Mom called on Saturday night during the third quarter with Nebraska driving against KSU. After all these years, she still doesn't check the regional football schedule before calling. We reviewed the weather in our respective regions, moved on to a brief discussion of the health and welfare of her grandchildren, and then she reminded me that she and Dad would be away for a weeklong tour of the Ozarks. I think we both yawned through the conversation.

She can always tell when I'm preoccupied, so I was careful not to betray my impatience to get back to the game, but because the most exciting things that have happened to me this week involved reformatting my hard drive and correcting a problem that prevented Windows from recognizing a port � and all this happened, mind you, while I added great quantities of dryer lint to my collection (thanks mostly to the arrival of cold weather which brings the sweatshirts out of the closet and into the wash) � well, what is there to do but yawn lest I betray my preoccupation?

On Sunday I joined the men's choir at the Unitarian Fellowship to help them stink up the program with a close-harmony version of "Amazing Grace." While we might disagree about the nature of grace, and we might even disagree about whether the word amazing is an adjective or a transitive verb in that title, we do try not to dishonor the melody. This time we failed, so we are grateful that Unitarians don't generally stone the choir. I guess that's a form of grace.

Before I start yawning, or before I stink up this entry any more by beginning an extended rant about the ways this election will taint the next president's term, I should mention instead that I am more than a little flattered by the selection of the September 29th entry as a finalist for the outstanding entry in the Diarist awards for the third quarter. A few folks whose own journals deserve awards have told me that they nominated that entry (or would have if their real lives hadn't interfered with their attention). Their consideration honors me. If the entry goes no further in the awards process, those folks should know that their nominations are awards in themselves, so I won't be requesting a recount.

Thanks.

Reading: A two-part continuation of the Rabbit Angstrom stories in The New Yorker, and other articles from the back issues.

Watching:
The usual network suspects because I had time with the computer down: ER, Gideon's Crossing, The West Wing, and on Saturday the game, Nebraska vs. KSU, 28-29. The goal posts came down.

Weathering:
The first hard freezes of the season.