As I write this, it's about 4am on a Tuesday morning. I've been up since 2 with insomnia. Ugh. At least it's productive writing time. A few odds and ends and random thoughts. Approaching the end of a second completely chaotic and health-challenged year, a few things have floated through my consciousness.  For almost everyone the reality of COVID-19 meant a near total disruption of our regular lives. A few people have refused to knuckle down and get vaccinated or wear masks, and I honestly think COVID will be a Darwinian event for those folks. I'm vaccinated and boosted at this point and have no severe side effects other than this third arm I seem to be growing from my forehead. 😜 ___________________________ Despite these things I'm soldiering forward and working on my health. I've been relatively lax about my morning exercise routine for the last three months and need to get back on it. We've got a friend staying with us and I've been reluctant to dance...

A transition most men make is the move from the seemingly universal childhood white brief underwear to more adult types of undergarments. Back in the day men had limited options: continuing to wear white briefs, or making the switch to white boxers, or just forgoing things altogether and going Commando. (Perhaps somebody can enlighten me on how it developed that name. To my knowledge Commandos don't necessarily go Commando. And if they do, why?) The purpose of underwear, as far as I can tell, is to provide a layer of clothing between one's private parts and the outer clothing _ probably to extend the life and cleanliness of that outer layer.  (My assumption being that human genitalia excrete bodily fluids, sometimes without permission, and underwear takes the hit should anything untoward come out.) Anyway. Today's men and boys have a lot more options than they did when I was growing up. Colors, fit, style. There's even a Boxer Brief variant which is perhaps now the mos...