Spukhafte Fernwirkung

aka Spooky Action at a Distance

Two items:

Item 1: Some time back I posted a brief obit of Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse fame. I included two of my favorite songs (not just of his, but of ever): Rainmaker and Happy Man. This weekend I was taking Wesdom up to baseball camp at Clemson U—about a two and a half hour drive each way. I borrowed Wisdaughter's charger that allows me to play my iPod through the car's speakers, plugged it in, set it on random (approx. 8500 songs), and headed up the highway. After dropping off young H., I grabbed a quick and awful falafel and headed back. Just at the Walhalla (!), SC, exit on I-85, Rainmaker began to play. In a few seconds it began to rain on me, the first (and only) time the whole trip in either direction. Then as the intensity of the song built, the intensity of the downpour increased. Until it was so dark and raining so hard I couldn't see out my windshield. Traffic that normally treats the Interstate sign as a speed limit sign (i.e., 85 mph) was moving at about 15 mph, and practically every car had its flashers on. Many simply pulled off the road. I played the song REAL LOUD so I could hear it over the clamorous downpour. Then, just as the song wound up, the rain simply stopped, the cloud opened up, and I emerged into sun and fairly clear skies. It was first time I'd heard the song since March. Eerie, in a cool sort of way.

Item 2: Just now I was browsing through my local used book store as is my wont. I picked out a few beach reads for my annual vacation. As I was heading up to the counter to pay, I spotted a novel which bore the same title as the novel I've been working on recently. Interesting, I thought. I picked it up and began reading the synopsis. The plot it described was very similar to the plot I'd been working on (I have an outline of about 40 pages at this point). Too similar for comfort, I'd say. I'd never heard of the book; it's relatively recent. Nor the author. Not sure what to do now. Spooky, in a weird sort of way.

Three things:

Thing 1: I first saw REM perform in Winston-Salem, NC, at a bar right when their first single came out.

Thing 2: The protagonist in my novel EULOGY thinks/dreams/believes he encounters the ghost of his mother in his law office late at night.

Thing 3: I'm a non-believer.