{"id":1758,"date":"2013-10-01T06:04:58","date_gmt":"2013-10-01T13:04:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michellejolin.com\/wordpress\/?p=1758"},"modified":"2013-09-30T21:02:21","modified_gmt":"2013-10-01T04:02:21","slug":"wicked-little-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=1758","title":{"rendered":"Agents of fortune"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fates are vicious and they’re cruel
\nYou learn too late you’ve used
\nTwo wishes like a fool.<\/p>\n

–Hedwig and the Angry Inch\/Wicked Little Town<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Destiny, destiny, no escaping that for me.<\/p>\n

–Young Frankenstein<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

It’s so tempting to believe in destiny isn’t it? If you believe that everything is all figured out ahead of time then there isn’t much left for you to do. You just have to kind of kick back and wait for your destiny to roll out.<\/p>\n

I mean…what if I’m not destined to write this blog post?\u00a0 Will a panther leap out and devour me just as I hit the “publish” button to keep me from doing it? If I really believed in a predetermined destiny, I probably wouldn’t make too much of an effort to sit down every day and write something. Or maybe I would because it would be my fate. But wouldn’t that mean some people were also destined to be fat and lazy and not get their blog posts written?<\/p>\n

Could I just find that out now, because it would save me some angst about my diet in general\u00a0 and about finishing this blog post in particular. Thanks.<\/p>\n

Do you suppose the \u00a0 Calvinists used\u00a0 panthers to enforce predestination, because how cool would that be? A really cool deity would have thought of that.<\/p>\n

Believe it or not, I haven’t been drinking. I was just wondering about the fates after listening to the Breeders on my way to work the other day. This is often what happens when I wonder about stuff. Nothing productive, just Calvinist Panthers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And yes, Calvinist Panthers would be a great band name.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is coming up with good band names generally considered a productive way to spend one’s free time?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

PS<\/p>\n

Do I really believe in some sort of predestination? Short answer? Logically no, but there are definitely some things that feel like fate.<\/p>\n

Do I believe in serendipity? Yes. Very much so.<\/p>\n

Serendipity and doubt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Which, coincidentally is a good band name. Not a great one.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The fates are vicious and they’re cruel You learn too late you’ve used Two wishes like a fool. –Hedwig and the Angry Inch\/Wicked Little Town   Destiny, destiny, no escaping that for me. –Young Frankenstein   It’s so tempting to believe in destiny isn’t it? If you believe that everything is all figured out ahead … Continue reading Agents of fortune<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-words"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7lr3R-sm","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11025,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=11025","url_meta":{"origin":1758,"position":0},"title":"Last leaves","author":"Michelle","date":"February 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Somehow I don't believe that those last leaves clinging to the trees are there by coincidence. It must be something. Stubbornness. Strength. Or maybe it's the other way around? Maybe they aren't strong enough to face their destiny and cling out of desperation. Too weak to let go. Hanging on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Random thoughts"","block_context":{"text":"Random thoughts","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=20"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10137,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=10137","url_meta":{"origin":1758,"position":1},"title":"Kismet and chemistry","author":"Michelle","date":"June 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I recently met someone in person who I have been talking to online for a few months on a very regular basis. You can interpret \"regular basis\" as pretty much every day since the beginning, ramping up gradually to a few hours a day in the last three weeks.\u00a0 As\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Random thoughts"","block_context":{"text":"Random thoughts","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=20"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7160,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=7160","url_meta":{"origin":1758,"position":2},"title":"I’m (not) bored","author":"Michelle","date":"August 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The other night, my friend Walt posted a link to a mess of inspirational quotes. Since I love to read and argue with inspirational quotes, of course I read them all and did some mental arguing. It was fun. There were a lot of them. This one from Louis CK\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11570,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=11570","url_meta":{"origin":1758,"position":3},"title":"An imaginary conversation about the overactive imagination","author":"Michelle","date":"May 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes when I'm reading your book, it's hard for me to separate the main character from you. That's normal, I guess. He is based on me. But he's fictional. Yeah but when he's checking to make sure the doors are locked and the coffee maker is off, that's doesn't have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Imaginary Conversation"","block_context":{"text":"Imaginary Conversation","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10949,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=10949","url_meta":{"origin":1758,"position":4},"title":"Thinking about sexual abuse and assault","author":"Michelle","date":"November 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Every woman you know has encountered some sort of sexual verbal or physical abuse at least once in her life. Every one. Most women you know have had multiple instances of it. Some very serious. Some \"just\" inappropriate comments. Insinuations that a raise depends on sexual compliance. Groping. Sexual images\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Random thoughts"","block_context":{"text":"Random thoughts","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=20"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4411,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=4411","url_meta":{"origin":1758,"position":5},"title":"Positive affirmations–hey, this will be easy!","author":"Michelle","date":"March 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"They gave us some super easy homework in fat camp last week. The assignment? Come up with a personal mantra. A positive affirmation. Something you can live with even if most positive affirmations make you want to puke. (Yes, that particular clarification was mine. 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