Ignore that list I gave you yesterday. I'm not ready to deal with that yet. I have been going through more files as well as my first draft manuscript and I think I'm ready to write an introduction to the next draft. So I'll just blog a little first, that is, prime the pump. Do people younger than you or I even know what that means? There are so many expressions bobbing around that have no meaning to kids today - kids, that is, anyone under 40. I remember the American anthropologist, Margaret Mead (1901-1978), said that anyone born on this planet before 1945 (the year the atomic bomb was unleashed) was an alien. Like me. I didn't really believe her until the metric system came into use in Canada (not the U.S,., as you know, so Americans are even more alien). Anything you learn by rote stays with you but new and imposed, not so much. So here is what I can tell you:

Weather: I know that 20 degrees Celsius is sweater weather and below 32 degrees is the freezing point. Other than that I have couple of palindromes I rely on: 28 is 82; 16 is 61. ,

Distance: I can't count kilometres so I go by time. A place is now an hour by car, or 20 minutes, or whatever.

Weight: Since I gave up my car I have Grocery Gateway deliver my food and I am learning the metric system by default. For instance, I learned that 900 grams of green beans is about 860 more grams of green beans that I can eat. Like that.

Liquids: I learned early on that a litre of wine is better than a bottle (was it measured in quarts?). And I can order a litre of milk quite smoothly.

That's enough for today.

I've been working through files and clippings all day, still poking away at my new book (about aging) and I keep coming across material that's good for a blog. Before I begin, let me draw your attention to a delightful source of ideas and thinking about writing, mainly. It's called Draft, and you can find it at nytimes.com/opinionator.

It's late in the day and before I know it, it will be tomorrow, so I'll give you/me a list of ideas to return to and dwell on at some future time. Herewith, in no particular order: boxes; colouring one's hair; on blowing out x number of candles; familiar essays (Addison and Steele); memories (lots); the Queen's handbag; the Lysistratagem; keep it simple, stupid; archives; allusions, or the well-read nerd; writing, speaking computing; "blind-sided by technology"; ice-fishing; dumpsters; what if Ophelia had kept a diary?; Leacock's fear of banks; women writers and old age; wise, how to be; iClouds and me; sleep, insomnia, dreams, and the wee small hours; recipes - want any?; the problems of longevity; on being ugly; the philosophy of the obituary.

That'll do for now. Do you have any requests?