Desultory Commentary

Before you read this post, read the last post (the one on Letterboxing). Not because it will help you to understand this post (because it's not related in any way), but of the two of them, that's the more important. This is just a collection of weird stuff that's been going through my head.

This isn't a great picture, but it's the best my phone could do given the poor lighting in the Macaroni Grill restaurant a couple weeks ago (yes, I know they keep it that dark on purpose (the purpose being so that the food looks better)). Anyway, I got noticing the names of the crayon colors.

I've always been fascinated by colors; I think everything should be color-coded. It's amazing how much power there is in color. Just a small change in the color of an advertisement, for instance, can greatly impact its effectiveness. In association with that fascination, I enjoy knowing what colors are called (or at least what people would call the colors), so I was surprised? pleased? excited? (do any of those fit?) to see the color names on the crayons at the Macaroni Grill:

If you can't read them, and I don't blame you, they are:

• (okay, so I can't read it, either)


• Bleu Cheese


• Roasted Red Pepper


• Eggplant

Anyway, I thought it was ... clever ... to have food-related names of the crayons. And, to answer the question on everyone's mind: No, they don't taste like what they're named.

Next point: I keep hearing all over the place, especially on TV, about a guy named Stanley Cup. That's an unfortunate name. I wonder what he's famous for.

Is it my imagination, or can the word "thong" be uttered without engendering snickers? Growing up, it was what people wore on their feet at the beach. And, according to Wiktionary, that's still an appropriate use.

But more and more, its use as a sandal synonym is dwindling, and the occasional accidental utterance draws everything from snickers to guffaws. For this reason, I was surprised to see the word used on a shoe box at a shoe store last week.

Of course I snickered when I saw it, knowing I was in a shoe store and that it was obviously referring to shoes. But then I thought, "Well, maybe not", and just to be sure, I peeked in the box. Sorry to disappoint you, but it was sandals.

Mozzarella is good, isn't it? If you haven't tried the fresh stuff, you should.

And finally, does anyone remember the Transformers? I mean the real Transformers, not these new hybrid transformers they have out now. The ones with Optimus Prime and that other guy. And those bad guys they'd fight. And the encouraging messages at the end of the show to eat your asparagus and all that. They were really cool. In fact, to this day, I can still remember all of the transformer toys I had growing up. Yes, that's sad.

I was just kidding about that being my last thought. Here's my real last thought: Who wouldn't want to be part of a life-sized Mousetrap game?