New policy.

fromacomfychair (and its predecessor sites) are lovingly crafted piece by piece to provide an optimal reading experience for you, our beloved reader.

In the past, we used a FIFO method of construction, that is, the first piece written would be the first piece read unless, of course, you are a member of the short attention span theater and insist upon skipping around trying to find grain in the straw. So impulsive, s.a.s.t.m!

Well, I finally figured out that I was not being particularly efficient, spending hours, even days of our life scrolling down to the bottom of the document to resume the preparation of these pearls of wisdom.

From here on, fromacomfychair will follow a FILO methodology, that is, we’ll just keep adding entries to the top of the stack until it’s full up. Then, on to the next. Just think of all the time we’ll save!

Today’s worry.

or, there goes another morning.

Sometimes a thought pops into my head (it happens a lot more than I like, especially when it jostles aside another, more enjoyable thought). I have two possible responses:
—it is immediately dismissed as time-wasting frivolity, or —I decide it has merit and value and should be, if not pursued, at least considered.

There is, of course, lots of room for error in this system, where thoughts get sorted into the wrong bin. Sometimes (OK, a lot) a second-category thought is put into category one, like, ‘I need new tennies,’ and then, six months later, I notice a hole in the sole of one of my tennies.

—Much more common is today’s brain operation, which involved letting obvious Group As slip in the second group, as in ‘What if the earth fell out of the sky?’ The more ‘speculative’ (sorry–the Politeness Police just passed by) the thought the more it expands in time and space occupied. And that earth/sky was a doozy.

The proper response would have been, ‘you don’t care because you’d be dead. Move on.’

But no. I’ve got to worry this one like a dog worries a new rawhide chew. To wit:

Would the now-empty sky envelope deflate like an empty balloon or would it maintain its round shape?
Would the sky envelope dissipate, or just hang above the earth like the top half of an exclamation point?
Would the moon fall out of the sky with the earth, or would it stay where it is?
Is it more correct to say ‘fell out of the sky,’ fell out of orbit,’ ‘fell out of the solar system,’ ‘fell out of the galaxy,’ or ‘fell out of the universe?’

Today in the annals of medication.

I was less than half-paying attention when this snippet of a drug ad caught my ear: ‘(name of drug) may attack healthy tissue which could lead to death.’

And it may cause harm to pregnant women, too.

New Exhibit A in ‘the cure is worse than the disease.’

QR quandary.

It appears that QR codes have finally done something that Godzilla and Martians could not–they have conquered the planet. They are ubiquitous. Everywhere, even.

I have come to peace with the fact that so much of my world will go unexplored and unenjoyed, as I can never get the darn things to work. Forget the ones that get flashed on a TV screen. I’m talking about QR codes on items I’m holding. Nothing.

But they are everywhere, as I found out yesterday, as there was one staring at me, mocking me, on the fortune I found inside a fortune cookie. What could possibly be additional information at the end of the quest I will never know. But what else is there to know? I doubt they’re handing out free fortunes. So maybe my disability is actually a benefit. I’ve got enough of my own silliness to worry about without spending time on other people’s sales pitches.

I have even heard of QR codes placed on the backs of police cars. I'm sure tht must be apocryphal. Mustn't it?

Oh, really.

From the description on cable of That Hamilton Woman: British naval hero Lord Nelson’s affair with another man’s wife ends at Trafalgar in 1805.

Unless she was on the ship, I think it ended before that.

It’s so important.

Or so the Wall Street Journal believes, as they put it on the front page: Psychosis patients find new hope.

This belongs in the universal headline category. Remove ‘psychosis patients’ and replace with anyone or any group. We hope there is always hope, if not a rushing forward and embracing the future.

Quotation, with disclaimer.

I really don’t know what to do with these lines from Gabriel Martinez’ poem Abuelo, except to say I like them, even though they provide a jolt.

I would love to be
loved by me
and I would
be afraid
to be loved by me.

Things I knows/don’t knows about: fingers and toes.

Knows

Fingernails grow twice as fast as toenails
It hurts like heck if a fingernail or toenail becomes detached from its anchoring place.

Don’t knows

If fingernails grow at the same rate as each other
Why five?
Like hair, fingernails and toenails are dead, but continue to grow (creepy!)
Why fingers are jointed and toes are not (at least usefully)
Why the nails haven’t been evolutionarily erased as they seem to perform no useful function

Exploring other useful body parts.

The Wall Street Journal, in a front page expose about toothbrushing (and why isn’t it ‘teethbrushing?’), declares Designers chase elusive goal of two minutes, seek ‘meaningful and different’ experience.

Two Minutes?!? Why, when I was growing up, it was three minutes! Durn kids today! Wussies and wimps! It’s all the durn video games they’re playing!

Meaningful? You mean standing in front of a mirror contorting your face into grotesqueries and dribbling white foam down your chin and onto your pajama tops isn’t meaningful? Sheesh! Some people are never happy.

Last Week

A sea of sneers.

May 14

Papal strategery.

On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal and every active news outlet on the planet announced First pope from U.S. elected.

Personally, I think it’s an attempt by the Vatican to evade U.S. tariffs and maybe even an attempt to keep priests from other countries being expelled.

Here’s a thought.

Although it doesn’t get the press it once did, getting books removed from schools and libraries is still a thing. What seems to happen is one person complains, people run around waving their hands in the air, the book gets removed from the shelves, sometimes supported by state law.

Here’s the thought. What if we allow individuals to suggest books to remove from a library, but they or a community group have to suggest another two books to replace it? The book cannot be the Bible or other polemic. If they want to remove a young adult novel, they have to suggest a young adult novel.

Once the two books have been identified, they go before a review board made up of a representative cross section of people in the community who read, and who will then either approve the book for inclusion, reject the book, or put it in a restricted, limited-access section of the library guarded by Miss Grundy, Gatekeeper of the Library, who got her training at the Gates of Hell. Books placed here will have specific notes on who should be allowed access and under what conditions. Notes could include such things as ‘ages 4 to 6½,’ ‘to be read only on a sunny beach while on vacation,’ or ‘not to be read in the presence of a cat.’

Another thought.

The local city council is mucking around with parking fees again, which regenerated my one good idea for the public weal, which is,

Why not let people use EZ-PASS in city-run parking garages?

According to the rules.

I haven’t really been keeping up, but I have been aware, in a vague sort of way, that there are rules governing time travel, which of course doesn’t exist (yet), but like those people who have invented Sasquatch calls, we really need to be prepared for when we achieve the breakthrough.

For example, Rod Taylor never left his garden or premises–rule: you travel in time, not space. If you’re traveling in the past, you don’t alter things (the Butterfly Effect). Stuff like that. Doc and Marty and Bill and Ted broke all sorts of rules, but hey, those were comic movies.

However, people who are much more invested in time travel than I am have been coming up with all sorts of rules, like this one, or this one or even this one.

Now, granted, many of these rules are contradictory, but until we actually achieve time travel, and have the apparatus and experience (oh, look, Captain Jim just picked that flower and disappeared! Make a note.) in place to regulate and inform time travelers, it’s a topic of discussion at best—or worst.

In the meanwhile, if you need me, I’ll be with Huck and Jim as they encounter the Duke and Dauphin (who Brittanica informs me are ‘fictional characters.’ Not in my head they ain’t).

Not going there, BBC.

Things you never expect to see, well, anywhere, and especially not from the BBC: Droppings or smooth sausages, what’s a healthy poo?

Well somebody had to ask it.

I believe the answer is ‘yes.’

When unsure, go for the simple answer.

The BBC, still working the health scene, asks: How often should you wash your feet?

I answer, as would any sensible eight-year-old: when they’re dirty.

Managing potential confusion.

Condolences to the family, but this obituary start just struck us as odd: Gabriel Martinez, known affectionately to all as Gabriel…

You take what you can get, I guess.

In 2023, for the first time in more than a decade, the country’s obesity rate declined from 44.1% to 43.96%, according to a study published in JAMA Health Forum.

Or, in another way of looking at 0.14%, we turn to real world numbers. There were approximately 4.76 million fewer obese Americans in 2023, which is heartening, until you realize there are still 149,260,000 obese Americans out there, or almost half of the population.

Missing from the numbers is anyone telling us what ‘obese’ is. I’ll let you find that out on your own. It’s good exercise–burns calories.

Good poem, plus bonus.

In its biography of Linda Pastan, Poetry Foundation notes Immediately following graduation, however, she decided to give up writing poetry in order to concentrate on raising her family. After ten years at home, her husband urged her to return to poetry.

I can picture a couple of different reasons why her husband might urge that.

I found that snippet because I was looking for a copy of her poem Imaginary Conversation to share with you because it’s good, simple, and asks one of those questions to which I reply with a question: ‘Yeah! Why isn’t it like that?’ and resolve to make it that way in my life more.

The question: why not live each day/ as if it was your first? As opposed to ‘as if your last day.’ Simple change, whole new approach, very healthful.

News Flash: Travel & Leisure gives nine-year old editor free rein.

At least, that’s what the headline Here’s Why You Should Let That Fart Rip on Planes, According to Science would indicate.

Or maybe they were celebrating ‘Let Your Inner Child Escape’ Day.

No word on whether adjacent passengers will receive a refund or other recompense if/when this happens.