It seems like everyone I�ve spoken with today has had something to say about the terror alert. �How tired we are all of this terrorism. How annoying.� Coincidentally, today is the day my brother and his family left their home in a Palestinian populated neighborhood of Jerusalem for two weeks of vacation in South Africa. In my head I light a candle and thank the powers that be every time they leave the Middle East. They are tired of terrorism too, and yet they stay. There is so much work to be done, they say. We are making a difference. My five year-old niece expresses surprise when she goes outside and doesn�t see anyone toting an Uzi. Her two year-old sister has never known anything else. We have no idea what tiresome is. For two weeks I can stop worrying about them.

I successfully assembled a garage this afternoon and tested all the sounds, ramps, elevators and gas pumps. I hope AJ has as much fun with it as I did.

The highlight of my day was a surprise gift from rs536, a copy of The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Letham. I have never heard of this book, but it looks fascinating and the first few paragraphs are positively poetic. There is no gift I like better than a book I�ve never heard of that I really want to read.

0 people said it like they meant it