The first day back at work after the holiday break is achingly difficult for so many reasons: the alarm at an unnaturally early hour, the numbingly cheerful colleagues, all of whom feel it necessary to inquire about what you did during your vacation, the inevitably depressing weather (cold, bleak and rainy), the thoughts of retirement that wandered through your brain during those lost afternoons, the promise that summer vacation is only six months away...

Where is the button on my DVD remote that will allow me to see information about the movie and its actors at any point in the film? Why don't we have this yet? We have pop-up video (or had it, I don't know if that show is still on the air or not) for really bad music videos, we have obnoxious pop-up ads on our browsers, why not something useful like instant pop-up information on movies?

Rebecca cut her foot at a friend's house by stepping on a piece of broken glass. Although it does not appear to be infected, it's puffy and extremely painful. The school nurse seems to think there might be a piece of glass under the skin and suggested we take her to the doctor. That will be tomorrow's adventure.

Today I received an email with the subject "nonsensical provocateur cowgirl multiplicative buffoon". It was, of course, an ad for Viagra.

Movies: A Mighty Wind. About 30 minutes into this I felt compelled to stop it. The mean spirited nature of the movie overwhelmed the thin excuse for a story. Neither Best in Show nor Waiting for Guffman affected me that way, although perhaps they would if I watched them again. Eugene Levy, who is usually brilliant in these films, was given a thankless role in which he appeared to be irreparably brain damaged. Not a single line in those 30 minutes elicited so much as a smile.