tempus loquendi, tempus tacendi

i have a private joke: whenever someone is trying to remember a person's name i suggest to them that it's "your only son, michael" or i imagine myself suggesting it, which is even funnier still because of the prospect of being asked why i'm laughing and i have to explain that i was hoping for you to say "my only son, michael" but you didn't. then i have to go on to explain that one time i saw a woman holding a gossip magazine that said ...après le pert de son unique fils, Michel...
an explanation that leads to further explanation is not the kind of explanation people like to hear. you should rest your explanation on things that no one cares to investigate.