In the Conference Championship Games today, Tampa Bay beat Philadelphia 27-10 and Oakland beat Tennessee 41-24. You gotta love the Bucs defense. They are so tough. And for the Titans, McNair is all heart and guts, but there wasn't much else today. Stupid turnovers, dropped passes, they didn't show up for the big game. So, Tampa Bay and Oakland in the big game next week. Should be fun to see that Bucs defense take on the Oakland offense.

In books, I am reading Possession by A.S. Byatt. No, I'm not reading this because of the movie, which I haven't seen. I'm working my way through the winners of the Booker Prize, which, for my money if I had to choose between the two, is a more reliable indicator of an exceptional book than is the Pulitzer Prize. This is a wonderful book. It is scholarly, the detective aspect of it makes for a sense of anticipation, and I enjoy the deft handling of poetry. I think 19th century English poetry was the zenith of poetry. Much like the 16th through 18th century were the heights of painting and music, in my opinion. I wonder why poetry lagged behind. I think literature did too to some extent. Shakespeare and others were earlier, but Austen, Dickens, and others, books that we still read today, didn't come till later. Maybe it takes longer for the written word to reach its potential.

John calls the computer the "coodoo". It sounds so cute the way he says it. Back to the salt mines tomorrow, sigh.