I know very little about quantum physics or advanced applied mathematics; Einstein did. He was (and still seems to be) the “smartest guy” in the room when other geniuses chit-chat about those topics. But it is not his comparative intelligence or his revolutionary ideas which lead me to concede his proper place as captain for Team Genius, it’s his other stuff.

Einstein made may observations which “shook the scientific world.” (While I have a hard time imagining a bunch of scientists getting all hyped up, I bet they did when they heard about Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.)

E=M(C*C) is not for everyone.  (Were I a genius, I could write some code to insert a tiny numeral “2” to float at two o’clock near the letter “C.”) E = M(C*C) is for a select few.

But Einstein was a good guy, right? His name came up at our dinner table a few nights ago. While I couldn’t explain, even in a cursory way, what the Theory of Relativity is or why that’s important, we did discuss the merit in thinking new things in new ways. I pointed out to my children that Einstein was smart in other ways, too,

Einstein has been quoted as saying some cool, non-scientific things which most of us can wrap our minds around.

Here’s one I like:

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”

This notion has endless possibilities for application: washing reds with whites, overeating, staying in relationships, working a frustrating job, etc. The kids liked it, and I looked marginally “genius-like” to them over bowls of chili with cornbread.

Last night, I was at hot yoga, and Einstein’s pithy aphorism jumped into my mind.

Out of nowhere.

Well, not totally out of nowhere. Out of the recesses of my mind.

My body was so engaged with my Ashtanga practice that I let my mind (almost) totally relax. Einstein creeped in toward the end of Warrior One.

And then I knew . . .

I need to go back and fix the relationship between Mitch and Lara to comport with their relationship as it is described (by me) in Ginned Up and Double Dirty. There’s something “off” about the foundation I’ve put down. And while I think it could work, I also think that if you pound hard enough, eventually the square peg does fit into the round hole. But then, there was Einstein telling me — in a room full of sweaty yogis — “Stop pounding!”

Accidental Gravitas will be a stand-alone story. Readers need not have read Ginned Up or Double Dirty to fully comprehend this newest one. But if they did, I don’t want them to think, “Wait a second. Why wouldn’t Mitch know the name of Lara’s dog if she plays such an important role in his life?”

Of course, he knows the dog’s name.

And, today — in addition to writing 2K+ words — I’ll be fixing many of the 11,359 I’ve already written.

Spoiler Alerts:

1)

There is reasonable evidence to point to the conclusion that the above quote was misattributed to Einstein. It looks like the gem came from a 1980 pamphlet addressing drug addiction and recovery. Einstein’s been dead since 1973, and no one’s been able properly attribute the “definition of insanity” quote to Mr. Smarty Pants.

2) The dog’s name is Marty.