Letting someone else do it once in a while
In the last few days two readers have written along the lines of “how much work this must be for you.” I appreciate that deeply, but the reality is that it is damn easy to run this site. With Wordpress, the (free) guts of it all, and Flickr, the (free) photo-hosting site I cannot say enough good things about, it’s really dead easy. It’s not even all that time-consuming. Unfortunately, with the new parent thing, things don’t have to be time-consuming in order to be difficult or all but impossible. Most people, for example, would not list “feeding self” or “basic personal hygiene” as time-consuming things, yet Magda and I are finding more and more that we have to prioritize what we can and cannot accomplish in an average day, and occasionally those two key areas are neglected. So you can imagine where “writing self-involved navel-gazing thingy” might fall in the priority list. The part that frustrates me the most is that for every entry I do manage to write, there are several interesting-at-least-to-us topics that cross my mind but will never see the light of day. So occasionally I am going to have to turn over the production of content on this site to others. This is the introductory entry in a brand new post category, Through the transom.
We warn in our policies page that words or pictures particularly important and willfully sent to us are subject to inclusion in these pages, and in just the last few days several arrivals have struck me as worthy of inclusion here. This one, from a friend who really in all decency must remain nameless, though his picture is just down here, starts off the execution of the policy with a stench:
...a subject near and dear to your heart:
why some cloth absorbs and reflects stink more readily than other material. We've spoken at length about the anti-stink sock; well, in the past month I've either stumbled upon the anti-stink towel, or perhaps its dreaded opposite, the incredibly stinky towel. I just moved. In the process I gave up two blue towels that absorbed my post-shower drippings for the last six months. What was astounding about this towel duo was, even after a thorough wash in the washer, they would stink to high-heaven after just three days of use. And what an odd smell... like high octane B.O. I just don't get it.
Now, compare this to the new towel I've been using every day for the last two weeks. To give you an indication of just how much it DOESN'T stink after a fortnight's use, I'm going to do laundry today and am seriously contemplating whether I need to bring the towel or not. Any insight in this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Anyone?
