My article fell apart. Two months of work down the toilet. Yes, it’s annoying, but it’s just part of the job. For the first time since the end of August, I don’t have an article in the works. Ideally, I would be using this time to reboot my brain, get back in the exercise routine, finish cleaning up after the kitchen contractors. I would also be using this time to blog and get my creative juices going again.  Instead, I squandered the day reading a crappy novel. Meh. Must have needed to do that. There’s always a little mourning period when an article bites the dust.

Yesterday, Zuckerberg testified before the Senate. The Senators proved themselves to be even more clueless than my dad, which is truly incredible.

Dad – “Hi, Laura. I want to scan a picture. What do I do?”

Laura – Well, first you go to your Hewlett Packard icon —

Dad – I lost it. It used to be at the bottom and then it went away.

Laura – OK. Well, we need to create a new icon on your dock. First, go to your applications folder.

Dad – How do I do that?

Laura – Go to your finder.

Dad – How do I do that?

Laura – Do you see the smiling square at the bottom of your screen? Click on it.

Dad – OK, now what?

Laura – Now, you have to find the Hewlett Package file. Do you see you see it? OK, great. Now, drag it onto your dock. Drag it. Yes. Draaaggggg. Pull it onto to the dock. Wait. Did you put it in the trash can? Ugh. Nevermind. I’ll deal with it when I come there this weekend.

I am certainly not going to touch the issue of Kevin Williamson at the Atlantic. But I have been reading a lot of the commentary around the issue. I like the opening to his article on the opioid crisis.

Read this by Junot Diaz.

Read about black mothers.

And as I’m typing away, CNN is talking in the background about Trump’s hush money for the doorman with info about a love child, James Comey, raids on the lawyer’s office, and it’s becoming just a blur of hubris and rot. Will we ever regain our confidence in democracy?