Sporadic Thoughts and Useless Knowledge - Vol. MMXXVI
Thoughts followed my vision and dance in the sun!
Reposting on LinkedIn or retweeting on Twitter is lazy. I have been guilty of it too. It is like saying, “I agree with everything that the person next to me said”, in a group discussion. (MBA types will know what I mean by this)
All posts on LinkedIn, that start with “As we …, I look forward to …,” and so continues the inanity, is almost always written with the help of ChatGPT (other AI tools are available as well)
ChatGPT (like I said, other AI tools are available to use as well) has a tell (refer previous point). It uses a lot of EMDASH-es, which I know. you have never used in your English composition classes, or précis writing classes. If you are wondering what it is, the link to relevant Wikipedia article is available.
I wanted to write about thumb-rules, or more precisely “Rules of Thumb”, which I will do in a future article. These are gut-things, most don’t have a scientific backing, and are “lived experiences”. However they help, at least point you in the right direction. There are a few that I have used in the past year or so. These are for those 40 (and above) - year-olds who have now embarked on the journey to fitness, and general health. [Why does the fitness urge materialise above 40?]
Shoulders away from ears
When you are lifting weights, or on the saddle of your bicycle. This helps reduce tension on your neck, shoulders, traps etc and relaxes you instantly.
Push the belly button to the back
Engages your core, tucks your tummy in, braces your back and stomach so that you don’t get injured
When your gym instructor, personal trainer tells you to engage your core, and you are fiddling with what that means, and cannot fathom why you don’t seem to have a core; this is the trick to use
Another way to do that is to let out a short cough through your mouth, you will notice that your core is instantly engaged. Please ensure that it is a nice low-decibel cough and not a full-blown retch
Flare your fingers / Doorknob your wrists
Especially when you are on the ground doing push-ups, or planks when your palm is on the floor. Do this. Fan your digits wide, and push the imaginary doorknob on the floor with your wrists: This cocks your wrists and prevents pain in your wrists and front of the palm, and helps you maintain form
Elbows tucked in
Think of tickling yourself with your own elbows. This is it, it helps maintain correct posture and form while running
Rule of 30 (for you protein shake, energy gel consumers)
Ounce to ml - multiply by 30
Ounce to grams - multiply by 30
The byline of the article “Thoughts followed my vision and dance in the Sun” is from Phish’s Chalkdust Torture - Enjoy this 24 minute jam.
Phish played a four‑night New Year’s Eve run at Madison Square Garden again this year (Dec 28–31, 2025), continuing their long‑standing NYE residency at the venue. This 2025 run was billed as their 18th annual year‑end series at MSG, with their first MSG New Year’s engagement dating back to the mid‑1990s. All announcements on the New York metro was made by Trey Anastasio, the frontman of Phish
Also why am I talking about Phish. They are a favourite thats why. Among a few, Pink Floyd, Phish, Lennon (and therefore The Beatles), Ilayaraaja, Grateful Dead - they would feature on my Desert Island Discs. Have I mentioned my other substack, The Interpreters of Melodies (reminding myself to write about the songwriters-composer collaboration)
In other things that I do I recently launched my internet labs/media experiment/record label studio/works called The Electric Sheep Supply Co - Check it out.
A few products that I am working on and have released for the public consumption are
Nutribaba.IN - a food, cosmetics, and meals explainer
Linkables.at - like linktree
Footnotes.at - where you can write short pieces of writing
Webkit.Band - an artist/musician/band web presence toolkit
Creative-Loafing.in - Curated events in your city for loitering with intent, sauntering with purpose, or creative loafing
In the meantime, hope you have had a great start to 2026.
-driftmost