Monday morning: On a day off . . .

1. Good morning. It’s kind of strange to have a day off just five days into a new job, and it’s going to be even stranger next week when I work three days. I will take it, though. alethea_eastrid’s library is closed Mondays, so this will be nice. There will be housecleaning, grocery shopping and laundry, among other things.

2. Yesterday there was house-cleaning, and there was cooking. I made apple-raspberry calzones (for lack of a better word) and two batches of raspbery crisp. I also made eggs with sausage, onions, cheese and garlic for dinner. Saturday, jenphalian was visiting, and I made raspberry-chocolate chip pancakes.

3. I know it's a longshot, but if any of you have the Independent Film Channel on your cable system, you might want to check out Darkon” at 9 tonight.

I know some of you have heard about this. Here’s a clip from the Boston Globe:

People love to blah-blah-blah about how no one has imagination anymore, how Americans are losing the ability to fantasize due to the great brain suck of TV and the Internet. And yet we tend to raise eyebrows about those who engage in fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons -- games that are like attending an imagination aerobics class. As kids, the players are pigeonholed as "nerds" and"geeks," and when they're older, they're seen in less affectionate terms, as a kind of creepy fringe.

“Darkon," tonight at 9 onIFC, is a rewarding documentary that gives role-playing gamesters a less dismissive look-over. The movie zeroes in on a live-action game in Baltimore, in which hundreds of players battle for land in the mythic realm of Darkon. Every other weekend, they gather in parks to create this fantasy world, each having invented a heroic character who wears a medieval costume and carries foam-encrusted weaponry. Essentially, they are writing their own adventure saga, an unending fictional story built on the influence of Arthurian legend and "The Lord of the Rings."

As "Darkon" unfolds, directors Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer get at the deep importance of the game to its "warrior knights" -- as a social event, as a psychological salve, and as an empowering spiritual experience. But they also remind us, with admirable subtlety, that we are all roleplayers of sorts - at work, with our families, with our friends. There is very little condescension in this movie -- nothing that makes theseplayers seem particularly pathetic, or merely cute. Indeed, it celebrates their decision to find community and creativity in their lives, much in the way athletes find engagement in local sports competitions.

4. I am really looking forward to Bjorn’s Ceilidh, an SCA event in Albany next weekend. Baron Angus asked me if we were going to come. I said I didn’t know, and he said, “It will be fun if you come.” That -- and wldrose’s feast menu were all I needed. ;)

5. I have been amused reading the LJ community, baristas, which is comprised of Starbucks folkstalking about their company, their job and -- especially -- their cranky-ass customers. I hope I am never the evil customer.

6. I am sitting here cranking out three stories for the local weekly that I have been working for. I really enjoy writing, and the fact that it’s producing a money as well is, as my wife would say, “a birght, shiny bonus.”

Monday evening: Checking back in . . .

1. I got a great deal done today. I worked for about four hours on three stories for the weekly paper I am writing for and on some other writing stuff as well. I went to Manchester Center, Vt., to get the laundry and grocery shopping done. alethea_eastrid made brownies while I was gone. I do so enjoy writing again. It's sort of a necessity at this point, because I just started working full-time again, but it makes me feel good. I need to do more of it.

2. I had a wonderful conversation with theresat today. It's funny how I see things in her that I see in myself. She's really cool. We are lucky that both of our kids are very cool and exhibit the best traits of both parents. ;)

3. Excellent Veterans Day column from Kevin Cullen.

4. Well, we lost this one:

PORTLAND, Ore. --An high school English teacher whowanted to take her semiautomatic handgun onto school grounds has noright to do so, a judge said Friday.

Shirley Katz, 44, has aconcealed weapons permit and claimed a right to carry a handgun atSouth Medford High School in Medford, to defend against intruders orher former husband.

5. For all you "Youk" fans:

Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis plans to shave his trademark goatee tomorrow for charity.

6. You Dustin Pedroia fans oughta know this already:

The Sox second baseman today was named the AL Rookie of the Year.

7. Then, there's Tom Tancredo . . .

New Hampshire voters will see two new TV ads from Republican presidential hopefuls -- one rather pedestrian fare on reining in spending, the other a rather startling take on securing the borders.

The latter, from US Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado, focuses on illegal immigrants and says that besides taking jobs from Americans, they could launch terrorist attacks because porous borders are allowing Islamic radicals to freely roam the country.

The ad, obtained by ABC News, shows the victims of terrorist attacks in Europe and ends with the sound of an explosion and the words on the screen: "Tancredo...before it's too late." 

Tancredo, who is stuck in the second tier of Republican candidates, has crusaded against illegal immigration in Congress and has made the issue the centerpiece of his presidential bid. "I approved this message because someone needs to say it," he says in the ad, which will also run in Iowa.

The tamer spot is from John McCain, and it focuses on his pledge to stop pork-barrel spending.

8. The pope wears pinstripes. (Apologies to fireroseboudicc)

BALTIMORE -- Pope Benedict XVI will visit New York and Washington, D.C., in the spring, but will not come to Boston, the Vatican's top diplomat in the United States announced this morning.

In his first visit to the United States as pope, Benedict will speak at the United Nations, visit the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in Manhattan, and meet at the White House with President Bush. He will also celebrate Mass at Yankee Stadium in New York and at the new Nationals baseball stadium, which is now under construction in Washington.

The decision is a blow to Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, who had pushed hard for Benedict to visit Boston, which will be celebrating its bicentennial as a Catholic diocese next year. But Boston was a controversial option because of its prominence as the city in which the clergy sexual abuse crisis erupted.

The headline was: "Pope will pass on Boston; Visit New York and D.C. instead"

Credits on Nos. 5, 6, 7 and 8 to the Boston Globe.

This deserves its own post

From The Associated Press

SOUTHWORTH, Wash. -- A man trying to loosen a stubborn lug nut blasted the wheel with a 12-gauge shotgun, injuring himself badly in both legs, Kitsap County sheriff's deputies said.

The 66-year-old man had been repairing a Lincoln Continental for two weeks at his home northwest of Southworth and east of Port Orchard and had gotten all but one of the lug nuts off the right rear wheel before getting frustrated Saturday afternoon, Deputy Scott Wilson said.

"He's bound and determined to get that lug nut off," Wilson said.

From about arm's length the man fired the shotgun at the wheel and was "peppered" in both legs with 00 buckshot and other debris, with some injuries as high on his body as his chin, according to a sheriff's office report.

"Nobody else was there and he wasn't intoxicated," Wilson said.