An Exercise in Distraction

Today, we’re celebrating the art of getting sidetracked.

One of the benefits of working from home is that no one notices when you slip into a rabbit hole of weird and wonderful Internet nonfiction. Here are a few unexpectedly intriguing articles that I found when I was meant to be working. Now that I’m struggling to finish an essay, it seems a brilliant plan to share the strange corners of the web that captivated me. Look, shiny!

Sometimes a mundane explanation can be more fascinating than a sensational one. The Phantom of Heilbronn on Wikipedia tells the story of a female serial killer whose DNA was found at crime scenes in Austria, France and Germany. The woman without a face, as she was known at the time, was linked to fifteen cases over the course of sixteen years — until a shocking discovery turned the investigation on its head.

Speaking of Wikipedia, did you know that they have a category of Body parts of individual people? I haven’t gone through the links, which include Lord Uxbridge’s leg, Chopin’s heart and Hitler’s testicles, because I’m sure I’ll be losing an afternoon or two the moment I start. These lost limbs and organs are more than medical curiosities; they are amputated fragments of larger stories. Did you know they lost the leg of Sarah Bernhardt? This stuff should probably come with a content warning.

A deserted ship with blood on the decks was not what I expected when I saw a review of one of my books on Intro to Global Studies. But once there, I was dragged into the story of The Mystery Woman of the Baltimore, just one small part of a series of mysteries written by Professor Shawn Smallman. This gripping story weaves through Ireland, Canada and the United States after a ship appears at port with no crew and blood on the decks. Some stories resist easy answers.

Sagas aren’t usually my thing but someone sent me this link to Tattúínárdǿla saga: If Star Wars Were an Icelandic Saga and I was immediately entranced. This fusion of Viking lore in a galaxy far far away makes for a fantastic reading experience.

Mistakes can lead to discovery. I was embarrassed when it became clear that I’d mislabelled a fighter jet, showing my lack of knowledge. In response, I had a lot of fun writing How to tell an F-16 Fighting Falcon from a Eurofighter Typhoon
and the new article had only one embarrassing error. I am improving!

Nick Paumgarten’s long read in the New Yorker, The Most Exclusive Restaurant in America is a fascinating story of Paumgarten’s attempts to have a meal at the world-renowned one-of-a-kind one-man-show restaurant with a two-year waiting list. The more he discovered about the restaurant, the odder it seemed. I glanced at it thinking it would be a review of an exclusive venue. I was quickly intrigued as Paumgarten kept tugging at that thread and quickly found myself dragged into the mystery.

There have been a lot of words bandied about the death of hustle culture and people who are quiet quitting but The Case of Mediocrity in TIME magazine was the first in this genre that really made me think about the balance I am looking for. It sounds odd to celebrate mediocrity but when it’s described as “growing and learning new things about the world and ourselves” it sure does sound like what I want out of life. But, just to be clear, I’m OK with being rich and beautiful at the same time, if that’s an option.

These stories have one thing in common: they aren’t about being the best or the most successful. They are about finding wonder in unexpected places. They show that there can be value in aimless exploration.

I’m working on a long piece about the gulls on my roof which is proving particularly difficult to wrestle into a narrative. I’ve sworn that I will not be distracted onto anything else until it is finished. So if you never hear from me again, now you know why.

That said, please add more “unproductive” explorations in the comments; I’m sure I’ll need a distraction again soon!

[Photos are public domain with the exception of the Hustle image by Photo by Jonas Svidras