Every now and then, the world goes slantwise and my normal perceptions are strange. The familiar seems alien.
People don’t have arms and legs; they have floppy appendages. And they aren’t talking. It all comes across as meaningless jibber-jabber. That we are creatures seems obvious.
Then I snap out of it and get on with my damned life. Maybe I’ve listened to too much simlish 
over the years.
Predictably, the feeling strikes when I’m watching television. I flip through channels. Everything’s toy trucks, drink-based dance numbers, and smarmy faces. Mesomorph apes sell weight loss devices.
All television radiates ephemeral and culture-bound. Four generations removed, it’ll seem quaint and amusing, though ultimately some perplexing minutiae history.
Tangent
Here’s a snippet about a new work: Earth (The Book).
It is conceived as a handy guide for extraterrestrials who arrive on this planet after humanity has become extinct, in case those extraterrestrials want to know what they’re missing. It explains everyday details about how we live(d), from our use of the fork (“a way to hurt food one last time before eating it”) to our wearing of pants. “We put these on one leg at a time,” it says. “You may require a different approach.” (Maslin)
The odder my own species seems to me, the more I need a handbook. Or at least a distraction.
Oscillating between Very Big Ideas [trademark pending] and ridiculous humor may seem odd, but I suspect that my moments on alien Earth have something to do with it.
Footnote
Simlish is a nonsensical, fictional language found in Maxis’ sim-games. I have been playing a lot of Spore. Learn more about this particular jibber-jabber at Wikipedia.
