Do I have to endure phase X of self-conscious discussing of the larger significance of periods for the nth time? (I remember hearing discussions prior to my own initiation (bah, pfah), so to speak, at 10, and here I am 36-1/2 years later, and it is mostly as boring now as it was then, though I will say that the terms of the overwhelmingly mostly boringness of discussing it has varied, as has the