As peaceful as some really peaceful thing

I do feel peaceful. Really. All right, I did wake up screaming in the middle of last night because I haven't hired any Bump judges yet, but I'll remedy that this weekend. Mini-B is all sewn up and I'm not even fretting about it anymore. Not in the least. Really.

The next big issue, absent Bump, will be Lexo Grande. We've already got waaaaaay too many people, and waitlists are nice, but at a popular tournament like this, they're unlikely to result in attendance. Of course, if anyone on my team actually groks to the fact that bringing a parent judge is not only required for the team as a whole because of transportation, but a guarantee of a slot for said debater... But that would require deductive skills far beyond those of mere mortal Henhudians.

Whatever happened to Machiavelli, anyhow? Jeesh!

I marked up the team schedule with a number of "no-bus" messages. Harvard, of course, and Columbia (take the train, bub), plus States, too. As for that one, first of all, only Speechies will want to go, and not that many of them, and they'll need parents if there were to be a ton of entries, so there you are. Debate will handle its share of the load too. I'm thinking the Fridays of Ridge and Newark especially, and maybe Scarsdale as a whole. The busfolk made it sound like this would be an issue at least for a couple of years. On the bright side, aside from having to drive, with whatever burden that may pose, going by car is always faster and, at least in the front seat, more comfy. And we rotate front seats, so there's happy butts everywhere you look!

Kurt is trying to get the trophies to us for Saturday. We were missing various and sundry when we checked them at Monti, and it would be nice to have a full set for Mini-B. He went to Trophy Guy and picked up the full set for the next event (which would have been, I guess, 12/3, now cancelled). All he has to do is get them here, no mean feat since he's in Newark without a car. He's working on it. When he called I was at the bank finally depositing the MHL checks. And the latest check from Amazon for the team fund. I still have to find out what was in the team fund from last year; when I tried to connect with MF, I still had a blog listing in my Yahoo signature, and her AOL account simply sneered at my audacity and moved on. At the time, I didn't yet know why AOL didn't love me anymore. The bastids!

And I'm adding a new recommended book to the list to the right. Actually, think of it as a recommended author; Johnson rules, if you like opinionated, readable history. The last thing I read last night was how the Roman Empire was founded on its use of concrete. I love stuff like that. Or consider the ancient Greek considered to be the best painter of his day (no Greek paintings as such survive): he painted an equine portrait that was judged the most realistic ever painted, and the panel of judges consisted entirely of horses. Gotta love those Greeks!

Then again, in LD, we've occasionlly had to debate in front of panels consisting entirely of horses, so maybe it's not that big a deal.