Vol. 673 No. 486

What's the difference between the Christmas alphabet and the ordinary alphabet? The Christmas alphabet has noel.

GREAT NEWS: I sent VORTEX, the 25^th FBI, to my editor last Tuesday. YEA! And guess what? Because I'm certifiable, I've already started writing the 5^th novella in Grayson Sherbrooke's Otherworldly Adventures. Santa should be pleased with me, or give me valium.

NFL Football has gone amazingly well, considering all the pitfalls. Who do you think will visit Tampa for the Super Bowl?

So many of you have told me you went directly from Halloween to Christmas –- a fantastic idea – or, like me, do both Thanksgiving and Christmas at the same time. There’s no reason to wait to bring out the bright Christmas decorations, the multi-colored lights strung up on the front of the house, maybe even a couple of reindeer and an inflatable Santa.

October is a grand month. Air is crisp (some of you even already have snow, yipes!), leaves so vivid you just stand and stare, and to top it all off there’s Halloween. Since it’s such a bizarre year, I expect all of you to go all-out with decorations, spinning crazy and fun scenes with pumpkins, bats, candles and witches. For inspiration, take a look at the three Moron Pumpkin Heads in front of Morticia and Gomez. For my Halloween bubble party, I have twelve pounds of assorted candies, both fattening for those I don’t particularly like, and sugar free for good friends.

Happy Autumn Equinox: Since it’s likely you’ve been sharing the smoke from our California fires, let me say typing ‘autumn equinox’ makes me feel like rain is coming soon. Rain dances would be appreciated.

I have three very cool things to tell you --- you might want to sit down (or not).