Please accept my apologies for my poorly timed fade, but the general hoopla surrounding September 11 — and the near-homicidal rage induced by hearing semi-sentient politicians utter the phrase "war on terror" in hushed and reverent tones — pushed me deeper into hermit mode than usual. And when I go into hermit mode, I try to do what all good Americans do when faced with unpleasant truths: I watch television.

Of course, having neither cable nor satellite service and only a couple of heavily ghosted broadcast channels, I watch DVDs. In the last few days I've plowed through seasons five and six of The X-Files and the first part of season two of Lost. Of course, this was in addition to reading books one and two of Lost Girls, The King in Yellow, and the first part of The Big Over Easy. Work, sleep, car repairs, et cetera all was scheduled around my escape into fiction.

I'm working my way back to consensus reality, though, and just in time. There are a few oddities coming up which should prove interesting. You'll hear about the first tomorrow.