Nemesis means (according to Google):
the inescapable agent of someone’s or something’s downfall.
“the balance beam was the team’s nemesis, as two gymnasts fell from the apparatus”
synonyms: archrival, adversary, foe, opponent, arch enemy
a long-standing rival; an archenemy.
“will Harry Potter finally defeat his nemesis, Voldemort?”
a downfall caused by an inescapable agent.
“one risks nemesis by uttering such words”
synonyms: downfall, undoing, ruin, ruination, destruction, Waterloo
Nemeses is the plural form of “nemesis.”
I am grateful to the ancient language of Latin, right now, because:
- In words ending in “is” (like nemesis or hypothesis), we get to use a plural that saves time, letters, and, sometimes, spit,
- I took Latin as a foreign language in school, thus skipping the necessity — at a young and impressionable age — of seriously screwing up a foreign accent, and
- My Latin class in High School joined the nation-wide Junior Classical League, which meant I got to dress up in a toga without also having to get drunk.
So, yes, I am grateful to Latin, this morning.
You, on the other hand, might be grateful if I return to the topic, which is “My Nemeses.”
I shall do my best.
It is a truth universally acknowledged1 that every hero needs a nemesis. For many parts of my life, I have been no different. That is, I have identified a nemesis — somebody or something I have seen as “the enemy.”
This seems to be human nature — to focus our fears, insecurities, negative feelings and thoughts — on something external. Once we do that, we can plan, protect, act, and fight with a sense of purpose.
Here are some past nemeses of mine:
- A classmate in school.
- A nurse who, for whatever reason, lied to me after my first operation.
- An unkind medical resident, named Dr. H., who called me a “spoiled brat” when I was in pain.
- A co-worker, at a job.
- Spalding Gray.
One of my points about nemeses, this morning? We think we need them, so we often create them.
At the same time, I acknowledge the truth that I (and probably you) have met people who have acted and seemed like enemies. How have we known these nemeses? By the pain we have felt.
And why do some people cause pain? Is it because they are:
- thoughtless, and/or
I shall never know why other people do what they do, because I cannot read their minds. I can only speculate.
In these self-proclaimed Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally, I have been trying my best to let go of focusing on others’ motives, because the only mind, soul, and heart I can truly know is … mine.
And yet, while I am fighting that good fight, I have also set myself an interesting blogging task this morning: to look around and choose possible nemeses.
That seems sort of paradoxical, contradictory, conflicted, and complicated, doesn’t it?
Welcome to my world, people!
Here are the Nemeses candidates, for our consideration, this morning:
#1 The Evil Stove-Top
There are many evil aspects of that stove-top, as you might notice. For one thing, all the control knobs (see right) have melted from the heat of the burners. Also, the gas pilot doesn’t work.
These days, I am doing my best — especially now that I am home with pneumonia and have more time for such domestic issues — to control, fix, replace, or otherwise vanquish this arch-enemy of mine.2
#2 Confusing Cooking Directions
In a continuing heroic attempt to provide my 16-year-old son with a breakfast he will actually eat before leaving for school, this morning I returned to an old favorite of his — Meatless Corn Dogs:
As I was trying to complete the complicated food preparation for a single serving of these, before my son rushed off this morning, I encountered this, on the side of the box:
How the heck was I supposed to choose the correct cooking time, with such a huge range of choices: between 1 and 11/2 minutes, for a single corn dog? In my mind, this required the use of math — division, specifically — to find the upper range of acceptable cooking times (5.5 minutes, according to my calculations).
What did I do? I used my best guess, and microwaved that sucker for 1.5 minutes.
Did I overcome my nemesis, in this epic morning battle?
Well, my son ate the corn dog, before he left for school. Draw your own conclusions.
As usual, I could include other examples in this blog post, but I should really end it, so I can attend to my other duties as Super Recovery Woman.3
Actually, endings are another nemesis of mine. I find them difficult to do. And, there are some other, really obvious nemeses I could name right now, such as:
- Pneumonia and
- Unhelpful thoughts.
… but I’ve already written about those, several times before.
How about this? Let’s end this post with a guessing game (which is a great antidote to the nemeses of boredom, depression, and other “down” feelings, I think).
Here’s my question: What possible nemeses are these two creatures reacting to?
Here’s another photographic hint for you:
Thanks to the ancient language of Latin; to those I have seen as nemeses (and then seen in different ways); to people who have helped me in my daily battles; to creatures everywhere who have different responses to guessing games; and to you — of course! — for visiting this blog.
1 My son started reading Pride and Prejudice last night, and those are the first six words of that favorite book of mine.
2 I have to tell you, though, that The Evil Stop-Top doesn’t seem to faze, slow down, or otherwise negatively affect my hero, Michael, who does most of the cooking around here.
3 These super-hero duties include relaxing, reading, watching movies, napping, eating healthy-enough food, drinking water, and, sometimes, expressing myself.
And before the end of Day 485, I’m adding something that feels missing to me: a video of the song “My Nemesis,” from Phineas and Ferb.