Surprise?

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A NICE BLEND OF PREDICTION AND SURPRISE SEEMS TO BE AT THE HEART OF THE BEST ART.
--Wendy Carlos, composer.
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  Sometimes it's just the very idea that is the surprise--what on earth made Andy Warhol come up with the idea of a painting of a Campbell's soup can?
   Sometimes the surprise is held close to the chest till the bitter end: witness Dame Agatha's mysteries (if you've never read Agatha Christie, pick one up, and travel back into a slower, quieter, antiquated time...a time when murder was sneaky and the unveiling was slow.)
   Sometimes a surprise pops up early, or in the middle of things: Haydn's SURPRISE SYMPHONY! (a quiet recording, so turn the volume up...the one and only surprise is at about 32 seconds. Papa Haydn's sense of humor was simple but irrepressible!)
   A good story is filled with little surprises, balanced by little predictabilities: don't you love it when a character is highly idiosyncratic--okay, when they're just plain odd, with several verbal or behavioral tics? Trumpkin, the dwarf doesn't ever offer the same exclamation twice, but he is always alliterative, e.g., "Tubs and tortoise-shells!", "Beards and bedsteads!", and the like. Predictable, yet fresh each time...I love him!
   How true of life, with its predictable routines, but routines that are only a breath away from disruption. One phone call, one misplaced sock, a missed call, and the day is irretrievably altered.
   Been surprised lately? C. S. Lewis was "Surprised by Joy." The other day, I was surprised by a prematurely dying battery in my scooter...except, that still, small voice had whispered, just as I was zipping out the garage, "Hey, Davio, why dontcha bring along your battery charger/cable, just in case." One mile later, I was asking a new friend if I could plug in and recharge. Thanks, Still, Small, Voice...I'll try to listen to you with keen attention, altho I sure can be a doofus when it comes to listening!