The Ides of March is nearly here, at our front doors, staring at us through the window, ready to waltz in and spit in our eyes or pinch our earlobes. Be careful, the ides aren’t something to mess around with, except for minions, who are their best friends.

DID YOU KNOW???? No, no, don’t guess, let me tell you right this minute: THE SIXTH DAY, the 5th Nicholas Drummond/Mike Caine BRIT in the FBI thriller, is out RIGHT NOW, waiting to leap into your arms at a book store or downloaded on your iPad or audio-device or your cell phone –- and that brings up a question: If you’re reading an exciting thriller (e.g. THE SIXTH DAY) on your cell and someone calls you? What happens? What does the phone do? What do you do? Do you somehow answer and say – “I’m busy, I’m reading a great book, leave me alone, I’ll call you back –- sometime?”

Guess what? It’s the Fall equinox on Saturday the 22nd. My understanding is that everyone is required to line-dance into the woods, find a clearing, build a small, safe bonfire, strip off all clothes, and do-si-do around said small, safe fire and chant full-bodied to the heavens to celebrate the changing of the seasons. This will include pleas for no more hurricanes, fires, floods and any other assorted nasty events. Everyone on board? I heard you – what sort of music? Well, line-dancing and a good romping do-si-do makes me think of Willie Nelson. That good with you?

All of you know the day before Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the entire year and so given I was flying out-of-state, there was little hope in this heart. I was thinking cancellations, nightmare security lines, delays, maybe even a pilot strike. A miracle, both coming and going: fast, easy, smooth, on-time flights. What happened? What universe did I step into? Even airport Starbucks coffee was excellent, the only thing what wasn’t perfect was the not-warm croissants. And that always makes me wonder: how do they get the croissants to look so perfect?