Some Days, You Don't Feel Philosophical, Either

As a professional philosopher and distributor of keen insight and deep wisdom, I strive to embark on each day's journey with my eyes open to all the world's wonders, and my mind ready to organize new data into manageable packets. It takes tremendous mental bandwidth to distill the enormity of the human experience into the easily digestible tidbits you find posted here. But some days, I come up with more questions than answers.

For example, was there ever actually a time when banks stored money in sacks with dollar signs stenciled on the side? And were there ever really bombs that were simply black spheres with a sparking fuse? Was there ever a time when people could live healthy and happy lives without government-mandated nutrition labeling on all their food?

I doubt it. But what I really want to know is how one goes about becoming a competitor in the sport of skeleton? I live in the premier winter sports state, and have yet to see a roadside sign or direct-mail flyer for a little league skeleton camp. I do understand why "luge" isn't popular around here -- it's a French word, and therefore must be totally gay. But "skeleton" sounds like an awesome name for a sport (though I must admit that when I first heard about it, I assumed it meant something completely different.)

Anyway, the point is that I am really looking forward to Spring. I've been in a bit of an exercise slump ever since I caught that cold back in January, and have found it difficult to get psyched for running and riding when there's snow, wind, and general gloom dominating the forecasts. But as the days lengthen and the temperatures climb, I'm sure I'll find my groove.

(Side question: Why are we still using the Fahrenheit temperature scale? It's rather silly. And don't get me started on how much more logical it would be to use the metric system. I had no reason to doubt my fourth-grade teacher who predicted we'd convert by 1980...but somehow the powerful inch-pound lobby has managed to repress progress the way the Spanish Inquisition repressed Galileo, Darwin, and other pillars of science.)

Perhaps the coming warmth will also kickstart my philosophization engine so that I can once again fill these pages with thought-provoking discussion fuel rather than political rants and lengthy jeremiads of egocentric self pity. Let's hope so. In the meantime, good luck in all of your bomb-disposal efforts...and have a great day!