Happy Thanksgiving, all. I've been reading but just haven't been up to posting--but I wish you all splendid Thanksgivings. My poor parents--my sister and her husband were going to be with them, but then he had a cough and a test (now we know it's negative, but they didn't come down to St. Pete from South Carolina because of it)--mom didn't know until just yesterday morning and so they are having chicken. In fact, just chicken thighs! At least some champagne will do with it.

Still sick at heart--so I'm praying, turning to actual work (outside with the lawn, inside with all the prof stuff) as a kind of balm--it does help! I probably won't be posting much (though I will be reading) for a while--we'll see how things go. God always wins.

Late Halloween bit--three-year-old approaches the threshold with candy bowl awaiting; mom says something (unknown), three-year-old with great scorn tosses back, "don't worry, mom, I've got this."

Honored to be in GUS's beautifully effusive list last night!

What I don't understand about all these sites prognosticating based on EV etc. is that they all seem to assume that all D votes are for Biden and all Rs are for Trump. The latter is likely, but the former is a very suspect notion--maybe some 20% or more of D-registered voters are going with Trump. Why isn't this issue ever put in the mix? If I'm being naive/uninformed, let me know. Won't be the first time.

Porch, when you check back in, I'm pretty sure I have your email--I'll check with you early next year--that baby has a due date of March 5, but this is a first for the mom, and so the date is not very determinative! Plus I need to allow a week for her own mother to come, and then I'll swoop in on that baby. I really hope I have a colorable excuse of using that travel voucher--but you'll be the person to know. The Kipling stuff sounds interesting--but evidently not interesting enough to have been digitized yet! narc, you are dead on re Burke's black spot, harassing Warren Hastings.

Happy morning, JOMers! Ralph, I bet that is a Saki story; Trollope would be less likely to use such broad humor (I'd like to read that story though if you or I can find it!) Porch, yes, I was thinking of our shared tastes when I posted that about Copland. You know, if you are around in Austin in about mid-March, I'll be there for about a week (my son and DIL are having their first child). In fact, do you know of any UT-Austin special collections which feature Kipling, Carroll, or children's literature? That would give me an excuse to use a university voucher for the airfare. At any rate, I'd love to get together with you!

Porch--I have those and my favorite is "Shall We Gather by the River," but you are right that tonight is best for shouting round Zion! narc, no one answered your puzzle re Trollope's name for The Times, but you and I know it's The Jupiter, the editorials of which Trollope has "thundering" and "throwing lightning bolts"! Can only wink on the left and no ear wriggling or nose touching--but can anyone do what Darwin records as a "regression"--move the muscles on the top of the skull? Darwin cites someone who says someone could throw a book off his head that way, but most of his scientific citations were bunk (see all of the ones about Haeckel), and so I'm not convinced.

HB Beasts--why are you here? Shouldn't you be roistering?

Trjmp was in Lumberton, NC, with the Lumbee. Side note--the great African-American writer, Charles Chesnutt (well, he was 7/8 white but always identified as black, helped found the NAACP and so on), wrote a story called "The Goophered Grapevine," published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1877, set in Lumberton. A faculty seminar I was in years ago was all in knots over the black/white puzzles of the story when we learned that there was a whole other third race at issue the story avoided--the Lumbee--and then we all went home to put THAT in our pipes and smoke on it!

A very happy birthday to you, narc--and happy nuptials to Dr. and Mrs. J. All in all, a propitious day more generally for our country, yes, perhaps in years to come a memorable one?

I'm so sorry, Matt, about Moses--that it happened so quickly makes it worse in some ways. Adagio for Strings isn't a bad idea if you need to cry. I hope all is relatively easy for you, peter--TK seems to have had a really hard time--but he's okay now. Love the Horde--this "little problem" is right up their alley.

Jack, from Randy Newman's Good Old Boys: Though I will try with all my might She will laugh at my mighty sword She will laugh at my mighty sword Why must everybody laugh at my mighty sword?

Am deeply appreciating the comity between GUS and TR--thank you both very, very much.

That's very welcome news about little Owen. God bless him. I had to do the American Community Survey this summer--I was run down on my cell when I was in Florida, but the woman doing it was a local, very nice, and helped us both get through it quickly. It was very invasive though--had to estimate my monthly utility bills, for instance. Since I'd answered the phone without knowing what I was getting into, I didn't have time to check if I was indeed legally obligated to do it.

My lord, MM, how we were worried! I bet you'll be right as rain in a bit. And good heavens you have missed a ton--you will have fun catching up.

Yaacov is the best, clarice. What's he like as a person to talk to? ABob, I don't think it's sexist at all to ask a mom in a 7-child with husband situation about the laundry--inquiring minds want to know. Did you notice that she deftly ignored the "is it you or your husband" subtext and went right to the acceptable answer of something like "we are trying (not that successfully) to get the kids to do their own"--leaving the question open as to who picks up the slack. But from everything else she's said, and her obvious gratitude to her husband, he does more of the laundry than she does.

Lady Susan is fun, as the title character is just awful and completely unscrupulous, but she almost (wittily) manages to destroy a bunch of people before her schemes catch up with her. There was a pretty good rollicking film version a couple of years ago. And Austen was only in her late teens when she wrote it--had no illusions about human nature then or later. That's why I'm an Austen scholar.

Thank heavens you got through to MM's family--if not her not-so-great daughter--Momto2! I am so relieved. I bet what happened before (the passing out, the amnesia) was caused by dehydration too. Narc, do keep your "positronic relays" going smoothly! Since you never post actual nonsense, I searched these out and found it's a Starfleet energy system thing--so perfectly reasonable.

I'm not sure MM would want her name out there, but it's Christa with a C. I'm praying for her--and her complex family!

God bless MM. She's so important and valued here. MM, if you can clock in, let us know how things are! Lots of people praying for you.

Hi, everyone--have been locked out. Since at this point there's no true catching up, may I at least give you Jair Bolsonaro (leader of Brazil) giving Biden some grief (this is at the end of his taking Biden to task on the question of the oversight of the Amazon): "What a shame, Mr. John Biden! What a shame!" For the record books, I think.

I highly recommend The Sponge Bob Squarepants Movie--including a cameo by David Hasselhoff. It is completely idiotic but very funny. (I was dragged unwillingly by my kids into watching, and am now a full convert). And kudos again to you, Jane!

The Satanic bile from those wishing for death is, unfortunately, just what one would expect. But there's no earthly reason to think Trump is looking for an excuse to drop out--I don't think TM has taken the measure of the man at all. Trump is at heart a very courageous person. I missed Momto2's birthday yesterday, but it sounds like it was a very nice day--happy belated b-day!

Rocco, what are the sexes of these very little ones? especially, are they mixed? if so not perhaps quite so awful, but a matched sex of either sex, well, more trouble... But Rocco should be fine, just tired. Very tired.