Sunday

Morning coffee at SB's. A little more Winter in our lives.

There is the possibility that I may put up my four strands of Christmas lights today.

My house situation is something less than 100% perfect, but I have one exceptional next-door neighbor. For each of the two modest snow-falls this past week, my front walk was shoveled by a Good Samaritan, and the day after the second one, I came home to find my driveway cleared all the way back to my garage! Now it's not like there was a ton of snow, but Jim took the time and made a compelling statement of neighborliness

1 and 1.1 are in C-town for the weekend. An idealist might suggest sisterly affection. The realist would know that KG and the Celts were in town.

2 and I did Biaggi's on Friday night to catch up on things. 2 had had a busy and successful week at the museum. A membership event on Thursday night turned out great in spite of the snow. Way to go 2!

I was too busy yesterday to make it to The Oprah celebration. Maybe next time.

Several interesting commentaries in the op-ed columns this week about the Romney religion speech. And most conclusions from both ends of the political spectrum suggesting that Huckabee has left-handedly played the religion card to cater to religious conservatives in Iowa. Would the media put up with that tactic if the affected opponent was Joe Lieberman?

Speaking of religion, the Diocese of Davenport has reached an accord in it's bankruptcy case to pay out $37 large to the victims of clerical abuse. But the plaintiffs' attorneys have assured the public that it's not about the money. While on their way to the bank.

The revamped Veteran's Committee in Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame has nominated former commissioner Bowie Kuhn for induction next year. That nomination has been universally panned in the sports pages. Marvin Miller, the ground-breaking leader of the players' union, who won most of the significant battles against Kuhn in the course of their contemporaneous tenures, was virtually ignored in the voting. And who said men have short memories?

I seem to have lost a pair of jeans. Which has given me much consternation over the last few days. I don't have that much stuff. How can I lose a pair of jeans? (And why can one piece of clothing be called a pair? But that's a different story.) It is possible that I simply misplaced the jeans. Which raises the question, "When does an item go from misplaced to lost?" Is it a matter of time or simply a change in mental conviction?

Here's a list of some common things that people lose:

1. Keys.
2. Wallets/purses/passports (3?).
3. Trains of thought.
4. Focus/concentration.
5. Games.
6. Places (Reading).
7. Contact (proximity).
8. Contacts (eye wear).
9. Direction (life).
10. Virginity (Just checking to see if anyone is reading...:)).

Then there's the whole business of being lost on a trip. Or in one's thoughts. Or being a lost soul. Or lost at sea. Or at a loss for words. Or being lost in translation. Or having lost one's sanity. Or track of time. Interest. A bet. The cell signal. One's audience (as in this entry). This could be a long list.

This is an amazingly universal term that we each experience in some fashion every day. If we extended the analysis to the infinitive (or verb?) form, to lose, or the gerund form, losing, this little analysis could go on all day. But I guess I have made my point.

Back to my jeans. It's possible that the Russian cleaning lady made a command decision and placed a clean pair in an unexpected location. Or I may have left them (again, how can jeans be called them?) at a hotel on one of my trips this Fall. Or in the Buick which I haven't driven for three weeks. Whatever. What was most certainly initially considered as misplaced, is rapidly becoming lost.

Remember this entry when Craig Wilson goes off on a "lost" tangent. I'll also take credit if he hits the concept from the opposite direction, as in "found". Think of the possibilities of "lost" and "found". It could be a book.

Hope everyone has a good week. Thanks to 1.1 for details from Memphis. It's always good to hear from the crowd. I use that term loosely.

BCOT