I'm sitting here working at my computer in a pair of old running shorts. They were intended for something more athletic than pecking at a keyboard. But it's hot and these shorts are actually short -- cut to about the hip. That's what people wore when I started running. Now most runners I see have fabric flapping around their knees.

I'm painfully modest and my skinny legs aren't anything to show off (except, of course for the heart-shaped birthmark on my thigh) but when I was plodding the streets I didn't want to be encumbered or overheated.

It must be the style. Pro-basketball players today look like they're wearing culottes. Does anyone wear real culottes anymore? I don't keep up with these things. My wardrobe's mostly from the Salvation Army.

I'll wear running shorts to write if I want. Even with three fingers, I type faster than I ran.