Je viens d'aller... Just for updates sake, I thought I'd mention that I went to Monaco last weekend and had an excellent time. Pictures and a little bit of observation are forthcoming. Thanks, really, but... That poem last week was by W.B.Yeats. The one I wrote in elegy a few weeks ago was definitely by me, but Yeats is Yeats is Yeats. Accept no substitutes. I'm not a betting man nor a praying one... Back at LaSalle, we used to have these anonymous special intentions in the morning, right before prayer. I was in the office a lot, so I eventually got to know the procedure: someone would come in, near tears, and Mrs. Murphy would take them into her office, jumping the line of people waiting to talk to her, close the door, and a few minutes later she'd come back out and make a note on the sheets that whoever was doing prayer that morning read from. Then at the beginning of prayer, before their prepared remarks, they would say 'The LaSalle community is asked to pray for a special intention.' Either that, or I'd see her across the office, sitting at her desk, when her phone would ring, and she'd talk for a few minutes, furrow her brow, shake her head and hang up. A little note on the sheets. Never any names, really, or description, just a notification that someone was in pain and some thought for them would be appreciated. So now that I'm out of LaSalle, I guess this is my version of morning prayer, my time to myself to sit and reflect and chill while everything happens around me, and now I have an anonymous special intention and a request. Even if you're not the praying type, could you just throw one up there and see if the big man digs it? It really can't hurt you. The jury is out, for me, on whether or not I believe, truly, in the power of prayer, but I figure that at certain times it's better to hedge your bets and give in to something you're unsure of, but could have a big payoff, just in case. So even if it's not really your thing, if you think it's some hoax, the illusion given by the mass-opium of religion, please throw down your philosophies and just know that someone is in pain, and for a lt of people there's a long and dark road ahead, with no way of knowing what lies at the end of it. This is my anonymous special intention. Thank you for your attention, please wait for the bell and have a nice day.