1. While sitting in the food court, waiting for Rebecca and her current beau to finish their shopping, I observed a guy and his wife sit down at a table. He realized they didn't have any napkins and grabbed an apparently unused pile from a nearby vacant table Good for the environment, saves the food court cleaners some effort, but it still makes my skin crawl. Who knows what invisible stains may be on those napkins. Yes, I know I sound like my mother.

2. Bottled water, except for Dasani and all sparkling waters, tastes flat.

3. I do not dress for the mall in a way that reflects my income. Not trailer trash, but not at the elegant end of the spectrum either.

4. If I shake my bathroom scale, the numbers are more favorable. Not necessarily true, but better. My theory is that there's too much truth in the world anyway. What we need is more prevarication. Another 4 years of Bush, et. al. should just about fill the quota. Mel Gibson seems to be stepping in to help meet the world's need for equivocation as well. (I know this is not about the mall, but it needed to be said.)

5. Most women, including teenagers, should not walk around in public with jeans and shirts that keep a distance from each other. I don't care what they do in private, even if they allow their thongs to creep north of their pants, but please keep the winter skin to yourself while out at the mall.

Movies: Consequence. I tried to watch this before and didn't get more than 30 minutes into it then either. I don't know what possessed me to rent it from Netflix again. Even Armand Assante couldn't rescue the lackluster script or cartoonishly evil main character.

Manhattan: How could I possibly have gone all these years without watching this movie? The dialogue was sparkling and the just-under-the-surface romanticism was wonderful. It may be one that I need to add to my small collection of DVDs.