Over at Teekay’s

Today’s column by David Brooks in the Times reports on a recent, comprehensive study that overweight people live longer. “Since I read about this report a few days ago,” Brooks tells us, “I haven’t been able to stop grinning.” But the money quote is without a doubt the following:

I’ve been happy because as a member of the community of low-center-of-gravity Americans, I find that a lifetime of irresponsible behavior has been unjustly rewarded. … I’ve been happy because now there will inevitably be a shift in the fashion winds, favoring members of the Zaftig Corps. … More people will realize we should all be patterning our lifestyle decisions on those made by Christopher Hitchens.

Does Brooks mean we should all churn out 4,000 words a day while sitting at our desks?

But anyway, what amuses me most about a certain kind of health nut is that they’re all about spirituality and renunciation of earthly goods and all that — but all they actually do is about their bodies.