Hi Jo,

Pithy aphorisms of the type you advert are often food for thought. If not, they are bad aphorisms. I’m sure we all have our favorites. I like to jot down the ones that I find most piquant. Our Unix system greets me with a witticism every morning when I log on. Some of these are “not altogether unmeaningless”, however. And that bit of litotes is courtesy of James Thurber.

The problem with modeling our lives by such apothegms , is that every maxim has its equally valid antithesis. Our universe, our lives, are too complex for simple formulaic rubrics. That said, I nevertheless admire your “batching” approach to living. Being an engineer I am conditioned to strive for efficiency, and doing chores when they are due is often a time and labor saver. But the cost of this efficiency is that sometimes one must put on dirty socks. :-)

We all make tradeoffs. Personally, I’d rather do my laundry less often, if it gives me more time to do the “more important” things, like reading a good book or taking the family out for a movie. Some folks would place a well manicured lawn before reading. It’s all in how you look at things, and who’s to really say who’s right? A good rule of thumb is: there ain’t no rule of thumb to living. We all must create our own way, and that’s the point. When we quit thinking for ourselves, we abdicate our greatest responsibility and relinquish our greatest right as human beings. Many of the most influential figures in history were free thinkers, eccentrics, or social misfits. They often were able to contribute more by their radical departure from the “important things” of their time. John Q. Normal is destined for obscurity in the grand scheme of things.

Here’s one of my favorite aphorisms, or is it poetry?

Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric;
Out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry.
--W. B. Yeats

If you find yourself musing on aphorisms, why not give poetry a try? It can be a heady experience.

I am two fools, I know,
For loving, and for saying so
In whining poetry
--John Donne

I haven't researched it yet but yes, zinzulation would seem to be a legitimate word. There are words for many kinds of sounds. Tintinnabulation (bell ringing), stridulation (cicada chirping), susurration (a whispering or murmuring sound), rataplan (a rhythmic drum beat), and borborygmus (a gastro-intestinal rumbling sound) are just a few that come to mind, and there are doubtless many more awaiting our discovery. I will add zinzulate and its inflected forms to my collection. I will post my research findings here Monday.