Nicholson Baker's novel The Mezzanine remind me a lot about myself. His character "Howie" sees the world through a microscope and focusing on the finite details of life that one might miss on their day to day life. This is something I relate to because often I find myself wondering about the small things and ignoring the big picture that most people tend to look at.
The first time I really noticed this after reading the book was when I was in 5th period English class and the fan was twirling clockwise while the one next to it went counter clockwise, like what was up with that? Did the turning of the fans maxamize the amount of air flow in the room? Did it make everyone cooler or feel more refreshed and comfortable? Also it was making this weird clicking noise much like the tick off a clock but distinct. Tick...tick...tick...the fan went. Every 2 seconds, it just ticked. I didn't notice it at first but once I did I couldn't stop hearing it. The sound trying to penetrate into my head much like a woodpecker to a soft barked tree in the early morning.
This is the way my mind works throughout the day which really drew me to Baker's character. Especially the way he talked about the shoe laces and how using them correctly (like correcr knots) was slowly wearing them out. In my mind I started to go one a rant about how life is like a shoe lace and in th end even if we are healthy and live correctly we will break in the end. I know it's dark but it really got my mind going. I'm going to end this post by asking a few questions: Have you ever found your mind wondering like Howie's? What's something small no one noticed?
