I love Bob Dylan: the man, the music, the whole enchilada. I even like the endless tour, (currently playing triple A ballparks), which he seems determined to continue on until, to use that famous line from <I>Midnight Cowboy</I>, he "dies on the stage."

I've been working on the Buyer's Guide all day long. It's a drag. Zzz. If I was Elizabeth (we're now calling her "Lizzzie," by the way), I might let my hair loose and kick something.

Tea in the morning, tea in the evening, tea at supper
time,<BR>
You get tea when it's raining, tea when it's snowing.<BR>
Tea when the weather's fine,<BR>
You get tea as a mid-day stimulant<BR>
You get tea with your afternoon tea<BR>
For any old ailment or disease<BR>
For Christ sake have a cuppa tea.

One of the best books I read last year was Jared Diamond's <I>Collapse</I>, which argues that Easter Island is a classic tale of ecological disaster caused by overpopulation and the depletion of irreplaceable resources. Not so fast, says Terry L. Hunt.

Beloit College publishes a "mindset" memo at the beginning of each year that reminds teachers that the new students don't have the same cultural references we oldsters do.