Monday 8 August 2011

Your Matt Damon Index

So, who likes Matt Damon? Not me, particularly, although my husband is a huge fan.  Having said that, I'm not really sure he knows who Matt Damon truly is - he always refers to him as JASON BOURNE! As in, We have to see that movie, Claudia, it's got JASON BOURNE in it! And I always say okay because it seems like a pretty easy way to keep my man happy. (Although I'm not thrilled about the fact that this means I'm probably going to have to go and see Happy Feet 2.  The things I do for love).

[and now that people have told me via the comments that he is an education activist my indifference has definitely turned to respect - hurrah! I'm now officially pro-JASON Matt. Thanks guys.]

We own this DVD set. Of course. 
J's obsession awareness is probably the reason that Matt Damon is they guy I think of when I think universal fame. He is the man who has penetrated even my husband's non-TV-watching non-newspaper-reading non-celebrity-culture-interested memory-of-a-goldfish existence and J is aware of him. He doesn't know him, but he feels like he knows him because he's JASON BOURNE Matt Damon and he's famous. 

He and I were talking about this (J and I were talking, not Matt Damon and I, just to be clear) and came up with a thing I call the Matt Damon Index.  Here's how the Matt Damon Index works: 

Take the number of people who recognise YOU and call it x.  
Take the number of people who YOU recognise and call it z.  

Your Matt Damon Index is x-y. 

Matt Damon's Matt Damon Index is approximately six billion.  That is, pretty much the whole planet recognises him. Even if he recognises a thousand people, six billion minus a thousand is still approximately six billion. At the other end of the scale, that creepy guy who always seems to know your name but you can't quite place? Matt Damon Index of around minus forty. 

Got it? 

My Matt Damon Index used to be about zero. I knew some people; some people knew me. I recognised as many people as there were people who recognised me. The numbers evened out. x minus y was zero. My fame was pretty much exactly neutral. Until we adopted twins transracially, that is. And started pushing them around town in a giant red double stroller. With cow print lining. 

Since this happened, my Matt Damon Index has gone through the roof. People stop me and talk to me and say 'hey, I've noticed you around town!' and I want to say 'well, I haven't noticed you!' but I don't. Suddenly, people that I don't recognise, recognise me.  Our town is pretty diverse - especially in the centre, which is where I live - so it's not the colour of my kids, but the twin factor plus the white-mama factor plus the giant red stroller with cow print lining factor plus the I-go-into-town-nearly-every-day factor and all these added up mean that we are conspicuous.  And dealing with all that is a constant challenge. 

I've been meaning to write about it for months and months - well over a year, actually - and I need some kind of kick up the backside to actually sit down and do it. And I'd really love to know what everyone else's experience has been of this issue. My thoughts about all of this have changed a lot since we came home with our kids and I feel very differently about it now from how I would have expected that I would, say, two years ago. I'm really interested to know what other people think. 


So..... is anybody interested in doing another blog linkup like we did on attachment back in February

I was thinking of going with the theme of CONSPICUOUS. 

Obviously what's making me think about this theme is my own experience of transracial parenting.  But you don't have to link about that  - what makes you conspicuous? What makes your family conspicuous? How do you deal with it? Did you choose to be conspicuous or are you dealing with the consequences of a decision that someone else made, or something that nobody chose at all? Are you inconspicuous, do you feel invisible? Do you wish that something about you was more conspicuous? If there's more than one type of conspicuousness that you're dealing with as a family, does how you deal with one thing affect how you deal with the other?  

Let me know if you're interested. If people are game, I'll do another link thing at the bottom of this post. 

References to Matt Damon are entirely optional.


Okay! Here's the link. You really do not have to leave me a comment after you've linked - the text comes straight from the template and I have no way of changing it. It's Mr Linky bossing you around, not me!





28 comments:

  1. My MDI is about 400 and every single one of my surplus is represented by a child at J's school. They are entirely fascinated and enthralled by the two of us.

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  2. Ok, seriously should be spending my time on fb but bc you mentioned Matt Damon I am here on your blog instead. Smart ploy.

    That's too much math for me. But I'd be happy to do a linky about conspicuousness.

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  3. I think it sounds like a great idea! Not sure my writing is up to it but I will sure try : )

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  4. A linky on conspicuousness sounds the go. I'm in.

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  5. In Matt Damon's defense - he's not my favorite actor, but he is the son of a teacher and is a passionate and articulate advocate for public education and teachers in particular in this country. You would like him a lot more if you saw him testifying in Congress or neatly and devastatingly fielding the ridiculous questions of conservative pundits and reporters. Perhaps J somehow senses his integrity - he's been using his astronomical MDF for good.

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  6. I'm not conspicuous in that I haven't adopted Ethiopian children, but I will say that being an American in Wiltshire has been interestingly conspicuous sometimes! And my son (age 5) has a very bizarre accent, a cross between American, my husband's brummie accent and a real West Country one. And of course everyone here and in the US love to analys(z)e my accent and both sides take the mick when I use the wrong phrase in the wrong country. I'm used to it now though as it's become my "thing" but it used make me feel self-conscious all the time.
    Amy x

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  7. ooh, i already have my post written. got the link handy when you're ready.

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  8. very good idea. I like that someone pointed out above about how Matt Damon is passionate about education and teachers. He's a good egg. And not too shabby looking either. I think I'd be game for a link up.

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  9. I'd go for it. but mine might be super matt damon-y because i love him for so many reasons.

    I'll link it up if you go for it most definitely.

    Love this blog.

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  10. oh and my Matt Damon index is probably akin to the creepy guy's.

    -40

    That said math was always my crappiest subject so I give myself +/- 50 points.

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  11. After popping into an accessories store I never go to this morning and having both the employee of that store AND an employee from the Trader Joe's downstairs tell us that they recognized us, I am certain that it's a sign that I should do this. Count me in!

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  12. Couldn't resist sharing this from today's paper:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/aug/09/michael-moore-matt-damon-us-president

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  13. Can you just do a link-up about how h-oooo-ttt Matt Damon is?

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  14. This made me laugh and laugh. I was in love with Matt Damon as a teenager and am still a fan now. He seems like a decent guy and using his amazing Matt Damonness for good things :)

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  15. Love the Matt Damon Index--I've always been a fan because he seems like a nice guy. As we haven't adopted (yet) we aren't particularly conspicuous, other than we are the only couple in our group of friends with*out* children, which can be mighty strange at times. But I'm very interested to see what others say on the subject!

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  16. Hmmmm.... just linked. Not sure I should have....

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  17. I linked! Turned out to be a more relevant topic than I thought, since I am yet to become a parent.

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  18. Ok, going up tomorrow morning. Phew.

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  19. Ok, I fixed it. It had automatically remembered my last linky post. But now there are two of me. Can you delete the first me?

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  20. I love your way with words, Claudia! Cracks me up. Oh, the Matt Damon index ... can't wait to write about it. I will be late to the ballgame as usual, but will do!

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  21. When I first started reading this, I thought you were doing a "6 degrees of Kevin Bacon" thing, but I like the Matt Damon index better.

    I linked up.

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  22. I linked up, per your beseechment. Late, as usual. Lurved the other posts.

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Over to you!