I may be diving into a hurricane, but unless the trip cancels at the last minute, I'm going to be away for one week (08/14 through 08/21). Fortunately, it won't be like last year when my blog all but stopped. This time, Varius Contrarius and Justin Case will entertain and regale all regular readers.

When the beastly overlord is away, the unlorded underserfs get to play!

Perhaps the blog readership will go up while I'm gone! (I can't think of a better way to shame me into silence than by such humiliation.)

I do have at least one last request: Be sure to check out this week's Carnival of the Vanities, hosted at The Smallest Minority! A true carnival theme, it's one of the best ever, and I appreciate my entry being honored with a picture of a guillotine! Almost lost my head laughing.

And while you're at it, don't miss this week's flaming spear edition of the Bonfire, which burns happily this week at Kevin Donahue's blog. Alas, my entry was too late to make it in, but I loved Aaron's Kerry hamster dance!

Read 'em all!