Boring 2010

The title above, is not intended to be a reference to last year, although in my case there is an element of truth. No, the title refers to a conference held for boredom enthusiasts on 11th December and reported in the Wall Street Journal.

I strongly recommend that you follow the link; a fine piece of American Journalism (no irony) - I find American journalism especially in regard to the quality and style of writing, at least in the better newspapers, greatly superior to that found in English ones.

A few quotes for you:

"Boring 2010 is the handiwork of James Ward, 29 years old, who works for a DVD distribution and production company. In his other life, as the envoy of ennui, Mr. Ward edits a blog called "I Like Boring Things." He is also co-founder of the Stationery Club, whose 45 members meet occasionally to discuss pens, paper clips and Post-it Notes."

"Proceedings at the sell-out event were kicked off by Mr. Ward himself, who discussed his tie collection at great length, accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation.

He noted that as of June 2010, he owned 55 ties, and 45.5% of them were of a single color. By December, his tie collection had jumped by 36%, although the share of single-color ties fell by 1.5%.

"Ties are getting slightly more colorful," he noted. Also, apparently, his taste was improving. By December, only 64% of his ties were polyester, down from 73% in June."

"One eagerly awaited talk was about writer Peter Fletcher's meticulous three-year—and still running—sneeze count. With the help of graphs and charts, Mr. Fletcher disclosed that he had sneezed 2,267 times in the past 1,249 days, thus gaining "a profound understanding of the passing of time.""

"I've even sneezed when recording a sneeze," he said."

Thanks to Dick Puddlecote for pointing me to this gem.

Until the next time.