AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 23, 2005 — I confess. When I went to sleep I was thinking about getting up and drinking coffee and reading Sunday papers and watching CBS Sunday Morning or something like that in my sweats. And that's pretty much what I did.

I had my cereal and yogurt (which I should but don't eat every day). I had beaucoup coffee. (FFP worked on the Capresso and it is working really well now.)

And it was into the afternoon before I went for my workout. Of course, FFP got me caught up in the cooking web.

Sometimes when FFP decides it's time to do something, he wants me to decide it's time, too. He'd stuck a recipe for hamburgers on the frig and he'd been wanting to make it. He went to the store for the meat and a few other things. I ended up finely chopping onion and helping cook and clean up. And, of course, I had to eat one of the burgers (which were delicious) with haberno cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo and mustard. It is sometimes fun to be caught in his web. Except for washing the pans and mixing bowl. If we can keep up with this recipe, I'll never make burgers another way.

The workout. I managed forty-two minutes on the bike and a few sets of weights. I didn't need to hurry...I still had plenty of time before our evening event but I wanted to sit around in my bathrobe after my shower, watching tennis or something. And that's what I did.

Reading My Century by Gunter Grass. It would be better to be more firmly grounded in German history to follow it, especially early in the century. But it's a fast ride. Each year given a different voice and not many words to speak. I picked out eight or ten books and then picked the one to start reading today. It's always hard. The picking of the book gave me the idea for an art project. We'll see if I do it. (Of course not. But I like thinking them up.)

We have an event to benefit Zachary Scott Theater in the evening. It's at a home. The home of someone we see all the time but we've never been to her home. The home is nicely equipped to have a show with a level with the piano that makes a nice stage. Meredith McCall sings after we all have a snack or two and some drinks.

The event had an eight o'clock end and the entertainment stopped about twenty to eight and we went home. I read the rest of the paper and some sections from old ones I'd never thrown out of my office after they landed there. We watched this new show called Numbers. So-so so far. We watched Desperate Housewives. Well, FFP. I'm not crazy about it and I concentrated on my reading. I watched some tennis off the DVR. And a game show. I stayed up too late. Sleep.

Signs and Symbols. The Bush Family gave the Hook 'Em Horns sign to the Longhorn Band in the Inaugural Parade. Norwegians thought they were saluting Satan. Really? I doubt it. If you don't want hand gestures to be misunderstood by someone, somewhere in the world, don't use them. Of course, we are supposed to be sensitive to other cultures, not misunderstanding them and not using hand gestures they might misunderstand. Because really Norwegians are too stupid to snap that a president who is trying hard to blur the line between church and state isn't going to give the sign of the devil. Interpret this! I shout, raising a particular finger on both hands. By the way, at the basketball game yesterday the cameras flashed on the big screen a picture of a mother (I presume) helping her toddler learn to give the hook 'em sign. Had to laugh. Let's worry about something real, OK? Genocide. War. Terrorism. Hate and fanaticism based not on the devil, but, yes, GOD. And in other devilish news...San Marcos is trying to change their ZIP code. Why? Because it is 78666! Also, I saw that episode of Northern Exposure where the devil comes to town. He has a goat with him. He is this pudgy little nebbish with glasses. Ha. He tries to get Shelley to tell a lie and sell her soul to make gambling legal in Alaska and the brick a Casino. People see the goat, smell the brimstone, get the offers on their soul (and the bootleg Black Sabbath tape) and still they don't quite snap at first. Hook 'em Horns. It's supposed to look like horns, see. Longhorns. I didn't go to UT and UNT (aka North Texas State U. when I attended) didn't have a hand signal. We were the Mean Green. Could mean envy. But we didn't go to too many games. We were too busy selling our souls to hippie things...a little drinking and Bob Dylan and funny things to smoke maybe.