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Have you ever had the kind of conversation which inspires you to do something and also inspires a completely unexpected thought chain as a result of your activity???
Yesterday I had one such conversation and the thought journey (as well as my physical journey home along the Great Central Way) threw up some rather alarming connections.
It all started out so normally - what passes for "normally" in my world anyway.
I was standing outside after the church service yesterday morning when one of my friends bounced up to me and started talking. (When I say "bounced" I am not being rude about this person's weight - they bounced with enthusiasm for life.)
Apparently, Derek Deacon (remember that name as it will become useful as we go on) has taken up a hobby - cycling. He was talking about the Great Central Way (which passes approximately half a mile from my home).
It was a nice sunny day so I decided to get off the bus near where I used to work and walk home.
As I was starting my walk my mind decided to throw ideas out (in the end I had to drown them out with music). One of these ideas stuck. Personally I blame Derek for inspiring this particular thought process as well.
I don't know if you have ever heard of the idea that we are all no more than 6 connections away from each other??? (Personally I am not entirely convinced about this theory.)
Well - my brain decided to try to connect as many random friends as possible (both from real life and from Social Media). We are talking about a rather diverse bunch of humans from a variety of countries, in a variety of professions, some unemployed.
The most fluid (and unbroken) connection my brain came up with was a rather interesting one - mainly because it threw up the most random selection of people.
The list follows;
Starting with Derek Deacon, we move to one of the actual Deacons (Elders, etc) in the church - Dr Roy Smith who has got a PhD in some obscure subject (apparently like half of my friends - I seem to collect Braniacs like some people collect stamps).
From Roy we move on to another Brainiac - Dr Paul O'Leary (Photography wizard).
From Paul we move on to Andy Williams (yet another photography wizard) whose interest in all things computer and social media based links him to John Coster of LCiL.
From John Coster it is only a small jump to Joan Coster. Joan has told me about occasions when four Costers (Joan, her husband, and both of her sons) have been sighted in "Costa Coffee" in London. Ah - I know someone who is addicted to Costa Coffee. We are now heading for Scotland to meet Julie Kirkpatrick.
Julie is a fan of Kristyna Myles, who went to university in Salford. This is the same place where Roger Nield originates from. Roger is a Retired Police Officer who is now roaming around the wilds of Surrey - the county my Dad worked in for a very brief time.
A few years before my Dad worked in Surrey he went to university in Aston, Birmingham. Now - my ears usually have a very difficult time attempting to distinguish the Birmingham accent from the rest of the similar accents. This may explain why I originally thought that Lee Thomas came from Birmingham when I first heard him speak. Another person who has got a man's first name as their surname is Dr Derek Lee. Dr Lee shares his first name with - guess who??? - Derek Deacon.
Trust me - the connection could get a lot more random than the ones above.
But I find it fascinating how different people can be connected by the most random, tenuous links. Especially when the people themselves first appear to have nothing whatsoever in common.
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