Are we not drawn onward to new era...?

Today's date is a palindrome: 21 02 2012. For those of you wondering what exactly a palindrome is: it's a series of units that form an identical sequence, whether read from left to right (or top to bottom) or in reverse. Today is the 11th palindromic date this century.

The title of today's entry is also palindromic. But... it doesn't quite work, does it? Close but no cigar. Yes, it's a perfect palindrome but to scan properly it should read, "Are we not drawn onward to a new era?". To prolong the pain even further, someone has laboured for hours extending it to, "Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era?"

And I guess that's the problem with palindromes; the longer they are, the more cumbersome and inelegant they tend to become. The effort expended in working them out as they squeeze and contort far outweighs their worth. You shouldn't be able to smell the sweat.

One of the most famous (and elegant) palindromes must be, "A man, a plan, a canal; Panama!" It may not be the longest but it's elegant, moderately witty and it makes sense - more than can be said for:

Do good? I? No. Evil anon I deliver. I maim nine more hero-men in Saginaw, sanitary sword a-tuck, Carol, I. Lo! Rack, cut a drowsy rat in Aswan. I gas nine more hero-men in Miami. Reviled, I (Nona) live on. I do, O God.

My apologies for forcing you to read that. Whilst, technically, it is palindromic, it makes no sense whatsoever. It's merely an excruciating exercise in cleverness.

The shorter ones are usually more elegant (and memorable) such as, "Gnu dung", "A Toyota", "Rise to vote, sir" and "Never odd or even"

Today's run at 17:19
Distance	4.02 km	Time	21:39
Pace	5:23 min/km	Cadence	80 spm
Comments: Grey.