Per nugget

Every once in a while, something clicks for me. It might be a problem that I need to work out, or it might be some sort of ambiguity that I want to decide. Most of the time, these sorts of things go overanalyzed and unsolved, and fester to either really get to me or go away of their own volition. Kinda like smallpox before the 19th century. Most of my problems don't cause horrific scarring and/or death, of course, but otherwise, they literally are smallpox before the 19th century.

Where was I? Ah, yeah. So while most of my issues just seem to sit around until they decide to go away on their own, sometimes I have something click. Like things make more sense to me or I remember something or I learn something or meet someone. It's a great feeling, as I'm sure you (assuming "you" exist; I think that it's possible that the views of this blog are just random numbers generated by MySpace to make me feel better...) know.

So I woke up this morning, after sleeping on the problem I'd mentioned in this very space some hours earlier ("Previously, on Ed O.'s blog..."), and felt like I can continue to do it. Can continue to go out and feel foolish and feel unproductive and feel it's OK.

Setting aside the very real possibility that this epiphany is misguided (maybe I should just pack it in now...), I feel like I have a bit of a second wind and some clarity.

All of this is good, I suppose. But the source of my mini-discovery is a bit... peculiar. I was lying in bed this morning, with a cat deciding to use my chest as a resting spot (don't worry, he's my cat; strays rarely make it past the traps into my inner sanctum) and a television commercial popped into my head.

Specifically, a Jack in the Box commercial. For those of you that don't know, Jack in the Box is a fast food restaurant (incidentally, the first place my dad took my mom after they met...) and a "commercial" is an advertisement that shills name recognition and available products or attempts to generate demand.

The hidden role of commercials, or at least this Jack in the Box one, is to provide life guidance. I'm horrified that I can take something away from a fast food ad, but here are the specifics:

-- Mr. Box (heh) is wandering around a fast food trade show, and there are different booths set up
-- One young man is offering chicken nuggets, and Jack is intrigued, asking him how much they cost
-- The guy answers, "$25,000. Per nugget."
-- Jack is a bit stunned, asking how many he expects to sell at that price
-- The response? "All it takes is one."

The connection to my situation is this: I've gotta keep trying, I've gotta keep being myself, and I've gotta keep aiming high. High risk-high reward. Take nothing for granted. One game at a time. Both teams played hard.

Of course, a more reasonable approach might be to find out how my life has become so fucked up that I'm taking inspiration from old TV ads. I fully expect in a week or two to get some insight from "Where's the Beef?" or "I'd like to buy the world a Coke."

For now, though, I'll take what I can get and see where it takes me.