Well, the Olympics are officially over. The torch has been extinguished, and I checked this morning on all three Olympic channels— either curling has also concluded, or they just stopped showing it. For me, it's the same thing.

R.I.P., Robert.

Actor Robert Duvall died. He was 95. I liked Duvall, especially in 'smaller,' 'quirkier' roles like The Apostle and Secondhand Lions. He seemed to live a level, balanced life.

However, his death prompted a couple of head-scratching pieces, including this headline from Parade magazine: ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Star Recalls Her On-Set Experience With Robert Duvall After His Death.

Another R.I.P.

Bill Mazeroski, shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates, died at the age of 89.

I wasn't a fan of the Pirates, but I found Mazeroski appealing. He played with exuberance, if I recall correctly. We need more like that.

Everybody do stand-up! Right.

The last I checked (about five minutes ago) 75% of people fear public speaking, according to World Metrics. The fear of public speaking can lead to physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, sweating, and nausea, affecting approximately 92%of sufferers. More Americans are afraid of public speaking than they are of dying. The thing is, with dying, you only have to do it once, and you're unconscious part of the time, if you're lucky. With public speaking, you can die a thousand deaths before saying anything.

But now, mental health professionals are telling people in general and those who are someplace on some spectrum (although, to be fair, we're all someplace on some spectrum), that they should do stand-up comedy as a way to achieve better mental wellness. Scientists have shown it's a way to release endorphins and foster social connection.

Anyway, back to people getting on stage to face their greatest fear. Here are the steps for people being encouraged to do stand-up:

1. Get up on a stage in front of a group of people to speak, triggering tongue numbing panic.
2. Make them laugh.

Sounds like a recipe for 'making a quivering mass of human protoplasm' to me.

Comics everywhere are saying, 'Great. Amateur hour. Something else ruined by having a purpose and being turned into work. If I don't make people laugh, I have failed them. You just can't have nice things anymore.'

There's a tour, I'm told, so maybe there's some congruence. Me, I still think there are scientists who should not be allowed to speak in public, comedically or otherwise.

Fun game.

Google that headline! I used some variation of 'why everyone should try standup comedy,' and came up with over a dozen articles in the first 20 hits. Some numbered the reasons. Apparently everyone should try standup comedy. I have seen a lot of people whose contribution to the art form is make audiences appreciate good comics even more.

Grave goods.

Archeologists are strange people. Besides for digging holes in the ground and not finding valuable minerals, they are happiest when they find a trash pit left by an ancient civilization.

But trash pits are not sexy. Trash pits don't headline shows on the Discovery Network. Now, a chance to open a previously undisturbed pharaoh's tomb? Damn the curses! Let me at it!

Archeologists get excited by what are called 'grave goods,' those items that are supposed to accompany the deceased into the after (or next) life. Items include tools, weapons, jewelry, elaborate masks and clothing, transportation, sometimes servants and wives. Generally, it's things the guest of honor liked and couldn't 'live' without. One Chinese emperor had an army of 6,000 soldiers made out of clay to protect him in the afterlife.

As I was watching one of these shows, it struck me that we don't do grave goods anymore. At 'open casket 'viewings' I've been to, there is little if anything in the casket with the guest of honor. Clothing, maybe a wedding ring. Sometimes even glasses are missing on a person who has worn glasses all their lives.

This has to be distressing the archeologists from 5,000 years in the future. What are they going to excavate? A life of trash pits and latrines can't be too exciting.

I think we're missing an opportunity here. We've pushed 'you can't take it with you' way beyond rational limits. What if the ancients were right, and life is seamlessly extended into the next life and we're going to need stuff (shouldn't we at least be bringing a hostess gift or bottle of Chardonnay?). And what about the archeologists? Shouldn't we give them something to marvel at, to fuel speculation about the life of Average Joe Six-Pack?

This is why I have resolved to take some grave goods along for the ride. Now, I'm not talking about getting a double- or even triple-wide cemetery plot. I'm talking about putting my creative output (stories, poems, cartoons, twenty + years of blogs, recipes, photographs, comedy sketches, basically everything in my documents folder) onto a USB drive. I know the odds of the people 30 generations down the road finding it, having software and equipment to read it, and caring about and translating it are slim to none (and Slim is saddling up to leave town), but why not go for it?

And who knows? Maybe on the other side I

will just pick up where I left off, and it'll be nice to finish off the leftover pieces and build out what I've started.

Stranger things have happened.

Thanks, Jeff!

Sometimes (too often, actually) good things get lost in the pre-Xmas rush, holiday frenzy, pandemonium, what-have-you. When you have time to breathe, you only vaguely remember the item, much less where/what it is.

Well, I sent this forward through time to remind myself to take a closer look at it when I could give it the attention it deserves.

Normally, I cite a headline to mock it. Sometimes, I actually cite some of an accompanying article. For this headline from Jeff Goins, I cite it in admiration: How to Do the Work That Matters (When Most of It Doesn't).

I linked to the article because it's part of the work that matters. You should read it, no matter what you do. Merry Christmas (belatedly)!

Officially over it.

I've read too many headlines like this one: A Beloved Milky Way Flavor Is Returning–But You Might Not Recognize It.

It's not just Milky Way. It's Twinkies, M&M's, Peeps, you name it— all Tainted by Brand Extension.

To be clear, there is one, repeat one, Milky Way flavor. Anything else might be tasty, superior even, but it ain't Milky Way.

BBC-bits and pieces.

A recent headline in the BBC: 'LeBron James of spreadsheets' wins world Microsoft Excel title.

But is there anyone referred to as the 'Diarmuid Early of the NBA?

Also in the BBC, 'A good meal and a good poo': Kate Winslet describes how she dealt with media intrusion.

If you have a bad meal, do you have a bad poo? And was the intruding media invited to witness either event? Maybe they were given gift packages at the completion of the ritual.