Coincidence?
My world was just, very quietly, rocked.
I've been devouring a magnificent book all night, named "The Rule of Four", that I received unexpectedly in the mail from my mother yesterday. And I was stopped dead in my tracks mere moments ago by an amazing realization: this book is, somehow, disturbingly intertwined with my life. The volume of text that it's going to require to explain why the one sentence at hand is so eerie to me just reflects how intensely personal the series of coincidences are - any number of you dear readers will immediately grasp one or two of the references, but the rest will probably elude.
First, background: the acknowledgments at the back of the book, as my mother kindly pointed out via post-it and highlighter, contains the following text:
"At Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Mary O'Brien and Bettie Stegall gave literature and creative writing a voice in the wilderness."
Profound coincidence #1: These authors went to TJ and had Ms. Stegall, who was probably my most influential non-physics teacher and also my Cross-Country coach.
Random coincidence #1: My recent focus on wildernesses, and being lost therein, what with "Lost in the Wilderness" being my audition song, from a show my mother and sister did together earlier this year, and which was playing in my car non-stop as my most recent work situation began its decline.
Then we traipse through a delightful book littered with references to a cappella, Gershwin (Rhapsody in Blue, in particular), "Arcadia" (source of my first audition monologue), and illicit steam tunneling (apparently as popular at Princeton as it is at Caltech) (R.C.'s #2-5), only to land on page 279, where our protagonist's friends drop this bomb:
"'We're going to the arch sing at Blair', Gil said, meaning the Friday a cappella concert held outdoors."
R.C. #6: The name of Blair Arch, which followers of my recent personal life will recognize with some amusement.
But then we flip back a page, notice that this is occuring in March, remember that these characters are seniors of the Class of '99, and realize that, give or take a week or so,
P.C. #2: The Blair Arch a cappella concert that our protagonist is about to forgo attending more than likely features Ecphonema.
Yes. My Caltech a cappella group is performing on spring break tour at Princeton (courtesy of Stephanie Davis, if I recall) for characters off in the wings of a book written by people who shared my Writing Seminar teacher at a high school in Virginia.
Just, wow.
I've been devouring a magnificent book all night, named "The Rule of Four", that I received unexpectedly in the mail from my mother yesterday. And I was stopped dead in my tracks mere moments ago by an amazing realization: this book is, somehow, disturbingly intertwined with my life. The volume of text that it's going to require to explain why the one sentence at hand is so eerie to me just reflects how intensely personal the series of coincidences are - any number of you dear readers will immediately grasp one or two of the references, but the rest will probably elude.
First, background: the acknowledgments at the back of the book, as my mother kindly pointed out via post-it and highlighter, contains the following text:
"At Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Mary O'Brien and Bettie Stegall gave literature and creative writing a voice in the wilderness."
Profound coincidence #1: These authors went to TJ and had Ms. Stegall, who was probably my most influential non-physics teacher and also my Cross-Country coach.
Random coincidence #1: My recent focus on wildernesses, and being lost therein, what with "Lost in the Wilderness" being my audition song, from a show my mother and sister did together earlier this year, and which was playing in my car non-stop as my most recent work situation began its decline.
Then we traipse through a delightful book littered with references to a cappella, Gershwin (Rhapsody in Blue, in particular), "Arcadia" (source of my first audition monologue), and illicit steam tunneling (apparently as popular at Princeton as it is at Caltech) (R.C.'s #2-5), only to land on page 279, where our protagonist's friends drop this bomb:
"'We're going to the arch sing at Blair', Gil said, meaning the Friday a cappella concert held outdoors."
R.C. #6: The name of Blair Arch, which followers of my recent personal life will recognize with some amusement.
But then we flip back a page, notice that this is occuring in March, remember that these characters are seniors of the Class of '99, and realize that, give or take a week or so,
P.C. #2: The Blair Arch a cappella concert that our protagonist is about to forgo attending more than likely features Ecphonema.
Yes. My Caltech a cappella group is performing on spring break tour at Princeton (courtesy of Stephanie Davis, if I recall) for characters off in the wings of a book written by people who shared my Writing Seminar teacher at a high school in Virginia.
Just, wow.