Random Thoughts

My Desk Chair

To someone who writes there is nothing more important than a desk chair. I think Philip Roth later on wrote standing up (he had back problems), but most of us cradle our glorious glutes for long periods of time in a device that must provide comfort and proper support. Writers thereby violate every orthopedic warning about sitting too long and the need for exercise.

Well, so what? The grand truths that emerge from this exercise in non-exercise come from gluteal contentment. No one should contemplate the cost, mental and physical, of sitting in an ill-fitting chair. If your butt don’t fit, your brain will quit.

I got this old Herman Miller chair when I was working at Lexis/Nexis in Charlottesville in 2002. I was doing some editing at home and asked the maintenance man if he had a chair I could buy. He gave me one free, and it was so good I brought it with me to Mexico. I’ve had it recovered and repadded a couple times. It has become part of my life.

 Seven Reasons to Make Only Short Visits to the U.S.

    • Racial dementia
    • The cost of everything
    • The potency of non-vaxers
    • Chick-fil-A
    • The MAGA madness
    • Changes in the cultural life of New York
    • Being associated with mindless exploits like the war in Afghanistan (though expats cannot absolve themselves from U.S. policies).