I really dislike Tuesdays.  Far, far more than any other day of the week.  They’re just so…..characterless.

– As regular port-swillers may know, I have taken to dropping off the eldest gel at St. Rita of the Misunderstood Adolescence in the mornings.  The drop zone is managed by 5th graders (I believe), complete with those orange belts and sashes.  Not only do they direct traffic, open doors and assist kids getting their backpacks out, they also pointedly make eye contact with the driver, smile and say, “Have a great day.”  I love that.

– There is talk of the 10 year old’s class at St. Marie of the Blessed Educational Method going up to Noo Yawk next spring to participate in a mock U.N. assembly.  The gel is so excited at the prospect that I don’t yet have the heart to tell her what I think of the real U.N.

–  I am currently reading Hilaire Belloc’s Essays of a Catholic.  I must say that while they are both interesting and informative, I find myself starting to feel that I should see the book through more out of a sense of duty than anything else.  Belloc seems a bit too cranky-pantsed about things for my taste, self preferring something more along the lines of the big, joyous energy of a Chesterton or the cozy warmth of a Lewis.   I simply don’t know that much about Belloc’s writing.  Would there be something else of his I ought to be reading instead? (And don’t cite his Cautionary Tales for Children.)

– Dude! What are you putting in my Rainforest Crunch?  Hippy pretentions take a hit.

– The stink bug plague proceeds apace.  I must admit that it is sometimes soothing to go about knocking them on the head with a quick flick of the thumb and forefinger. (We average maybe half a dozen of them in the kitchen and library at any one time.  Apparently, some other folks get them far worse.)

– A lexicon of ancient Greek names.  Well worth a read.  The article speaks not just of ancient Greek, but also of Anglo-Saxon and other naming traditions.  And speaking of the Saxons, today is the anniversary of the landing of William the Conqueror and his Normans in England in 1066.  (The Battle of Hastings would be fought a couple weeks later.  At this point, poor old Harold Godwinson was still in the north, where he had just defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, but exhausted his army doing it.)

– Since I mentioned the other two gels, it’s only fair to brief you on the eight year old as well.  Her latest trick is to insist on getting into and out of my Jeep by climbing over the back end.  Honestly, if every there was anyone who could out-Harpo Harpo Marx, it’s this kid.

Well, that’s about it.