Sleep
I slept like crap last night. I don't understand most of the time why I sleep one way or the other. This time, however, I know. I took a long nap yesterday and had a cup of coffee at about 5:00 pm to keep from taking another. I also stayed up reading a bit longer than I should have.

The Wheel of Time (maybe the end for a while)
Well, well, well. I have to say I'm sorry I ended the series on book ten. This tomb is all about politics and betrayal. There is no real fight in the whole book. It has a depressing feel to it. Some things that have been in place for a long time are tossed aside. Some plot lines you want to see done are left undone. All in all, it sounds like the rest of the books minus a good limb flinging battle.
Now I have to wait just like every one else for the next book in the series. The important thing is to write myself a note to remind me of the one important plot point so I don't have to reread the bloody series before starting book eleven. There are of course a hundred strings left untied in this book, just like all the others. I don't know how the author intends to loom this thing together in just two books. God, please let it just be two more books.

Things I learned today
Over two billion people speak or understand English.
The, then, round, son, house, friend, daughter are all words that have been in the English language since the fifth century.
English only came about in the Fifth Century or so as a language of many diverse tribes that settled in what is now England. It wasn't an official language used in government until the twelfth century. England nearly spoke Danish and French as official languages at two different points.
The English language is the largest breeder of dialects of any language ever.
The Internet is 85% English at the moment.
Some say that either English, Spanish, or Chinese in that order will be the primary global language by 2050.

TV
I didn't turn on my TV the whole weekend. From Friday when I walked in to this morning when I left it was off. I read. I surfed the net. I went to lunch with friends. I watched some movies on the computer (my DVD player hooked to the TV doesn't work) Not one minute of TV. I'm not going to replace the CD player in my stereo (it doesn't work either). I don't listen to CDs any more. I only listen to MP3s. I only use my stereo as an amp for the computer these days. I have VCR (Video Cosset Recorder) still. My VCR was old when I inherited it. To be honest, I haven't turned it on in five years. It works great as a dust collector. My TV is old. I don't want to buy a new one until this whole HDTV thing is worked out (what is another decade or two?). They say in a couple of years you won't be able to get TV out of the air. You will have to have cable or satellite. I say, "What TV?" By that time I will be watching full length Flash-Anime movies on my mobile(phone).

Reuters always has the best photos photos.

I look at this picture and my contacts start to hurt. I cannot imagine that much dust on an every day/hour basis of doing my job. I've heard it gets into everything, including sealed containers. This photo accompanied a prisoner release in Israel.
I look at this photo and I can hear the squeaking wheels and tracks echo through dunes. I can taste the dust. I feel the fear of a people who willingly have tanks driving around their territories to keep the peace. I hear the orders shouted in a language that must be Hebrew, though I might be able to  tell it from Chinese on a good day. Military service is compulsory in Israel. Every one 15 to 49 serves if they are medically able. People maybe defer for university I believe, but not for ever. Yet, people flock to Israel.
What do you see?