Getting a Word in Edgewise

(Public Domain)

There are medicalized labels for all sorts of tendencies these days.  The heretofore “blabby motormouth” is now said to be a “conversational narcissist.”  (Discerning readers are likely wondering which is worse…) 

Suggested remedies are as plentiful as silver-tongued pronouncements, and HuffPost has plenty of both.  If you’re caught between a loquacious rock and a verbose hard place, here are some of its esteemed pointers: stay in touch with your own feelings as they’re arising, try not to take the situation too personally, recall the speaker's better tendencies, empathetically communicate when you feel the need to talk, and set an internal limit on how long you will continue with this one-sided pattern. 

Resources

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/how-to-deal-with-a-conversational-narcissist/

  

Something Fishy

Count d'Artagnon
(Public Domain)

“Rest in peace” does not necessarily apply to all deceased beings.  Nor does privacy.  Even one’s bodily remains can be subject to probing investigations.

One of the famed Musketeers, Count d’Artagnon,“was killed during the siege of Maastricht in 1673.” You’d think that within all this time his final resting place would be known.  But it’s not.

This makes some folks all the more determined to figure things out.  Archaeologist Wim Dijkman therefore scooped up some bones from a suspected site within the nave of a Dutch church. He  neglected to follow precise methodology and may have limited all chances of knowing for sure.

But wait, there’s a clue!  Analysis of these very bones revealed a diet that had greatly favored salt-water fish. This is not congruent with the locations in France that the Count had often lived in. 

Yet some believe that there’s still hope!  Hope never dies, even though the hardiest of swashbucklers inevitably do.

 Resources

 https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/bones-contention-more-research-needed-092600384.html

One woman's trash...

UNREAL
(Photo by Hubert555)

Okay, so you’re a Taylor Swift fan.  Not a problem.  But when “fan” lives up to its abbreviation for “fanatic,” things start to feel downright creepy.

In the aftermath of Swift’s Madison Square Garden wedding, a so-called “artist” gathered up trash from the surrounding walkways and sold batches of it online for $25 apiece.  These sealed-up "tangential" momentos included “bottle caps, ring pop candy, police caution tape, [and] straws.”  Worse yet, they’re being billed as “sculptures.”

Customers of such have been known as “Swifties,” due to their undying worship of this alleged “Queen of Pop.”  However, it might be far more swift to worship that which is truly Undying.

Resources

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/taylor-swift-fans-pay-25-210245224.html