i have a lousy superpower.

[orichalcum]

When I actually watch contests I care about, my candidate or team loses. I figured this out first at the Yale/Harvard Games, where we lost three years in a row until I turned my back in the stadium in my senior year and refused to watch the field and we won. I was in Spain in 1992 and didn't even get results till it was all over; I don't even remember where I was in 1996. (Well, where, yes, but not the details.) I pulled nigh-all-nighters in 2000 and 2004 watching tv, and look what happened. Thursday night, I was in rehearsal and didn't hear about Iowa till it was all over.

I should never have logged onto NYTimes.com tonight.

All right, I get the message. I'm going to make myself very busy on Saturday, January 19th, looking at ancient maps with ladybird97 and maybe going out for a nice dinner as an early celebration of A's birthday. January 26th I'll do something else fun. And suggestions for February 5th are welcome; I'll be just back from San Francisco.