Pon Farr

Looking back, I'm not sure what I accomplished since Wednesday. Not sure whether that's good or bad. When the highlight of your day is remembering to watch Reno 911, well ...

I did something yesterday that I do about every 7 years: Boil The Stamps. When I was a mere lad, my father instilled in me the Joy Of Stamp Collecting. To this very day, whenever an envelope arrives in the mail, I instinctively look for a stamp and then dutifully toss it in The Bag. If the stamp is unusual, I will twirl in the air and squeal like an excited gherkin. Then, every 7 years (whether related to Pon Farr or a dormant cicada inside me) I awaken and decide that it is time to remove the backing from the stamps, and sort and organize them. Yesterday, I completed most of this ritual, and will conclude it today.

It involves filling a basin with warm water and dumping a few hundred stamps, still affixed to a shred of paper from the original envelope. After a time, they will easily separate at which point I remove them from the water and allow them to dry atop a sheet of wax paper. Then (ideally) I will place the stamps -- in an order only logical to me -- in appropriately labeled glassine envelopes, and await the next cycle (in 2011). Note that I do not place them inside a Stamp Collector's Album. While I did that in my bold and unchecked youth, I no longer succumb to that instinct.

Perhaps this collection will Fund My Retirement when all other attempts at financial independence have failed me?