Cute

As I sit here, my very cute wife is at the table with her own laptop, wearing a Santa hat she's apparently forgotten about. Fair skin, black clothes, bright red hat... is it too soon to use the word "cute" again?

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She's working on a paper for a class called (ready for this?) "historiography."

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My classes are wrapping up too. Tonight was the last regular class in appraisal and assessment. Got some scores back: 89 on my oral presentation (he thought my citations were lacking in the written component), 88 on the test. I do believe I'm headed for a solid B in that class.

He wrapped up by giving us a heartfelt thanks and a farewell, saying he was "humbled" by the wisdom before him, and adding, "Welcome to the industry."

This class has been hard, and you know... I realized a few weeks ago that I pay attention about 99% of the time in there. How's that for a measure of success? Shoot, in that trainwreck stats class this spring I probably didn't pay attention 60% of the time.

There's something strangely awkward and nerdy and maybe a bit funny in that last sentence.

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Amanda spoke to Dad today. Report: He's tired, very tired, but in good spirits.

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THEBOY has not finished The Ghosts Who Steal Diamonds. What's there so far is quite good, but this could end up being an unfinished masterpiece.

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Jeez, heard about this video the Dallas Morning News (http://www.dallasnews.com) has on their website? It apparently shows four Mexican drug cartel enforcers being interrogated. They're handcuffed and sitting on black plastic (always a bad sign, right?). They've clearly been tortured and/or beaten, as many wounds are evident. Some off-screen person asks questions, and they provide details about assassinations they've done, who is corrupt, upcoming hits, that kind of thing. Then a gloved hand appears in the frame holding a pistol. It's placed to one's head.. the video ends. We don't see the man being killed, thankfully.

It's still gripping stuff. There's speculation that some private citizen or rival gang is behind this. Someone is killing the killers, right before our eyes (well, nearly).

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And you know, the one who speaks the most looks almost cocky. None looks fearful to me, though I can't be sure of that. They had to know what was coming.

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I took the Brief Symptom Inventory a few weeks ago in class. The BSI is an industry-standard test that gives a quick, accurate picture of anxiety, depression, anger, that kind of thing. We had the option of faking answers, giving real answers, marking random patterns, whatever.

I gave real answers.

Heh heh... I'd had a bad week, granted. But... the results got my attention.

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And my obsessive/compulsive was off the scale!

Now excuse me, as I've been touching my laptop for too long and need to use some hand cleanser.

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Can you believe it's been over a year since Larry Brown passed?

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So, Kelli wants a backpack that'll lessen her back strain. Her dependence on mass transit makes a wheeled option not so desirable. Any suggestions?

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Friday's a-comin', maw.