it's a veteran's day holiday; beautiful, cool, clear weather outside, but i'm inside with sick kids who are slowly getting better. the 4-year-old is watching an alphabet movie, which is a good idea, he's just ready for it. i've got a vague sense of unease partly from being too close to a heavy dog smell when the weather is so good. if the lad would fall asleep i might get some work done, but if not i might just sit here and play a while and might just do that anyway. the fact is, we don't quite know what to do with this holiday; it seems good enough, possibly even worth trading presidents' day for, yet again we have no customs, traditions, barbeques or ways we can expect everyone to be celebrating. so we sit. in our case, we recover from a bout of flu.

i've become interested in the way computers alter everything we write- either by reminding us, by red and green line, of what is "correct"- or by simply changing it. it turns out to be a complex science- i guess i already knew that- but slso thoroughly overlooked and misinterpreted. if the machine actually affects the writer, then why not perfect it, and simply allow the machine to teach the writer? or make it good enough, so that the writer no longer really needs grammar at all? all worthy questions to ponder; in the meantime, i'll just make a note of what the grammar-checker actually does to its victims. and keep you posted.

leftover coughs, aches, the residuals of flu, take their place on the couches and floors of the house. i consider yet another cup of coffee though the last one put me a bit over the line. the alphabet cartoon becomes a little grating. morning turns to noon.

i need a story- that, or maybe a few new poems to put up- to keep me in the creating mood. instead, i'm in the collapsing mood, falling apart already in advance of the upcoming serious vacations, really the only ones i get in a year. a solid week in late november, a solid month at the end of december. an occasional spring break, unmarred by tesol or other schedule conflicts. and that's it, really; it makes a person tired, around this time of year. but surprisingly enough, i haven't got the flu yet. i hand around home with it, get in its face, and still come out with nothing worse than the boring yawns of lethargy. another cup of coffee is in order; it's a beautiful day.