Humor is my brain’s, my soul’s (if I possess such a thing) last line of defense. Later this morning I’ll head into MGH for an MRI-a-thon. I’ll be in the tube for well over an hour while my brain and spine are scanned.
Just south of Mexico City, between the canals of Xochimico you can find a small island with a sad background which never intended to be a tourist destination. The island is known as Isla de las Munecas.
It is dedicated to the lost soul of a poor girl who met her fate too soon in strange circumstances.
It is said that a girl was found drowned in mysterious circumstances many years ago on this island and that the dolls are possessed by her spirit.
I can also think more about my hoped for trip to Nunavut. How to get there, what I most want to see, will I need to learn or at least become familiar with Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun in order to be understood? Will my chrome translation device work?
Odd words are good to think about in the tube. Commode is just such a word.
It can be a low chest of drawers.
Or a movable washstand with a cupboard underneath.
Or a boxlike structure holding a chamber pot.
It’s even been a woman's ornate cap popular in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. There’s a Camper’s Commode hat too which I suspect would be frowned on if worn to fancy dinners and grand balls.
No, I will not wear a commode on my 
Where’s the word commode come from anyway?
In French, as an adjective, commode can mean convenient or handy. As a noun it means a chest of drawers.
In Latin it’s an adverb meaning conveniently, opportune, apt
Finally, quote for the day from John Scalzi.
It continues to be a source of pure amazement to me how many folks appear to sincerely believe that Jesus Christ, of all people, wants them to be unceasingly horrible to others.
~ John Scalzi
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