I didn't happen to see mention of it on any of the blogs I read regularly, but I just learned that Cambodian-born journalist Dith Pran has died at age 65. I have read various articles and interviews by and about Mr. Dith over the years since first learning of his heroism through the film The Killing Fields. (If you have not seen that powerful and meaningful movie, please make it your business to see it now.) To me his death is as much of a tragedy as would be that of Nelson Mandela, although Dith's passing will not make nearly the headlines that the latter someday will. Please join me in taking a moment to remember (or learn about) the life of Dith Pran.

Hrmph.

Why didn't anyone tell me about this before I left the house this morning? Now I'm all blouse-wearing when I totally would've rocked a cardigan.

Did YOU wear a sweater today?

In an effort to correct some wonkiness on this here blog that seems to be related to a shortage of space, I'm gradually going to be moving many of the older posts (2002, 2003, 2004, to start) offline.

Also, in case you haven't already noticed, I typically close comments on posts that are more than 30 days old in an effort to reduce comment spam.

That is all.

Someone with a G00gleb0t IP address has been systematically searching my archives over the past few days for just about every word I've ever used in a sentence, plus a few I don't think I've ever used here. I'm trying to figure out if it's an individual who is maybe just curious about the site, or if it's some sort of G00glicious cataloguing effort underway. Anyone else seeing 66.249.66.18o prowling around in their archives or search engines? Searches for things other than male-enhancement pharma sites or for, you know, normal stuff that people might like to search on your site, like "Le5bian5" or "be@st1@l1+y"? And any theories on why a G00gleb0t is so interested in me?

And for those of you with no idea what I'm geeking out about, what's snoo with you today?

This is usually about the length of time I have to go between posts before one of my four faithful readers e-mails me or posts a comment asking if I'm okay and/or when am I going to post already. No one has been looking for me lately, but I've decided not to wait around for you this time, people.

First off, I have to brag. I won Karan's Oscar Pool, correctly predicting guessing 16 of the 24 Oscar winners this year. My prize, aside from the self-congratulations, arrived less than 72 hours after the Oscar telecast ended: A DVD of the Best Song-winning film, Once. (And if you haven't already signed up for a free online subscription to nytimes.com, don't blame me for moving on.) I had really wanted to see this movie but it came and went from theaters too fast, so I'm very excited to watch this. Thanks, Karan, for the generous and thoughtful gift, and for hosting the game again this year!

Okay, has anyone else been watching Celebrity Reh@b with Dr. Drew? It's not really as good since king-of-all-train-wrecks and former pretend celebrity boyfriend Jeff Con@way left to, presumably, go back to his pill-popping ways, but this show is as addictive as any of the substances that these Q-list "stars" have ever taken to excess. And also? Conaway couldn't have been righter when he commented on Drew's arms. Rawr.

I stayed home from work today to nurse a stuffed-up head and sore throat. If I wasn't such a baby, I would have gone to work anyway, but I am a baby and I am also tired and crabby, so now I'm on my couch watching last night's episode of Breaking Bad. (Ask me how much I <3 my DVR. I dare you.)

I always include a little note to my landlords when I send them my rent check. Saturday morning they called me to thank me for my note this month. I don't know who's nicer, them or me. It's a toss-up, for sure.

And speaking of how good the living is on Revere Beach, did you hear about the big auction of unsold units at the newest building along the Boulevard? Buy one and we can have a standing date for lobster rolls at Kelly's once a week, seagulls included at no extra charge. (Buy two condos, give me one, and we'll be best friends forever, with or without the crustaceans.) I tried to convince the rich Ju sister (not the formerly Jaded one - regretfully) to buy one of the units as an investment, 'cause she's usually complaining about her tax burden (boo frickin' hoo), but she declined. My bigger concern is that Mother Ju would buy one and then want to meet me for crustaceans nightly. I do enjoy a good crab salad or lobster roll, but even an avid treyf-eater has to draw the line somewhere. For me, that line is in Salem and I really think she should stay there.

(Love you, Mom!)
(Really.)
(Just not next door, 'mkay?)

Oh, and just to round out my TV-watching-of-shame, I confess to watching and thoroughly enjoying every moment of the return of Angie and Jesse on All My Children. All we need is for Jenny to rise from the grave and Greg, wherever he got off to, to come on back along with Liza Colby and give us a reunion for the ages. And, seriously, am I the only one who cannot get over how Darnell Williams and Debbi Morgan have not aged more than about 3 months since we last saw them in the '80s? Forget La Lucci with her skin-care infomercials (and unacknowledged cosmetic surgeries); I wanna know how Debbi and Darnell have managed to virtually halt the natural aging process.

Speaking of AMC, today's episode is just getting underway. Later, 'tater.