Caroming Thoughts

My Left Brain has staged a coup. It has decided that it is only logical that readers of this blog could not possibly be interested in more consecutive posts about my recent trip to Borneo. Right Brain countered that based on some readers’ comments, it felt that it would be alright to have more Borneo posts. Left Brain laughed and taunted, “You call that a convincing argument?” Left Brain reminded Right Brain about the pre-agreed editorial policy of spacing out similar posts to ensure greater variety. Left Brain emphatically put an end to any consideration of further posts on Borneo at this time, celebrating this as a victory of intellect and logic over mushy-feely thinking.

With that, Right Brain has withdrawn to consider creative ways to launch a counter-offensive, leaving the field to the victorious Left Brain. In celebration, Left Brain has decided to post on “caroming thoughts” or how one thought hits another to form a chain of connected thoughts.

Caroms is a game for 2-4 players and played on a special wooden caroms board with 9 white and 9 black seeds and a red seed called the “Queen”. The object of the game is to use a special striker and with a flick of the fingers, use the striker to hit the seeds and to get your colored seeds into the pockets in the corners of the board. “Caroming Thoughts” comes from the idea of the seeds colliding with one another in sequence.

Let us now follow this scientific experiment.

1. Squirrels love peanuts!

2. Peanuts are part of the legume family which have nitrogen fixing nodules which actually help to enrich the soil.

3. Enriching the soil nowadays often need costly chemical fertilizers because pesticides and herbicides have killed off the naturally occurring friendly soil organisms.

4. Chemicals have changed our lives so much. For example, it allows us to change our hair color.

5. Do blondes really have more fun? And do gentlemen really prefer blondes? Marilyn Monroe is okay. Nicole Kidman is better but for me, dark-haired beauties Sophia Loren and Isabella Rossalini rule.

6. Nicole Kidman was of course the star of the movie musical extravaganza “Moulin Rouge”.

7. Moulin Rouge means the Red Windmill. Man has been harnessing the power of the wind for sailing, milling and for pumping water.

8. Water is a finite resource that is essential to life. It needs to be managed sustainably and protected from pollution and wastage.

9. What is the essentials to life? Is it enough just to exist? What is the meaning of life? What is the answer to life, the universe and everything?

10. The answer to the last question can be found in the book “Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adam. Now he was smart, intellectual and had a great sense of the ridiculous. He was a nut and I liked him.

The experiment started with nuts and ended with nuts. This conclusively proves that the world revolves round nuts. Left Brain out.