a subscriber suggested mallemaroking to me, and my first thought was that it must be a jocular reference to a cookie magnate, but wait... imagine my surprise to find it recently covered by Quinion (ycliu) -- I continue to be gobsmacked by these discoveries. I suppose that's why I continue to participate in this daily word dingus.

http://www.salon.com/april97/wanderlust/malle970408.html

(http://home.mn.rr.com/wwftd/)

Dear tsuwm: Thank you, thank you for that URL. I really enjoyed it in spite of having been frustrated in my expectation of some titillating tidbits about whalers' inventing venery variations surpassing those of the Portuguese cod fishers.

Oh, tsuwm--what a strange word! I, too, thought of Mallomars when I first saw it. (Never had one, though.) And that guy is funny! Witness:
(Etymologies are often more puzzling than they should be: I have often wondered why the modern word travel comes from the tripalium, a three-legged Roman torture device. But then I go somewhere by Amtrak, and the question answers itself.)

Dear Jackie: I disagree quite earnestly with part of the quote you chose. I would much rather travel by Amtrak than by bus. In many instances it can beat flying.