There will be no images with this post, though I may some day calligraph the phrase abbreviated above. The letters stand for “Kindly Eschew Relational Otological Micturition Whilst Reporting Precipitation.” It is a cousin to “Eschew Obfuscation,” which translates with some trouble to “Avoid being deliberately confusing,” making it delightfully self-contradictory. “Eschew Obfuscation” was introduced to me by a woman I knew as Dot Morrison, a former co-worker of my former wife Joni. Dot is (or was; I’ve lost track of her since my divorce) the mother-in-law of Hugo-Award-winning science fiction novelist Kim Stanley Robinson. I hope Dot is alive and well. She was wise, a brilliant conversationalist, and a Clarence DeMar fan, just like me, except for the Wise and Brilliant Conversationalist part.

Translation: “Please don’t piss in my ear and tell me it’s raining.” Dot, you liked my proposed bumper sticker “Bush Happens.” Hope you like this one too! [smiles]