Dear Isabel, we hope you're not well...

Great, now I have Dido in my head, even if it's "Isobel" not "Isabel". If you've missed the news somewhere, there is a hurricane named Isabel out in the Atlantic Ocean, waiting to make landfall. Where? We're not sure yet, anywhere from Hatteras to Cape Cod at this point. Virginia has already called a state of emergency. Supplies of plywood, batteries and bottled water have disappeared rapidly. I'm hoping it weakens or hits further south. Granted, I'm pretty far inland, but this one doesn't look like a nice one.

Clearly the old rule of thumb is reinstating itself for the autumn. Our writers groups has meetings on Thursdays. Ergo, the weather pattern must cycle until Thursday. We're supposed to have two lovely days before Thursday evening when Isabel should hit and CVS should be critiquing over bagels and mocha frappuchinos. We've done snowstorms and torrential rains so far. "Called on account of possible hurricane". Joy.

Btw, could we tell the original sf story to go away? Please? It's a fascinating *novel*, but I have a Nano idea and I really don't want another. Where did I put the note cards?

And in more news of the stars aligning themselves, the Redskins are 2-0. *My* Skins?