I am hoping that fortuity is a word, because I kind of like my title up there. Here are the fortuities that are converging on Friday:

First, a full moon. It is the Snow Moon (which means I have been trying to come up with a bad joke along the lines of "That's snow moon, that's _____!" but I haven't been able to so far).

That's an aptly named moon around where I live. We have had light dustings the past couple of nights, not enough to actually shovel, just sweep it away or just live with it.

The full moon is listed on Feb. 2, but it's actually on the night of Feb 1, because it's at 12:45 a.m. It will still be full on the night of the 2nd though.

Plus, it's Superbowl weekend. Go Bears!!

Plus, Groundhog Day. Great Bill Murray movie aside, what that really means is days getting longer. Groundhog Day is actually one of the half-season holidays. It marks the midpoint of winter, so now things will be looking brighter.

Plus, it's a certain person's birthday. Not a relative or family member, more of . . . someone I happen to like. I don't want to totally give it away yet. So i won't.

Though some of you have probably guessed.

Progress on fitness goals was very mixed yesterday. The treadmill turned out just fine, I actually did more than I had planned on and finished 6 1/2 miles in 59 minutes. I wanted to do that distance in under an hour, but I was thinking I would try it next week.

Then I banged my head on my trunk lid when I got home to my driveway, leaving a small bump above my right eye. Just bad enough that everyone who sees me wants to ask, What'd you do?

I thought exercising was supposed to make you look better.

I have been concentrating on a couple of fitness goals over the past couple of months. These sort of come and go in my life. I genuinely like exercising, so I do not have the problem of having to make myself go and do things. But a lot of times i do run out of time, and just don't have the chance to keep things going on a consistent basis.

Plus, getting older is bad, bad, bad for exercise goals. It's simple biology (I tell myself), the body-older just doesn't repair itself as quickly as the body-younger. And it's the repair process which is actually where you make gains. So working out becomes more of a matter of timing. And I don't push too hard because if i get injured it takes for-ev-er to heal and get back to it. Weeks and weeks. Back injury, knee trouble, any kind of thing that might happen and leave you hobbling for a few days when you are twenty turns into a few weeks when past forty.

So for weights I do not lift every other day like the literature usually says you should do if you want to make gains. 48 hours just doesn't do it anymore. Two days between does a nice job, but you don't see very much progress when you only lift every third day or so.

But I have been running more, mostly on the treadmill, some outside, I prefer outside if I can get out in the daylight, but I don't like running outdoors in the dark, so this time of year it's more treadmill. I'm outside maybe once a week for three miles or so.

Now as the days get a bit longer (BTW one of my favorite things about February, which is one of my favorite months) then I'll run outdoors more often.

I have a theory (which I refer to in my mind as Antidotes) which I have been meaning to write about (but, yeah, that takes time too) about trying to concentrate on ways to minimize and reverse the effects of modern life, the hectic hurried reality that most people I know experience too much of. One of the cental tenets of my theory is that running outdoors is GOOD. It's solitude (if you run by yourself), and outdoor air, and sunlight, and hard aerobic work for the cardiovascular system, and weight-bearing exercise for the joints and bones. So it's a lot of good things rolled into one.

It's not the end-all and be-all of exercise, but it's a lot of good stuff all at once.

So, of course, I'm running on a treadmill instead. See how my overall philosophy works? Running on a treadmill where I run is still cardiovascular and weight-bearing goodness. But i lose out on the sunlight, fresh air, and solitude. On the other hand, I get to watch television. Random shows which happen to be on at the place where I go. Usually CNN or ESPN or other enlightening things, but sometimes reruns of Charmed or other bad TV. (Not that I have anything against modern witches. I just don't think they would look THAT good at all times.)

So today I am supposed to do 6 miles. I'll walk a quarter to warm up, and cool down with the last quarter, so it's five and a half of running. Being slow, this will take about 45-50 minutes. That's pretty good for me these days.

I did a half marathon (that's 13 miles) two years in a row and I liked that distance. It's really challenging for me, and I don't think the whole marathon would be that great fitness-wise for me. But the best thing about any goal like a half-marathon is that it motivates a lot of effort to get ready for it. That date circled on the calendar just doesn't go away. Or move. It just sits there looking back with a one-eyed stare, "I'll be here. You gonna be ready?"

The half-marathon was good for me. Beautiful spouse was not that supportive (maybe because the first one was on the morning of middle son's high school graduation which was later in the afternoon and we had out-of-town company coming in, and . . . I'll bet you can picture the dynamics of that one). I didn't do either half-marathon in under two hours. So I'm slow, one of the guys plodding along, walking a minute each mile or so, but getting it done.

Then the sponsor pulled out and that event is gone. Of course there are other half-marathons that I could drive to, but this one was super-convenient. All I had to do was show up that morning, it was five minutes from my house, and I was done by ten in the morning. I am not that into running to drive to another locatoin, stay overnight, participate, drive home and have it take a whole weekend to run. Just too busy for that scenario, or not that into it. The competition doesn't appeal to me which draws a lot of people into the race events. It's just a motivator to get the training in and take it seriously.

On the treadmill I'll be running the first half of that 13-miler in my head.

Turns out (last night) I dodged one bullet, but they just reloaded. I'm not out of the shooting gallery yet. The in-laws are reconsidering their reconsidering.

We were just going along, minding our own business, when, totally out-of-the-blue, we get a phone call from two 80-year-old people.

"Well, hello there. We were just thinking that we would really like to visit Britain on a trip this year. And we were thinking that it would be great to have the perfect tour guides."

THAT SOUND YOU JUST HEARD WAS THE SOUND OF A GUN BEING LOADED.

"And you know who would be just the perfect tour guides for us? We've always wanted to go there, and we never have and . . ."

THAT FEELING IS THE FEELING OF A GUN BARREL BEING SIGHTED ONTO THE MIDDLE OF YOUR HEAD.

"Ohh." I heard beautiful spouse responding while I feigned a dramatic heart attack in the background, "we'll think about it. We were planning a trip to Holland anyway, so maybe we could go to England, too."

THE HAMMER HAS BEEN PULLED BACK AND THE TRIGGER COCKED.

She hangs up the phone.

After just a minute with the defribillator I am as good as new. Which is really not that good. Especially when it comes to making travel plans with 80-year-olds. For the next two weeks the hammer stays cocked. Eventually we have a serious conversation. Something like this (Last Sunday morning):

Me: "I am not going to England with your parents. Plus you yourself vowed that you would never travel with them again. (Pause for her to remember said vow. And the reason for it. Most of which centers around a trip to Yellowstone National Park, ten years ago, when they were only 70. They froze, because they packed clothes for a summer vacation. Yes, it was summer. Summer in the Rockies. It snowed while we were there. End of pause.) Remember?"

Her: "I know, but . . . they're getting old . . . "

I FEEL THE COLD STEEL MUZZLE AGAINST MY NECK.

"and they really can't do a trip like this by themselves anymore."

That is when I put my foot down. "Absolutely not. I am not going. You can go. But count me out."

Later that same morning, the Internet is humming nicely into our family room. There, painted on the monitor, stands The George Inn, an 800-year-old British tavern where I have always wanted to stay. "Did you see this website?" asks Beautiful Spouse.

That evening, while we were browsing on Orbtz for airfares that might be affordable, we saw $467 fares to Amsterdam in June. The MasterCard almost started my wallet on fire from the friction produced by zipping it out so quickly.

That evening I was thinking to myself, "Well it won't be that bad if we spend a few days with the in-laws showing them around the countryside."

But when we called them to tell them the dates we had reserved they decided that they hadn't better go this year as they were worrying about the cost of the trip.

THE BULLETS WHIZZED PAST MY HEAD BARELY GRAZING THE SIDE OF MY TEMPLE AND LEAVING ONLY A SMALL, BUT MANAGEABLE, HEADACHE.

We're leaving June 7.

So. Let's take another look at the predictions I made Saturday A.M.

(I PROMISE NOT TO CONVERT MY SPACE INTO A BEARS FAN SITE FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS OF SUPERBOWL HYPE. I SHALL RESTRAIN MYSELF. I'M NOT SURE HOW, BUT I WILL FIND A WAY. MAYBE I'LL HIDE THE KEYBOARD.)

1. The network will hype Brian Urlacher

YEP

2. He'll play pretty good anyway

YEP

3. But make one bonehead play that results in a touchdown or big play for the Saints

HE SORT OF MISSED THE TACKLE ON THE REGGIE BUSH TD, BUT SO DID EVERYONE ELSE (88 YD TOUCHDOWN)

4. Speaking of hype, the network will also play up the Cinderella story of the Saints forging ahead despite Hurricane Katrina, blah, blah, blah, but they'll never mention the Chicago fire that burned the city to the ground in 1871

YEAH, BUT THAT WAS A GIMMEE

5. The Bears will win

OHHHHH . . . YEEE-AHHHH!!!!!

6. It'll be a close game

FINAL SCORE WAS 39-14, BUT IT ACTUALLY WAS CLOSE UNTIL THE 4TH QUARTER

7. My guess is 35-30 or thereabouts

YEAH, THEREABOUTS.

8. Bears will be behind at some point but lead most of the game

THEY SCORED IN THE LAST MINUTE OF THE FIRST QUARTER AND THEN LED THE WHOLE WAY

9. Big game Bears?

10. Devin Hester will have at least one great return, but not a touchdown

NOPE

11. Bears will get a touchdown from their defensive unit

SAFETY BUT NOT A TOUCHDOWN (BUT COULD HAVE HAD ONE IF THEY HAD PICKED UP A LOOSE FUMBLE INSTEAD OF STUMBLING AROUND IT)

12. Mushin Mohammed (Bears receiver) Big game

NOPE, BERNARD BERRIAN HAD THE TD CATCH.

13. Curtis Benson (Bears RB) Big game

NOPE, THOMAS JONES HUGE GAME. BENSON DID ALRIGHT THOUGH & CARRIED 24 TIMES FOR 60 YDS

Plus, stupid-me, the Bears don't have a guy named Curtis Benson anyway! His name is Cedric Benson!! (I probably jinxed Cedric by predicting a big game from Curtis.)

14. Mark Anderson & Adewale Ogunleye will get sacks on D, but big stars on D will be Lance Briggs(LB) and Chris Harris (S)

ALL FOUR OF THESE GUYS DID GREAT. OGUNLEYE HAD A FUMBLE RECOVERY SACK AND BRIGGS FORCED THE SAFETY. CHRIS HARRIS HAD A FUMBLE STRIP AND LED THE TEAM IN TACKLES.

15. For the Saints, Drew Brees will have a good game but throw a key interception sometime in the second half

OHHH, YEAH!!!

16. Either Deuce McAllister or Reggie Bush will have a 100 yd game (Saints RB)

YEP. BUT RECEIVING INSTEAD OF RUSHING. STILL COUNTS THOUGH!!

17. But not both

MCALLISTER HAD 6 CARRIES FOR 18 YDS TOTAL, A NONFACTOR

18. My guess is that Bush has the bigger game

WELL, HE HAD THE SPECTACULAR 88 YD TD WITH THE LEAP INTO THE ENDZONE & LED THE SAINTS WITH 7 CATCHES

19. Saints hyped receivers will not do that well

ALL IN ALL THEY ONLY GOT ONE TD

20. Saints running D will look muddy and bruised before the first half is over

THOMAS JONES CARRIED THE BALL 8 STRRAIGHT PLAYS FOR THE TOUCHDOWN DRIVE THAT WON THE GAME (16-0)

21. And worse in the second half

BEARS HAD 196 YDS ON THE GROUND IN 46 CARRIES, A PLAYOFF RECORD FOR RUSHES

22. Saints will miss a key field goal

YEP, WOULD HAVE PUT THEM AHEAD 17-16

23. Bears will go to Miami and play the Colts from Indianapolis

MIAMI HERE WE COME & PEYTON MANNING BOUGHT THE COLTS THEIR TICKETS IN THE EVENING GAME 38-34 OVER THE PATS

Sorry, readerboat, my mind is on football!

As a Bears fan I figure I'd better go on record with a few predictions for tomorrow's big game:

1. The network will hype Brian Urlacher

2. He'll play pretty good anyway

3. But make one bonehead play that results ina touchdown or big play for the Saints

4. Speaking of hype, the network will also play up the Cinderella story of the Saints forging ahead despite Hurricane Katrina, blah, blah, blah, but they'll never mention the Chicago fire that burned the city to the ground in 1871

5. The Bears will win

6. It'll be a close game

7. My guess is 35-30 or thereabouts

8. Bears will be behind at some point but lead most of the game

9. Big game Bears?

10. Devin Hester will have at least one great return, but not a touchdown

11. Bears will get a touchdown from their defensive unit

12. Mushin Mohammed (Bears receiver) Big game

13. Curtis Benson (Bears RB) Big game

14. Mark Anderson & Adewale Ogunleye will get sacks on D, but big stars on D will be Lance Briggs(LB) and Chris Harris (S)

15. For the Saints, Drew Brees will have a good game but throw a key interception sometime in the second half

16. Either Deuce McAllister or Reggie Bush will have a 100 yd game (Saints RB)

17. But not both

18. My guess is that Bush has the bigger game

19. Saints hyped receivers will not do that well

20. Saints running D will look muddy and bruised before the first half is over

21. And worse in the second half

22. Saints will miss a key field goal

23. Bears will go to Miami and play the Colts from Indianapolis

My last entry (about cooking stuff, then bringing it home and not eating it) was a bit confusing. Unless you already knew what I was talking about.

I found out what the place is actually called and threw a Link over in the list at left (very bottom), Dinner by Design.

If you are curious.

Something that I don't understand is . . .

Cooking something when you are not at home. And then bringing it home to not eat it. It is like a restaurant-in-reverse. The beautiful thing about a restaurant is that you get to eat good food without cooking. These are places where apparently you get to cook good food without eating.

Some people I know at work (yes, women, but let's not get personal about this or else I risk being barraged with many comments telling me the stupid things which GUYS do), but really, they go to a special place, (which sounds PRETTY MUCH LIKE A REGULAR KITCHEN) and then they cook stuff there and pack it all up to bring it home and put it in the freezer.

My first question is: how can a place like this stay in business? I would think you would go there one time and then say to yourself, "Hmmm . . . I could have done this at home for a lot less money."

Then I remember someone saying, "The wonderful thing is that someone already did all the shopping, so you can just cook." I'm thinking, if you're going to cook, what's so hard about stopping at the store and bringing the stuff home to cook it? How is that not-as-good as going out to the cooking place to cook? You still have to go out!

The other big advantage mentioned was that someone cleans up for you, so you don't have to get your own kitchen messy. The mess stays at the far-away-place, while the food comes home.

Now I don't cook every day. (We sort of take turns. Except it usually goes in streaks, not alternating nights.) But I do cook stuff. I will generally use a cutting board, and maybe two pans. Probably a bowl in there somewhere, along with a knife and a couple of spoons and things. That's about it. I can generally wash that up in under five minutes, though it usually gets loaded into the dishwasher by beautiful spouse.

"AH HA!!" The sound of readers scoffing? Hey, my wife believes in dishwashers a lot more than I do. I think it's more trouble than it's worth to load it, wait for it to get done, and then unload it hours later. I would rather wash the stuff in the sink and put it in the drying rack on the counter, and it's dry in a few minutes.

(A quick aside: up at the top of the screen there is a pop-up ad that says in all caps: WHO'S SEARCHING FOR YOU? And then next to the text there is a continually changing picture of all these people who apparently are searching for me. They are all quite attractive, but on the young side. The girl up there right now looks like she's in high school. Did I hit her car or something?? If you find out, please let me know.)

(Oh, never mind. She has been replaced by the Mercury girl. This I understand. I am a fan of the Mercury girl.)

Now, back to the cooking. Tonight I made three omelettes. One was three eggs, with plenty of melted cheese (son's). One was one whole egg and two extra whites, with a little cheese and some sauteed mushrooms (guess whose?). One was two whole eggs and the extra two yolks that beautiful spouse won't eat, (because, hey, why waste them?) with melted cheese and plenty of the mushrooms. These were delicious, pretty quick, used one bowl and one pan, and WOW! I cooked them right in the kitchen, just about three feet away from the table where we sat down and ate them!!

Not that we don't like to eat out. Don't get me started on that topic. But I'm just saying that if we're going to eat somewhere then I want to eat the food there, (or bring it home from carryout), not bring it home and then put it in the freezer to be eaten a different day.

My problem is that once I go to a place and make all that food, then I would want to eat it. in fact that is probably just about what I would end up doing. I would bring home all the little packages, and then open them up at home and eat them all at once the first night.

That way there's fewer dishes.

When work gets in the way of real life, everything gets messed up!

No reason that I haven't blogged for a week other than lack of time. Sometimes I have something in the Draft category that is ready to go for slow periods like this, but this time I only have one piece like that just sitting around, and that one has to wait until next month.

And then, I have to admit, being a Bears fan has led me to feel the need to watch an inordiante amount of NFL stuff this week. If you haven't heard, or just don't follow NFL football, the Bears are in the playoffs this year.

I was at Soldier Field for the worst Bears game of the season, their New Year's Eve loss to the Packers. That was depressing. So I think I was in a funk for the next two weeks, and just concentrating on work stuff and fitness stuff.

I have been running more, trying to increase my mileage, some on a treadmill, some outdoors. Yesterday (Sunday) I ran outdoors in the morning and then went to my brother's to watch the Bears game vs. Seattle Seahawks. It turned out to be a nailbiter and went into overtime. In the NFL, when it's overtime, first team to score wins. Robbie Gould kicked a 49-yd field goal and the Bears move on to the next round of playoffs. New Orleans Saints come to Soldier Field next Sunday and the winner goes to the Superbowl as NFC Champion to face the Colts or the Patriots.

I am hoping that the Bears win, and that they play the Indianapolis Colts in the Superbowl. Mostly because that would be one of the best rated Superbowls ever for television audiences. The Bears draw a huge audience in the post season anyway, and going against Peyton Manning who is the most hyped player in the league would generate a big crowd of interested viewers for the game itself (which sometimes gets kind of lost in the general circus atmosphere which is the Superbowl).

I have worn glasses since I was seven years old. (That's over twenty years ago!)

And I never got into contacts, mostly because the thought of sticking things onto my eyeballs was never that appealing. But over ten years ago my older brother had corrective eye surgery. Back then it was RK (radial-something) which consisted of tiny incisions in the cornea. (Note: the cornea is the outer layer of the eyeball, what you would touch if you touched your own eye.) He was happy with that and has not needed glasses since then. But after a few years that type of surgery went out of fashion and was replaced by LASIK.

That made me a little hesitant to go with either one, because I was wondering if there would be more new techniques and which would turn out to be the best. But LASIK has been going strong for over ten years now, so I decided that I wanted to get it done.

It is not cheap, and I do not have vision insurance, but this year we have not been paying college tuition, so it was a good year.

The first thing you do is go in for an appointment where they evaluate the prescription you are wearing (whether contacts or glasses) and examine the cornea, looking at both its thickness and structure. Then they tell you if you are a good candidate, and which procedure you need. They want to be able to bring your vision up to, or better than, the vision that you had with corrective lenses.

I was a good candidate. (Both because my corneas are thick (along with several other parts of my head, I am told) and because I would need the more expensive procedure.)

Then they schedule another appointment with the actual surgeon. (The first appointment is with an optometrist.) And you pay a deposit and get a prescription for eyedrops that you have to fill and bring with you on the day of the surgery.

Before that day approached they called and left a message saying that we would need to reschedule because the doctor would not be in that day. A couple of weeks went by without rescheduling. Why? Because it wasn't easy to find another good date. Plus the closer it came to the actual surgery the more "thoughts" I started to have. Thoughts like, Maybe I shouldn't get both eyes done at once. And, Maybe this isn't such a good idea. And, maybe I should have looked at other doctors. And, Maybe I will NEVER SEE AGAIN!!

I didn't want to NOT go through with it, exactly, I just didn't want to change the date to have it done even sooner. Putting it off until 2007 started to seem like a good option.

When we called to reschedule they had a date available less than a week away. So I said Yes. Then i tried not to think about it anymore. I figured that there really wasn't anything to worry about. Sure, they could "slip" and ruin my eyes, but c'mon, what are the chances for that? All the statistics are really impressive. Like only about 2 per cent of patients experience any problems at all. And only a few in a thousand experience any serious problems. Those are pretty impressive statistics. Unless you're in the 2 per cent.

Of course the closer the day came the more I had convinced myself that I might be making a big mistake. I LIKE my glasses. Why would I want to give up on them. They've never given up on me, have they? They're really no trouble at all!

Then one day I woke up and guess what? It was the day for the surgery! Even though I hadn't been thinking about it, the calendar had still moved forward! At 3:00 in the afternoon I was sitting in the office chatting with the appointment girl. Did she just say that I needed a "foul-up appointment?" Oh no, my mistake, just a follow-up appointment for post-surgery exam the following day. Great.

The I read the disclaimer sheet making me, once again, fully aware of all the possible things that never happen. Then i noticed that one of the items said that I had talked to the doctor and had all my questions answered. "I've never met wirth the actual doctor."

"Oh, he'll see you in a few minutes."

"Well, it says here that I already talked to him, and he answered all my questions."

"Well, do you want to talk to him before you sign? That's no problem." Pause. "Nobody has ever asked for that before. Most people just sign it. "

"Yeah, that would be great."

So we talked to the surgeon for about five minutes. He was very calming and reassuring. He described the whole procedure which I had read about of course, but it sounds pretty different when you're talking to the actual person who will be pointing the lasers at your eyeballs. He has done 22,000 procedures.

I felt a lot more confident. The he said we would be ready in about five minutes and the whole procedure would take less than fifteen minutes total. We met with the post-op instructions tech who explained the post-op procedures to do at home and showed us the little post-op kit with eyedrops and an eye shield for showers and dark glasses for wearing home.

I put on a little surgical hairnet and went into the Laser room. The machine was white and about the size of an X-ray machine. It was making strange noises while it was "getting ready." I listened carefully for anything that sounded like diabolical laughter, but everything was pretty mechanical sounding.

I laid (lied? lay? one of those) down on a reclining chair. The doctor came in and said hello. He covered one eye with a shield and said he was going to tape the eyelids of the other eye, which took about ten seconds. Then he said it would feel like pressure on my eye, which it did, that I would lose vision for a few seconds which i did, that I had a "good flap" which I felt very happy about, that I should stare at the blinking dot (this part took about 30 - 40 seconds of staring straight at the dot without moving at all), that he was smoothing (it felt like a flower petal on my eyeball), and that I was done. That's how quick it went. Then we did the other eye, which went even faster. Then he said I should sit up and look around. Things were fuzzy and a little hazy but definitely clear as far as being in focus without glasses on. I couldn't read signs and letterrs but he said that's normal and that it would clear up in 24-48 hours. Full recovery would take a few weeks. I put on the dark glasses and went out to meet beautiful spouse, my ride home. There was no discomfort with eyes closed, but lights seemed really bright with eyes open. I knew I was supposed to keep both eyes closed unless actually walking around, then go home and nap for about 4 hours, then I could resume 'normal" activity. That's assuming that it's normal to wear an eyeshield to bed. Hmmm, well that would only be the first few nights.

The hardest thing for me was reminding myself NOT to rub my eyes. That disturbs the corneal flap and can cause big healing problems. But you know how when you think about NOT doing something the urge to do that becomes even more? Well, that was my biggest problem.

It has been two weeks since surgery. Right now, as I type this, I am wearing drugstore reading glasses so I can read the screen. That is normal for someone my age, to still need reading glasses, just like someone with lifetime 20/20 vision probably needs reading glasses at some point. My distance vision is good, but not as good as it used to be with glasses on. So that is the part that I am disappointed about, but I have the Lifetime vision plan included which means I can have the procedure tweaked to further correct problems. I will find out about that next week at my three-week check-up.

All in all? It has not been as life-changing as I thought it would be in my imagination. Wearing glasses is a little more of a problem now than it was before because I only wear them for reading, but I still need to pretty much have them with me, but can't just wear them all the time like i used to. So now I have to think about them instead of just putting them on in the morning and wearing them. A lot of it is just change-of-routine I know.

I like being able to drive without glasses on, but watching television is not quite as clear. Because of the fact that it is winter, and also because you have to be careful about eyes becoming dry in the outdoor air, I haven't yet really taken advantage of the awesome advantage of being able to do active physical things without worrying about glasses or contacts. I have run outside with sunglasses on, that's about it.

One of the most amazing parts was that there is no typical surgical stuff, like IVs and injections, and anesthetic (just a numbing drop a few minutes before you go into the laser room). They encourage you to take a Tylenol before you start so that you can sleep better when you go home to nap, but you don't have to take it.

I kind of wish there were something more startling to report, but it really wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it would be.

If you would like to read something truly beautiful and expressive, click on the friend link to the right for Zeynep and read her entry Jan. 6, "To an unborn child."

Take a look at the Fans Only music video contest. Click on the LINKS THAT WORK over on the left. It's a contest with voting to see who has the best Fans Only video, i.e. fans lip-synching a hit song with their own "fantastic" dance moves thrown in. It's pretty funny. And you get to vote.

Currently Weird Al's fans (White and Nerdy) are in the lead in a contest, with Shakira's (Hips Don't Lie) a close second. Everybody know who to vote for?

Tonight's full moon is the Wolf Moon. It's actually not considered full until tomorrow night (Jan. 3), but it looks full to me.

I think it's the moon to go out and howl at. Up north in Minnesota there are still some wolf packs that you can hear in the winter time. I used to know a website (for a cabin rental) that included a wolf howl recorded on a winter night from their back door. That would be spooky.

I once saw a wolf in Minnesota, some years ago when I was still into winter camping. But he was standing in the middle of a road just looking around. No howling, and really nothing scary.

Around my house there are now coyotes spotted at times. We have had some reports of dogs attacked in their backyards. They are pretty defenseless especially if chained. I'm enough of a wildlife fan that I like the coyotes. I also like the geese. And bears. And moose. And bison if we had any. I am a fan of all that wild stuff being around.

On the other hand, the mice in the garage? Set the traps!

Note: there is a moon link over on the left side.