Today is the official national holiday of Deepavali, the Hindu "festival of lights". It started last week, but today is the day everyone gets off (except Marjorie and myself).

One TV channel is having a "Special Deepavali Feature Movie Broadcast", of -- Shaft, starring Samuel L. Jackson.

Don't you hate how Deepavali is getting all commercialized?

I was a fan of Elliott's too. In fact, Marjorie and I bonded over him on our first date. Here are some tributes to him out there on the web. I don't want to have to link to any more tributes any time soon.

Eliiott Smith killed himself; an apparently self-inflicted stab wound. Anyone who knows me well knows how much I admired this man. He was a tremendous talent, and frankly, a really nice person. What a waste.

Accosted in the street the other day by a well-dressed, well-spoken Indian man who said I had a lucky face -- three lines across the forehead. Also, March of next year will be a wonderful time for me. But, all was not good for me. The alignment of my cheeks and nose told him that I had some inner conflicts. I have a joyful face, apparently, but it reveals too much to my friends and business colleagues. He then showed me his business card and asked if I would like to schedule a face or palm reading. Ha ha, thanks buddy, but no thanks. Me, reveal too much with my facial expressions? I'm notorious for the opposite. This is me: :-|

In a term borrowed from another blog, Marjorie and I have taken to calling these people "Human Pop-up Ads". They need to have a little "X" on their forehead, that we can click to get rid of them.

Sad news. A guy I knew, but never met (as is so common in the internet era), ended his life last week. He went by the name "Sofa". I've been on a couple of different mailing lists with him over the years, and we exchanged emails on occasion. He posted comments here frequently while we were in Vietnam. Here are a few tributes to him out on the web.

Freaking tragic. I had really hoped to meet him some day.

Product of the month: I now have a can of Crispy Curry flavored Pringles on my desk.

Marjorie's friend Jen has gone back home. Jen set a new standard for graciousness in a house guest, being inobtrusive to a fault and showering us with several gifts. In turn, we gave her our cold germs just in time for the flight home. Sorry Jen!

Our guest bedroom is again empty. Who's next?