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Yesterday, I received a really nice e-mail from another Thom-with-an-h. In crafting my reply to him, I noted my observation that more Thoms-with-an-h seem to be gay than would be statistically expected, and that the same appears to be true for Jons-without-an-h.
Just the day before, I had watched a couple of TiVo-recorded episodes of Good Eats, one about tomatoes and one about apples, in both of which Alton Brown discussed the antioxidants within these fruits that help guard against the deleterious effects of free radicals in our body chemistry and aging process.
Both of these events occuring together in the space of a day brought to mind that I used to wonder why more Thoms-with-an-h and Jons-without don't then end up together, in some sort of linguistic equivalent of the chemical process of propagation and coupling of free radicals, with the h functioning as an orthographic electron.
From Arlington, Virginia, this is Thom. With an h. But, unfortunately, without a Jon. And you've been listening to Elf-Indulgent Radio.
Heh, great stuff. That reminds me... I don't know why, but my grandfather--first probably out of ignorance, then just habit--used to write my name with only one F: "Jefrey." Who knows where all those free-floating Fs are today?
Oh, I suspect those are probably being recycled in the exclamation, "F You, Bitch!"
I don't know why, but this also reminds me of my theory regarding paper clips, lost socks and wire hangers. I've come to realize that the paper clip is the larval form of the coat hanger, and the sock its pupal cocoon which is eaten by the emerging coat hanger before it makes its way to the breeding colony in the closet. This is why I can never find a paper clip when I need one, socks occasionally vanish from the dryer, and my closets are overflowing with more and more wire hangers.
"NO WIRE HANGERS!!!" Sorry, you walked into that one. It had to be said.