Okay, hold on to your hats. I don't expect this news to be as earth-shattering for the rest of you as it was (still is) to me, but...
click here.
Yes, that's a much-doted-upon three-year-old named Arlo. And his mom's name is Jen. And there is a video here of that Arlo lip-synching and dancing to Queen's "We Will Rock You." And it's...
so awesome.
I didn't go looking for this. I did not--I repeat--DID NOT Google "Arlo" and "Jen" to see if there were other pairings out there like me and my boy. I was reading Mighty Girl's blog, and there was this post pointing to Arlo's "We Will Rock You" video. It's also linked on Dooce's blog--which is about the Best Blog of All Time.
I'm alarmed. And I have to tell you, I'm feeling a little bit threatened right now. I'm having a tiny little freak out, a wee identity crisis. Granted, the Other Jen and Arlo live far, far away (Providence, RI) and--thank Gawd--the daddy's name is NOT Ted (it's Jeff) , but all of a sudden I'm feeling a little less unique.
And okay. Here it comes. I feel like the other Jen-and-Arlo are doing the Jen-and-Arlo bit a little cooler than I am. I don't blame my Arlo for this-- obviously, I think he's gotta be ten times the kid that Other Arlo is, but now I feel like I'm just not promoting Arlo well enough. Arlo doesn't have an Uncle Liam, after all, and no relatives who are professional-grade video producers. Plus, he's two and this Other Arlo is three, so there's that.
Maybe she doesn't work full-time outside the home. Maybe she's some kind of professional blogger, and therefore has all kinds of time to take pictures and videos of her dear boy and design her very own web site and have a very hip short-banged-bob haircut. She probably drives a VW Beetle.
How am I going to keep up?
Should I e-mail jen@jenville.com? What in the world would I say?
Do I need to just get over it? Because right now I am completely preoccupied with my Other, and her boy Arlo. It's like the song "Ana Ng" by They Might Be Giants--talking about a twin you have on the opposite side of the earth ("water spirals the wrong way down the drain...") and what it's like to meet them. Or The Secret Sharer, by Joseph Conrad. Only she's in Rhode Island.
Forgive my stream of consciousness. I'm reeling. Who has problems like this? Only me, I tell you.
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6 comments:
Okay. I realize that I am now having a conversation with myself, but that's sort of the place I'm in right now.
But I HAVE TO TELL YOU. The Other Jen DOES drive a VW Beetle.
It's uncanny the way I can predict these things. And even though I don't have proof that I had a hunch about this before I found this picture on her website (http://www.jenville.com/peeves/snow.html), I just knew it was green. I did!
Okay, well, in truth, it's really just further proof for my theory that women who have dark short-banged-bob haircuts are statistically inclined to drive VW Bugs.
And, if we really peered into the lives of Jeff and Jen, I'd venture a guess that one of them is a tech exec. Short bangs speak volumes.
I googled "Jen" and "Arlo" to find out whether you really are a more sizey demographic than we'd credited you for.
There's a Jen who blogs about Arlo Guthrie, but other than that, it's just the two teams. And, Rebecca and I are prepared to track this imposter down.
I DO love that both Jens outfit their Arlos to be rock icons. I lament that we lack a talented uncle to get your boy his own video, but we've got a year before our Arlo could be considered to be off track.
Meanwhile, the thought that our partnerings might be parallel universe material made me consider my relationship with my dog (naturally). So, I googled "Shawna" and "Rico."
Here's what Amazon had to say about us:
"Shawna is found, naked, laying in a ditch near a road in Northern Virginia after disappearing 7 months before in Texas. FBI "Director" Rico has made a hobby of studying and investigating cases of missing women, including Shawna's.
"The FBI and local law enforcement search the area, trying to find the kidnapper and any other victims he still has (plus the remains of past victims). Meanwhile, Rico and Shawna fall in love."
Total parallel lives. Now available at Amazon.com for only $11.99
I can't decide whether this trumps the fact that there are two related Ava Palmbergs in the world. In any case, this is a hell of a coinky dink.
email her...I think the other Jen would really get a kick out of it. I'd love to hear her response maybe you would some how connect and eventually...oh I don't know...ha ha.
Before you even mentioned this, I saw the link on dooce, and followed it, and was weirded out by the Jen/Arlo coincidence. I considered sending it to you, then I figured you would see it anyway, being a dooce reader.
I actually gave the whole thing some serious thought for a few minutes when I saw it, and pondered parallel universes, chaos theory, and other stuff like that. I'm glad you're investigating this, because I think it's more important than it seems at first glance. It's Pynchonesque, that's what it is. I bet if you do get in touch with the other Jen, more coincidences will emerge.
But if you suddenly disappear during your investigation, I'm going to be very upset. So please, pull back if it starts to get dangerous. We're all watching out for you here.
Also, Shawna's Google results are spectacular.
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