The MEANINGFUL LIFE as Revealed in PALINDROMES

Philosophical Discussion with Examples

ORIGINAL DISCUSSION: These comments on life were modified from and re-organized in relation to a discussion thread on the parody-lyrics website AmIRight.com 

EDITOR: Giorgio Coniglio, December, 2016. 

THE MEANINGFUL LIFE AS

 REVEALED BY PALINDROMES

(all palindromes are italicized)

STEPS for a BALANCED LIFE

A) GENERAL LIFE CONDUCT

1. Live not on evil. 

2. Draw putrid dirt upward.

3. Don't nod.

4. Yawn a more Roman way. 

5. Step on no pets.

6. Rise. Revere, sir.

7. Name man's name, man.

8. Revenge: slap pals e.g.? Never!

9. Less evasion. 'No' is a vessel.

10. Draw no test. Set onward.

11. Re hypocrisy: as I say sir, copy her.

12. Nap not on pan.

13. "To last, I remedy my demerits a lot." (Stephen Wagner)



B) EAT PROPERLY

1. Sup not on pus.

2. No melon, no lemon.

3. Stir grits. 

4. Nip in if I nip in.

5. Ate plate: ewe et al. - PETA.

6. Desserts stressed.

7. Wontons? Not now.


C) ATTEND TO ONE'S PHYSICAL NEEDS

1. Amen, icy cinema.

2. Amen: enamor a Roman enema.

3. Elope, else sleep. Olé !

D) ATTEND TO ONE'S SOCIAL NEEDS

1. Burrow or rub.

2. Puff up. 

3. Strap on no parts.

4. Doomed: un-nude mood.

E) AVOID DISTRACTING ISSUES AND EXCESSES

1. Sex at noon taxes.

2. Cigar? Toss -- it is so tragic.

3. Sex at my gym taxes. 

4. God no! Pin taco-catnip on dog?

5. Pure, boss is. Sober up!

6. Pull up if I pull up.

7. Solo gigolos.

MAJOR PHILOSOPHIC QUESTIONS

A) The Nature of the Universe


1. Do geese see God?

2. May a moody baby doom a yam?

3. Won't lovers revolt now?

4. P.m. or a.m.?  God's time emits dogma-romp.

5. Model truth? Turtledom.

5. Are we not drawn onward to new era? 

B) One's Personal Role

1. Roy, am I mayor?

2. I, man, am regal? Live villager-man am I. 

3. Madam, in Eden I'm Adam. 

4. Ev, love did evolve.

5. Bonsai-man, "Am I a snob?"



C) The Nature of Perception

1. Was it a car or a cat I saw?

2. Was it a bar or a bat I saw?

3. Was it Eliot's toilet I saw?

4. Was it a man on a mat I saw?

5. Warsaw was raw?

6. Poop: sides reversed is 'poop'. 

D) Good and Evil

1. Do Good's deeds -- do, O God.

2. No! Evil's deeds live on.

3. Do Good's deeds live on? No, Evil's deeds do. O, God!

4. Do gonads' deeds live on?  No, Evil's deeds, Dan. O, God!     

5a) No devil's god-dogs lived on. b) No! Evil's tenets live on.

6. Do go! Go to Togo. God! 

7. Nooses reverse soon.

E) On Selflessness

1. Ma is as selfless as Dad. Dad's as selfless as I am. 

2. Leon's as selfless as Eva; Dave's as selfless as Noel. 

3. Pass as selfless as sap. 


F) Sin, Confession and Redemption

 

1. Dennis sinned.

2. Dennis and Edna sinned.

3. Dennis, Enid and Nadine sinned.   etc.

  

1. Dennis: "I sinned."

2. Dennis: "Nell, Edna, I and Ellen sinned."

3. Dennis: "Nell, Edna, Noel, I, Leon and Ellen sinned."

1. Dennis, Rod, Enid and Edna dined or sinned. 

2. Dennis never even sinned.

3. Sin, if ... ...  FINIS.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 

To resume your review of the sequence of daily titillations on our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 until July 2025. 

As of July 20, 2025, there are 2,000 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. 

Most of the key elements, such as this one, are also assembled here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections.

The "Daily" format, a formidable mix of genres, also has the advantage of including song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

MAY 15 (2024): Poetic NON-SEQUITURS, third grouping

 

 The present blogpost is a continuation of 'POETIC NON-SEQUITURS, as posted on this blog May 15, 2022 (first grouping),  and May 15, 2023 (second grouping).

previous poetic posts (Note that captions are available for poems displayed on "Daily Illustrated Nonsense" after January, 2024).

(first grouping): adolescence, almost Kosher, artistic weightlifting, bush plane, charity auction, close quarters.

(second grouping): cumulative songs, demolition, dishwasher, doggy bag, epistaxis, ESL.

CURRENT CONTENTS (third grouping):
Far-flung family

Gavel, judge's
Gifted children
Greeting in Spanish
Ground down
Having the audacity

Authors' Note: For educators, giftedness, e.g. in intellectual abilities, implies an ability significantly above average that motivates differences in school programming. For gifted children, social isolation from the majority of their age-peers is a major problem in their development and maturation. Various educational theories and practices abound in attempting to deal with this problem. 

These collections are arranged pretty much alphabetically. If you want to see the fourth grouping of poetic non-sequiturs click HERE.

MAY 10 (2024), URBAN CONCERNS, part #1 [5]

CURRENT CONTENTS
Aged street trees
Break of day
Dog park
Elevator reluctance

Farmers' market

Authors' Note: This verse drew inspiration from the poem "Cuore di Legno" (Heart of Wood) by poet Primo Levi. In the poem, the narrator, an aged horse chestnut growing on a busy urban street, complains of, among other insults, being peed on by neighborhood dogs. 

sunset reflected briefly 
8:30 p.m., May 2023
building to east of downtown

Authors' Note: 

groundling: the author's nickname for people who live on the ground floor, such as, up 'til now, his immediate family members

lift: Canadians, like their American neighbours, usually term this device an 'elevator'; to fit the tight space here, we borrowed the British synonym; however, it is noted that we retained our customary spelling of story (rather than the British storey)
helluva: common undefined slang that has been used in 40 verses on OEDILF to date (2023); presumably a distortion of hell of a ...

Another true personal story, apart from taking liberties with the floor numbers. The author currently inhabits a rental unit across the building from the suite being gloriously renovated/demolished by 'Carl the contractor'. This situation accords with advice by a relative to 'try out the lifestyle change' to ease the transition from house to 'bungalow in the sky'.

                                     

Authors' Note: We are fortunate to have moved into an apartment building just across the street from a public conservatory whose warm, humid, glass-roofed galleries offer the visitor views and dreams of escape to tropical floral environments. Visits are especially reinvigorating on dark and depressing winter days, and admission is free! Renovations re proceeding in the central palm-court, but the lateral greenhouse galleries remain open. 

You might also enjoy reviewing photo-enhanced poetry posts related to poinsettias, koi, red-eared sliders(turtles), Ontario cactuses, and Leda and the Swan at the same destination.

 

Authors' Note: Surveillance of tension cables in pre-stressed concrete is an arduous process, but is essential in older buildings, particularly in parking garages, although apartment towers may also be at risk. Sampling by drilling into the slabs only allows assessment of whether cables have failed, i.e. are broken, and are no longer under tension. Since the 1980s, the development of occlusive plastic fittings at attachment points has apparently reduced the possibility of corrosion due to moisture, a major cause of failure.

The author concedes a lack of professional knowledge concerning this problem. Please consult a structural engineer.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 

To resume your review of the sequence of daily titillations on our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 through the summer of 2026. 

As of March, 2026, there are 2,000 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. 

Most of these key elements of our work are assembled here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections.

The "Daily" format, a formidable mix of genres has the advantage of including song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

MAY 5 (2024): FUNNY BONES, fragment #1

CURRENT CONTENTS:
Background reading: "The Orthopedic Surgeon".

Comminuted fracture

Physiotherapy street (Bone alignment)

Contortionists

Enid's osteopenia

Heterotopic ossification

(for continuation, see the link below)

BACKGROUND READING To start, let's reconsider a verse that first appeared on our blogpost "Doctors and their Practices". You can get more information on this topic here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_fixation

Authors' Note: 

orthopod: a casual name for the orthopedic surgeon (surgical bone specialist).  For many sites in the upper and lower limbs where trauma has resulted in fracture with angulation or rotation of the fragments, surgical treatment ('ORIF', or Open Reduction, Internal Fixation) has become the standard of treatment. 

Authors' Note: Modern orthopedic treatment of displaced limb fractures often attains the aims of stability and appropriate alignment through the surgical technique of internal fixation. Injured limbs have then undergone the dual trauma of both the original injury and the surgical correction. But, with all the parts back in place and correctly aligned, the patient can work with a physiotherapist to regain range-of-motion, muscle agility and strength. 

Authors' Note: Modern orthopedic treatment of displaced limb fractures often attains the aims of stability and appropriate alignment through the surgical technique of internal fixation. Injured limbs have then undergone the dual trauma of both the original injury and the surgical correction. But, with all the parts back in place and correctly aligned, the patient can work with a physiotherapist to regain range-of-motion, muscle agility and strength. 

Authors' Note:

Osteopenia (ost-ee-oh-PEE-nee-yah), or reduced bone mass as suggested on regular x-ray studies, is a 'washed out' appearance raising the question of whether the patient has osteoporosis, a significant loss of bone mineral resulting in increased fracture risk. The word break in osteopenia (osteo, Latin root for ‘bone’) at the end of the first line is a reminder of its association with fracture. The DEXA test evaluates the mass of bone reproducibly, and, in the context of age and gender, helps decide on the necessity of drug treatment to prevent 'fragility fractures'. 

You can read more about the DEXA test for bone mineral density (BMD) HERE.

Authors' Note: 

 (HET-uhr-oh-top-ic, as here, or het-uhr-oh-TOP-ic)

      Usually asymptomatic, new bone formation in extra-skeletal sites seems to occur after physical or surgical trauma, particularly in the lower limbs following joint replacement. Occasionally, within several weeks after the inciting episode, tenderness and swelling near major joints may occur, needing to be differentiated from venous blockage, and requiring bone scanning for detection, as initial radiographs may be negative; this variant syndrome is known as myositis ossificans. Rarely, in progressive cases, surgery is eventually required to allow mobility at affected joints.

Part #2 of this collection of illustrated poems will feature fractures of the 'upper extremity' (arm).  The editors apologize for the long wait, but the good news is that this collection is now available! Click HERE. 

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 

To resume the sequence of daily titillations on our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 until December 2024. 

As of December 2024, there are 1800 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. Most of their key elements are also presented here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections, such as this one. The "Daily" format also has the advantage of including some song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.