The Blue Sponge

When the genius was working for IBM a co-worker and he became engaged in a little game between the two of them involving a piece of blue sponge. It seems that one of the packing materials regularly delivered to the office included a 24 inch square of blue sponge that was about ½ inch thick. His colleague Tom first conceived the idea of cramming one into one of the genius’s file drawers so that when he opened it, the sponge jumped out at him. Never one to be outdone, the genius waited a while and did the same thing to Tom.

Then the blue sponge began to appear in odd places at different times – sometimes a desk drawer, sometimes in a file folder, or even in one’s brief case, always at long enough intervals to keep the element of surprise in it. They became quite clever at devising new ways to shock each other. But eventually, Tom moved to another city.

Several months later, the genius received in the mail a large manila envelope containing nothing but a dismembered blue sponge cut into multiple pieces. But the genius had the last word after all. He emailed Tom with a message typed in blue and filling the whole screen with the words “blue sponge. . .blue sponge . . . blue sponge,” etc. Tom wrote back that somehow an electronic blue sponge just wasn’t the same. And that was the last of the blue sponge.

Why did I digress from Brenda to write about such a silly series of events? Because Ashley and I have our own version of the game, and today she GOT me!

Several years ago there was a movie out starring Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister of England, and Ashley and I happened to see it together. I can’t remember the title exactly, but it had the word “actually” in it. There was an aging rock star in the movie trying to make a come back with a really annoying song that stays on your mind if you ever get it on there.

Ashley and I began to surprise each other by calling on the phone and singing the first lines to each other. I think we even went out and bought the stupid CD so we could play the real thing. We always tried to do it at a time when we knew the other wouldn’t be at home so we could leave it on the answering machine.

Then we began to get creative with the computer – we would send the URL for the single or just the opening words. Ashley even sent me the DVD for Christmas one year. This morning she was out in her car when she heard the song on the radio. She quickly called me and held the phone up to the speaker. But I assume that she had the top down on her convertible because I couldn’t hear the words. So I’m not sure it counts.

But just in case it did, here is my reply. “I feel it in my fingers, Feel it in my toes!”