incurably morbid
Friend (L): [almost drowned out by thunder] Did you hear that? It's making me crazy! Whenever I hear thunder my first thought is that an atomic bomb has been detonated over new york city. I instinctively want to either dive under the bed or run to the window to look for mushroom clouds.
Me: I know exactly what you mean! I get that way with fireworks. Even on days when you'd logically expect to hear fireworks, like, oh, the fourth of july, my first thought at the sound of them isn't, 'Oh, fireworks, I should go look at them.' It's, 'Canons! Someone is firing canons at the bay! We're being attacked by pirates!' Then my brain jumps to the idea of giants, and then to the Rapture. It takes me a little while to self-talk myself into acceptance of fireworks.
L: I expect World War Three to break out any day now and you default to pirates and giants. What does that say about our psyches?
Me: I read too much fantasy as a child and have permanently slipped through the cracks of reality, and you...
L: I need a lobotomy?
Thunder: claps.
We: flinch audibly
L: Let's talk about something a little cheerier.
Me: Yeah, yeah, okay, um... Oh! I read this great book the other day. It was about the Franklin Expedition...
Jul 25th