Ping-Pong Brain

/ Diane Henders

It’s a small feather-weight sphere containing nothing but air, and it ricochets wildly off hard surfaces (such as the inside of my skull) at approximately Mach 2.  Yep, I’ve got Ping-Pong Brain.

Between the release of Book 11, a Bookbub1 promo for Book 1, and my website redesign, the past few weeks have slowly drained my brain’s contents while accelerating its activity until there’s nothing left but a frantic sense of urgency and the attention span of a super-caffeinated gnat.

For instance, moments ago I clicked over to the internet to find out whether the Style Guide recommended capitalization on the word ‘Mach’, and I found a site dedicated to those pesky word usages that are so easy to screw up:  http://stage-door.org/stampact/traps.html.  The first few paragraphs are standard fare, but if you scroll down to the alphabetical list below there’s a fascinating (and immensely time-sucking) list.

I got sidetracked and wasted a good 15 minutes before I smacked my brain back in the direction I’d originally intended.

After a few more attempts at concentration, I realized that the probability of producing a coherent post for today was approximately equal to that of being picked up by a squadron of flying pigs for a nice aerial tour of the frozen flames of hell.

So I’m not even going to attempt it (neither the coherent post nor the scenic flight with AirPorcine). Instead, here are a few random things that have made me giggle lately:

The following article is a few months old by now, but I still find it funny (in a sad sort of way) that the people of Siberia preferred Barsik the cat to any of their other political options: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/barsik-cat-siberia-russia-barnaul-1.3373334.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a follow-up article, so I don’t know whether Barsik actually won the election.

Next there was a salvo in the ongoing good-natured culinary skirmish between Hubby and me.  I tend to get creative when I’m cooking, while he prefers to follow detailed recipes.  This creates a certain amount of friction when he’s trying to duplicate one of my dishes:

Hubby:  “How much (ingredient) do you put in?”

Me:  “Um… a bit…  Maybe, um, a teaspoon?  Or maybe a bit more.  This much.” *dumps ingredient into palm and displays the small heap*

Hubby (long-suffering):  “And how long should I cook it?”

Me:  “Until it’s done…?”

Hubby:  *grinds teeth*

So he sent me this:

Measuring spoons for a tad, dash, pinch, smidgen, and drop

Measuring spoons for a tad, dash, pinch, smidgen, and drop

These are the official conversions:

  • Tad = 1/4 teaspoon = 1.25ml
  • Dash = 1/8 teaspoon = 0.625ml
  • Pinch = 1/16 teaspoon = 0.3125ml
  • Smidgen = 1/32 teaspoon = 0.15625ml
  • Drop = 1/64 teaspoon = 0.078125ml

(He thinks this will help, but in fact he’s only given me more obscure units of measurement with which to annoy him.  Shhh, don’t tell.)

And finally, my diminished concentration resulted in yet another silly misread.  A couple of days ago, this article came up in my news feed:

nose hair conditioner

I must have a nostril-hair fixation, because I read “Your Nose Hair Is A Bad Conditioner”.  It speaks to my disordered state of mind that my mental critic said, “Well, yeah; duh.  Who’d use nostril-hair as a conditioner?”  I had actually scrolled down about three articles before I went, “Wait, what?”

And that’s my brain this week, ping-ponging from cats to cooking to conditioners.  How was your week?

* * *

If you’re interested in the Book Club, I’ve posted a few thoughts about the format for discussion.  I’d really appreciate your input on 4 questions – please click here to reply.  Thanks! 

1 If you haven’t discovered Bookbub.com yet, you may or may not thank me for mentioning it.  It’s a bargain e-book notification service, and you can sign up to receive emails (daily or weekly) containing free and discounted e-books in the genres you select.  It’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to my to-read list… but then again, I’m happy at the sight of 50 books piled up ready to read.  If a burgeoning TBR list stresses you out, you may want to skip Bookbub. 😉

32 thoughts on “Ping-Pong Brain”

  3. Love the new look, it feels very “welcomey”. Thank you, also, for the links for the audio books app thing. I have them copied so I can learn them better later on. My Kindle is on of the older first ones, not much involved in it other than space for lots of books!
    My “eye strain” is clearing up. I got that diagnosis from an eye doctor. Using his not so cheap eye drops did help a little. A few days after using them I had a real bout of swelling, not breathing good, coughing, etc. Hubby got me to the ER and gee, big surprise here, I had a whopping case of Hay Fever. Very true that it did affect my eyes, but what I needed was some good OTC antihistamine. I got a shot to get me started and some samples of Claritin to take home. Sheesh. Feeling much better now. No wonder more and more people are turning to Holistic doctors and Naturopaths (sp?) BTW, I love Book Bub too! I haven’t finished #11 yet but have a stack from BB waiting on me for when I do. LOL “Spies that Bind” is just wonderful. So different but so good with all the same characters. Love it. Not pushing for #12, but, you know, anytime is a good time to continue the lives and times of Ayden and Co. hehehe (hint?)

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    • LOL! A very subtle hint indeed! 😉

      I’m so glad your eyes are getting better – what trial for you! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that your vision will behave for a while now. (Enough to dig into your pile of Bookbub goodies, anyway.) I’m glad you’re enjoying Book 11, too!

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  4. I get ping-pong brain, Diane. I mean I get it as in get it, and get it as in know it. I knew I shouldn’t have read that other list… I need one of those measuring spoons though – my dash is more of a tad.
    I like your new look!

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  5. There was a period of time a few years ago that I kept mis-reading everything from newspaper headlines to food labels. Then I had cataract surgery and – voila! I can read again … but it’s a lot less entertaining now.
    Had your eyes checked lately? 🙂

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  6. There sure is a lot swirling around in that King-Kong brain of yours. Maybe the nostril hair is anchored at the base of the skull and has to grow all the way through the brain and through the nose where it is trying to seek the light. It’s only a theory.

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  7. My brain is ping-ponging all over the place lately too, even more so than usual. Surely there must be a cure for this? I suppose that cure involves shutting off the screens and taking long walks outside and reconnecting with nature. But if only we had the time.

    How amazing that your hubs cooks with you. I’ve been married to a guy for so long who never ever cooks that I forget men do this. But luckily hubs does many other things, like the laundry. That’s definitely a decent trade-off!

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  8. Love the new pages
    Not looked fully yet, I’m currently cuddled up with an almost 9week old baby not mine I must add.

    Off to mooch at the book club

    So will add more later

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    • Thanks! I’m hoping it makes navigation a little easier and that the new home page will provide a more welcoming place for new visitors to land. But I’m still ironing out a few wrinkles – I just realized this morning that I hadn’t enabled comments on the Extras pages. Oops! Done now… 🙂

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