The Daily Column

The requirement to write a daily column for this netlog is not set in stone (tenuous link to image). I've now completed fifty continuous days and reached the goal I set myself at the beginning of December. Fortunately for all concerned I recognise that I'm at risk of becoming an obsessive-compulsive and exhibiting the sort of behaviour that leads to an interest in wearing fawn cardigans and doing things at set times each day. In order to forestall this fate I'm taking avoiding action. Journal entries may become less frequent but hopefully no less irrelevant or silly.

Silliness is an essential ingredient of life as we know it. So is stupidity apparently - ask the Australian who got stuck inside his washing machine. I strive for the first but not the second although there are no guarantees - I've lost count of the number of times I've tried to open the front door of our house using the remote control for the car.

Researchers in the United States have reported on the positive effects of laughter on arterial blood flow. It not always easy to get a laugh out of modern life - try driving round the M25 or phoning a customer care telephone line - but it's worth trying. Start small. Go for the minimum of one chuckle a day.