I've received some nice comments and notes from readers over the past few months showing touching concern that all is well with me and my family.

The family is great. Life is great. Things are well.

This blog has served its purpose and the time has come to retire it. I'll keep the site up but will be closing comments and not posting any new content.

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After an unbearably difficult day at work I was looking forward to a cold one and some barbecue bratwurst. I've been thinking of trying the new offering from the Miller Brewing Company, Miller Chill. A lime and salt alternative to Corona, I presume.

The night began badly when I found that the gas grill had been so badly damaged by last week's wind that it is now totally unusable. In fact, it looks not entirely unlike a crushed U-boat at the bottom of the Atlantic.

The moment I realized my brats were relegated to the George Foreman grill was the moment I opened the first beer. I figured I would need a head start.

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"Which tennis shoes would you like to wear to school today? Gray or brown?"

"Did you just ask her who she's voting for in November?"

"No. John McCain isn't gray, stupid."

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There are many paths to Fiddleyhood. Many of you have found my site by word of mouse, or through a few of the Ex-Mormon bulletin boards and mailing lists. Others of you have come to me through some very interesting search engine queries.

You wouldn't be surprised to know that I get quite a few hits from searches for lots of Mormon keywords. All manner of garment related searches like, "do Mormons wear underwear?", "temple garments under bra" and the like. What may surprise you are some of the really strange search terms more than a few of you have come up with.

Here are some of my favorites:

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Some time ago I posed a question to the LDS Church via the feedback form on their website:

I am trying to find a conference talk from October 1976 Priesthood Session by Boyd K. Packer. It is entitled "To Young Men Only". I can't seem to find reference to it anywhere in the Ensign archives. I believe it was also once published in pamphlet form (this is how I remember reading it).
Can you point me in the right direction towards finding a transcript?

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I have a niece. Well, I have a bunch of nieces, actually. But there's this one in particular. She's four.

Her brain is a magical place where words go in, rattle around and, like those million monkeys sitting at typewriters, come back out as miniature gems of priceless comedy. Which is why I always go out of my way to teach her new ones.

Take Friday, for example. The niece was at our house for a few hours while her parents ran some errands. Some time after I was done chasing her around the house and forcing her to admit that I was her favorite uncle, she informed me that, according to her mother, "pooh and pee are bad words."

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'Tis the season for Oktoberfest, halloween parties, hot toddies and all manner of opportunities for imbibement (imbibetude?). My current situation doesn't allow for drinking. This is my own choice and it makes the benefits of my life possible. Benefits like... say... keeping my testicles attached to my body. So yeah, I'm generally OK with the arrangement.

I do miss drinking though. I like how it made me feel and I like how I felt about myself when I was drinking. I enjoyed the camaraderie of my fellow drinkers. I loved being on stage with a buzz. I am jealous of those who drink socially.

I long for the day when alcohol is as normal in my life as it is in the lives of others. Hell, I'd like for most things about me and my life to be considered normal. As it is now, I think I'm something of a circus to most people and that's after years of therapy.

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I put off taking anti-depressants for years. I was ashamed to admit I needed them. I was afraid of going to the doctor. I was afraid I would become someone else. I was afraid of losing my sex drive.

Now that I've been on them for a month I can't imaging a time when I won't want to take them. My mood has dramatically improved and, frankly, I haven't missed my sex drive. In fact, now it's Donna who lays wondering why I went to bed so early with nary a thought about performing the marital act while I sleep like a cat in a patch of sun. Content and happy.

Now I just know some of you are going to get all up in my face about how much I bitched about Donna and her lack of libido back in the day. And how I used to go on and on about how much it kept me up at night. All I can say is, I think I understand a little better what it's like not to want it all the time. Or to pretty much never have it occur to you.

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Two teeth where there should only be one.

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Just when I thought I might run out of things to blog about, Jesus came along and put a stack of blog-fodder under my windshield wiper.

Not one, not two, but three World Newsletters from Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. Jubilee!

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