They come in three

Three revelations from the news makes me conclude that pot, excess booze and escalating petrol prices really do make some people stupid.

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No Happy Meal here!

In one case a Illinois man was gainfully smoking cannabis in his car while waiting for his meal at the drive-thru of a local McDonald’s. Had it been any other day or any other restaurant he might have gotten away.

Or maybe if he checked his rear mirror often... because on the particular day the car that was directly behind him in line at the drive-thru was a police cruiser.

The officer was able to smell the burning marijuana and saw the smoke coming out of the passenger window of the car in front.

He stopped the car for a traffic violation and found a tupperware container filled with pot in the car. The offender was duly charged with possession.

You can be sure it wasn't a Happy Meal.

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In another case, a Warsaw man attempted to woo his sweetheart by riding chest naked into her house on horseback. Needless to say, he had been drinking at the local watering hole and thought it was a grandiose enough gesture to sweep her off her feet.

Chivalry died in the hands of the uncouth...

However, when he smashed his way through the front door and into her living room, while she was home watching TV with her daughter, she called the police.

The shaken divorcee only had did to say: “I never fancied him before and certainly don't now.”

Ouch!

The poor lovelorn man, and divorced father of seven, now faces five years behind bars for aggravated breaking and entry.

No news to the state of the horse though.

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And finally, to perhaps finally prove that escalating petrol prices were making loons of us all, two Kazakhstan men decided to save on trailer costs (and petrol) by shipping the Mazda 626 they had bought by transporting it back home in their van.

The German police pulled over the heavily laden white van on the highway (after they saw it lurching from side to side) - and were stunned when they found a car packed on its side in the back!

What happened was that when the car wouldn't fit in the van the proper way up - the two men decided to think out of the box. They called a few pals and loaded the silver Mazda in on its side – carefully putting a mattress underneath to stop the doors from getting scratched.

When pulled over though the men couldn't see a problem with their solution, the car did fit in the van after all.

Well, if it fits...

The Germans, however, couldn't quite see it the same way. A German police spokesman said the van and the car were confiscated and the men ordered to return with a proper transporter for the car before they would be allowed to continue the journey.

Light on feet, levitating mind

I hope the headline is very haiku because what I encountered on the web recently was for me a very 'haiku' moment – a sense of succinct rhythm conjuring images that absolutely defy the power of the word.

I always been amazed at the human mind and its capacity to create an alternative perspective if let out of the box. Unfortunately too few people do so in fear of ridicule for not following on the established norm.

The mind of Natsumi Hayashi, a young Japanese photographer's assistant and a photographer herself, has not just been allowed out of its box, it has burst out!

A even greater achievement when you set it against the perceived high sense of decorum and conformity of the Japanese people.

Natsumi realised at an early age that “keeping two feet on the ground” was highly overrated and admits she didn't want any of it. When it came to practicality or sensibility, to be grounded and pragmatic. She knew what she wasn't and so wanted none of it.

Floating across a restaurant

Her self-portraits are solely those with her seemingly levitating all over Tokyo. “I am not a practical person at all. Therefore, I try not to have my feet on the ground in my self-portrait photos to show my true self,” she was quoted in a news report.

Of course she can't levitate, but she can jump – which is levitating backwards in a sense. She sets her camera, either on self-timer or with a friend clicking the shutter for her, at 1/500 second or faster shutter speed and jumps. A lot.

She says that it can take her anywhere from 10 to 60 minutes to get the right shot... which may mean sometimes as many as 300 jumps for that perfect instance of unadulterated levitation.

Its people who think so purely out of the box that have my devotion. People who are not confined by the values set upon them by others, who, in turn, are probably living the values set on them by still others.

Natsumi shatters the myth of individuality in conformity. She has taken the camera as her voice, and armed with her unique vision she has snatched her moment and frozen her true self for the world to see.

Want to see more of Natsumi's work... visit her website or click on the images in this post.

Square plugs for round holes?!

Either I've been doing a lot more reading than usual or stranger things seem to manifest themselves these days.

A man from China has devised on an almost fool-proof plan to save his precious bicycle from being stolen. He has taken off the front wheels permanently and wheelies himself across town on its rear wheels; in fact he has become so adept at riding in this fashion that he claims a top speed of 32 km/h!

Don't cut it if it works...

The first thing that comes to mind is that getting a unicycle might have had the same deterrent effect – but clearly this man was thinking out of the box AND thinking economically too (assuming he already had the bike in the first place). In my assumption the man had already come to the conclusion that a potential thief might be able to offload a unicycle but never a regular 'bi' cycle with only one wheel.

Obviously this man had been a centre of attraction, and most likely not any of the flattering kind. He has, in all likelihood, been relegated the unenviable status of 'a joke' among his neighbours and worthy of a good laugh by all those he passes on his commute everyday.

But as far as he is concerned... he probably doesn't give a rat's 'petunia' to what other's thought of his scheme. You know what, he may have hit on the key to true happiness when he had decided to do live HIS life on HIS terms; after all he was not inconveniencing anyone or asking anyone else to follow in his direction.

Which got me thinking (such a dangerous pastime!) that while most of us like to believe that we live our lives on our own terms, if we are honest, rarely do we really do so in public. When in public perhaps we succumb more often than not to easy conformity when we might want to do otherwise, lest we suffer disapproval or, worse, ridicule.

I am not of the opinion that people who conform are doing so to escape ridicule, but I think that over years of conforming or under the pressure to conform we may lose some of our latent individuality without knowing any better.

Granted exhibiting individuality by being irresponsible is not the goal, that would be idiocy. However, being something we rather not be can be idiocy too. Going with the flow might seem like a good way to live, but often if going with flow is contrary to our core individuality it can be cause for frustration... which leads to perhaps finding fault with everything and being angry with the world.

You know, sometimes jumping to conclusions is the easiest way to arrive at epiphanies... but seriously, we have but one life to live why not live it on our own terms.

The man in China was not looking out for media attention, he just needed to do what he needed to do. As eccentric as his solution to his problem seems, it does the trick and perhaps there lies the real truth... sometimes the best solution is not just the most obvious one (after all he could have just bought a sturdy lock to the same effect).

The mind is full of possibilities and innovative outlooks, but can be also bogged down with pre-conceived ill perceptions if we let it. Then there is the added unnecessary burden of being concerned with what the neighbours could say.

In my experience, no one really does give a 'rat's petunia' about what I do or how I live my life, save for idle gossip; I am just not that important in their lives, besides each one of them have their own problems and insecurities to contend with.

Funny thing is, they may even be worried about what I might think about them. And I don't.

Given a basic moral backbone and an affinity to do the right thing (most of the time) on reflex, we shouldn't disregard our thoughts completely; after all a square plug could potentially fit in a round hole – granted it might not make an ideal plug but it could very well get the job done.

And if the neighbours do talk, is it so hard to just let them?