the powers above decided to drip down onto your afternoon. But once it gets into the double digits, I'm not sure.

I was driving home today and for some reason I really wanted to listen to 'Boondocks' by Little Big Town. I have four CDs all labeled 'All-Time Best' each properly numbered, and I knew that song was on one of them, but I wasn't sure which. So I got the song firmly in my head, grabbed one of the CDs at random, popped it into the player and hit shuffle, all the while holding the song in the front of my mind.

Guess what came blaring out of my speakers.

On one occasion I was actually able to pick FOUR songs in a row off of one CD, all while on shuffle. There comes a point that differentiates between randomness and something else.

Am I on the beginning path toward becoming a Jedi? Or am I just losing my mind? Only the Shadow knows. Has this phenomenon ever happened to anyone else?

Old heroes

So yesterday I saw Terry 'Hulk' Hogan in the flesh. It was at the Wal-Mart in Lewis Center, about a mile from my office, where he was helping his daughter Brooke to promote her new CD. The funny thing was, while all the signs said, 'Meet Brooke Hogan!' the entire crowd was obviously there to see the Hulkster - the majority of the line stretching the length of the Wal-Mart were males age 25-40, wearing wrasslin' gear and sporting fu-manchus. Apparently, they picked the wrong demographic to say hi to Brooke... but the Hulkster was most welcome. And I saw a guy with an Insane Clown Posse t-shirt, camo jacket, and a tattoo of a skull on his adam's apple taking a picture of Hulk (accompanied by long-time manager Jimmy Hart) on his digital camera. Us high-tech rednecks.

And a few weeks before I got an autographed picture of Kane Hodder (the only guy to play Jason Vorhees in the Friday the 13th movies more than once) for my buddy Clayton, who is currently a Marine in Iraq. I told Kane that once upon a time we had a life-size cardboard cutout of him in our kitchen, to which he looked at me quite strangely. He figured it out after I told him it was him dressed up as Jason, not just a replica of him... and he decided not to call the authorities. He had scar tissue from severe burns over three-quarters of his body.

What do I say to these one-time heroes? Sure, when I was a kid I was into the whole wrasslin' scene, but I haven't paid much attention in the last decade or so. Could I walk up to the Hulkster and say, 'Hey man, I saw you bodyslam Andre the Giant! Keep up the good work!' when that happened more than twelve years ago? Hmm, I'm not sure. I was neat to see him, and second-tier wrasslin' celeb Jimmy Hart as well.

I need some new heroes. Nothing wrong with the old, but I'm too far removed.

More to come soon.