Wrong Way Corrigan

 Douglas Corrigan was an aviator who had the misfortune of coming after Charles Lindergh's famous transantlatnic flight from New York to Paris in 1927, but in 1938 Corrigan did someting almost as famous in just the absurdity of his actions: He took a transcontinental flight from Long Beach, CA to Brooklyn, New York, and then he was supposed to take the flight back home to Long Beach, but instead due to "mechanical failure" and supposed misreading of his compass he wound up crossing the Atlantic and landed in Ireland, thus completely going the wrong direction he was supposed to go (indeed, almost the opposite opposite) thus earning himself the nickname "Wrong Way" Corrigan. He's probably one of the best cases in American history of someone doing something weird and off the cuff not for any award or merit or practical purposes, but just to get famous for doing something that absurd, the philosophy of "if I'm not going to be the best at something at least I can be the most memorable." It's now become a common technique in social media with prank videos of people rubbing people's hands on escalators, the Australian break dancer at the Olympics named Ray Gun who did an absurd dance that got zero points but everyone couldn't stop talking about her, more than even Simone Biles or Noah Lyles or any of the other major winners who got celebrated for their achievement. No, I think people have picked up on the fact that it's hard work to be the best and not everyone can make it, but it's not as hard and anyone can do something crazy and get attention, be the modern day "Wrong Way Corrigan." Just ask the "Hawk Tua Girl" who became famous overnight much like Ray Gun for something completely without merit but people just loved. 

As American society is going "Wrong Way Corrigan" with the people it chooses to give attention to, I feel like in some ways my life is going "Wrong Way Corrigan." For quite a while I always had a clear purpose in mind, to learn Japanese, become the best dodgeball player I can be, learn Korean and be able to converse in Korean, earn as money as I could at work to save up money, and then most recently learn as much trivia as I could. Those goals kept me hungry, kept me driven, kept me centered on my quest if you will towards a clear end point. Recently, however, I've felt more lost than anything, just because all my goals have stalled, have been completed, or I lost interest in them. I've lost the need to learn as much Japanese as I could, I'm no longer active in the dodgeball community and I've lost the hunger to prove myself in a kids game with no Olympic Games or really any recognition in the general American culture as a real sport (doesn't help that I'm 37 years old), earning money never gets old I guess but it's more of a "compelled to do" rather than something I get up eager to do in the mornign, and trivia.... still learning but starting to realize how little TV shows want someone like me to get on the show. Oh yea and fantasy baseball....why am I still stuck on it, even though I missed the playoffs this season and should be disattaching from such a trivial game with no meaningful practical application? I spend my days essentially working on my computer, getting distracted every 10 minutes to look at my phone for the next dopamine hit whether it's a chess clip or news item of someone "owning" someone. Oh and chess......I might be going wrong way in skill level, in some ways I'm improving my speed chess game but in other ways I might be worse than I was in high school, when I took it more seriously and didn't make as many mistakes because I was so locked in and wanted to win so bad. Now I'm just doing it casually, hae nothing to lose, and make sloppy mistakes. Going the wrong way in life.....I think at some point many adults feel it and feel like they've peaked, leading to a midlife crisis, but I don't necessarily think that's what I got, I just feel like the whole world is passing me by, and I'm just stuck in slow-mo or quicksand, or worse going the wrong way. 

Speaking of aviators, this weekend I went with some friends to the Camarillo Air Show in.....surprise, Camarillo, where my parents have lived for the last 20 years now. It's like the complete opposite of the world I normally reside in, with everyone watching the skies for pilots flying crazy patterns in the sky, with planes, helicopters, and all kinds of aerial vehicles and also parachuting out of some artistically. A lot of military people on site, from Air Force, Navy (like Top Gun) and Army, etc., all supporing the Air Show. I think if I had went a different route in life and joined a military organization out of college or even out of high school, I'd have a totally different experience and maybe even be flying an airplane at some point. That seems really liberating, to be flying above the clouds and seeing the lonely earth below. Some people say you forget about all the troubles of life when you reach outer space and look back at Earth, and realize it's just one big land mass, and there's so many different worlds out there. I imagine that's what aviators feel too when flying their own planes up there, basically free to go anywhere they want to go and not restricted by roads or gravity. No wonder Wrong Way Corrigan purposely took the wrong way and went to Ireland.