Average and averager

I was recently asked (by someone very close to me) if #1: Is everything going OK? #2: You've been posting more on the blog lately - does this mean you're working less? #3: Or just making time for it? Anyway, I worry about you, Dad.

My responses to these questions: Yes...No...Yes! It seems the brevity of my answers may have elicited even more concern for my demeanor. It also seems that I am not exhibiting past "average" behavior of late. With that in mind, here is a more detailed explanation to those three questions.

#1: Is everything OK? Yes, I've never been better! Of course, that's a lie. But there is nothing ominous or nefarious going on in my life right now...for the most part. I do have another doctor's appointment this Friday to go over blood test results, ie, triglyceride and cholesterol stuff. Since the doc told me two weeks ago (for the 100th time in 25 years), "You realize that you are a walking "time bomb", don't you?"...I expect the same this Friday. Hopefully, I won't explode before the end of the week!

#2: You've been posting more on your blog lately...does this mean you're working less? No, quite the contrary. Of course, that's a lie. It's not that I am working more hours, but I am putting in more "mental mileage". Work is beginning to wear me down again, ie, stress, taking it home, losing hope that taking this new position was the right decision.

#3: Or, just making more time for it (blog writing)? Yeah...that must be it! This is not a lie. I have been making a concerted effort to write more lately. It's great therapy for a border line manic depressive who is attempting to stay between those magic lines on the looney graph. But isn't that what life is all about...staying between the lines?

Am I not exhibiting A.S.B. (Average Skip-like Behavior)? Or, from another viewpoint, A.D.B. (Average Dad-like Behavior)?

Here's the dictionary definition of averageness (non-math model): indicating a middle position on a scale of evaluation. Average and medium apply to what is midway between extremes and imply both sufficiency and lack of distinction. I love that "lack of distinction" part, that does so much for my unstable ego!

I received an email today from another individual (on a photo sharing site) asking me why I rated his photo "Below Average". The way it was worded implied that he was whimpering a bit while writing it. I responded with a rather lengthy explanation of photo site rating systems, some photo-technical babble about his image, and a disclaimer that it was only "my opinion". His photo was indeed below average based on all the other pictures I have stored in my mental data base. Take a pill...then take more pictures, dude!

For most of us, we spend the majority of our lives doing average things. Even acclaimed artists and writers do not hit those home runs every time. It's all based on averages and medians. And those average and medians are relative to cultural moments in time and relative to past personal levels. Right?

The best we can hope for is to stay between the lines most of the time. If we stray a bit or up or down on occasion...so be it. Upward movement may be perceived as good days, downward movement bad days. We must simply attempt to stay in control of the magnitude of those "swings".

Just another average day in paradise!