Monday, Monday. Women 101.

A recent email from my sister, I think it's funny:
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In the world of romance, one single rule applies to men:

Make the woman happy. Do something she likes and you get points. Do something she dislikes and points are subtracted. You don't get any points for doing something she expects. Sorry, that's the way the game is played.

Here is a guide to the point system:

SIMPLE DUTIES
You make the bed (+1)
You make the bed, but forget the decorative pillow (0)
You throw the bedspread over rumpled sheets (-1)
You go out to buy her what she wants (+5) in the rain (+8) But return with Beer (-5)
You check out a suspicious noise at night (0)
You check out a suspicious noise, and it is nothing (0)
You check out a suspicious noise and it is something (+5)
You pummel it with iron rod (+10)
It's her pet (-10)

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENTS
You stay by her side the entire party (0)
You stay by her side for a while, then leave to chat with a college
buddy(-2)
Named Rita (-4)
Rita is a dancer (-6)
Rita is single and is really beautiful (-80)

HER BIRTHDAY
You forget her birthday (-50000)
You take her out to dinner (0)
You take her out to dinner and it's not a sports bar (+1)
Okay, it's a sports bar (-2)
And it's all-you-can- eat night (-3)
It's a sports bar, it's all-you-can- eat night, and your face is painted
the colors of your favorite team (-10)

A NIGHT OUT
You take her to a movie (+2)
You take her to a movie she likes (+4)
You take her to a movie you hate (+6)
You take her to a movie you like (-2)
It's called 'DeathCop' (-3)
You lied and said it was a foreign film about orphans(-15)

ENJOY THE 'BIG' QUESTION
She asks, "Do I look fat?" (-5)
Yes, you LOSE points no matter WHAT
You hesitate in responding (-10)
You reply, "Where?" (-35)
Any other response (-20)

COMMUNICATION
When she wants to talk about a problem, you listen, displaying what looks like a concerned expression (0)
You listen, for over 30 minutes (+50)
You listen for more than 30 minutes without looking at the TV (+500)
She realizes this is because you have fallen asleep (-10000)

Now what chance do you have???

Second Sunday of Easter, 2008

Barcelona in December 1991.
John Eliot Gardiner conducts the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir. This performance
was filmed at the Palau de la Musica Catalana.

I don't know if Mozart's Requiem is appropriate Easter Season music. But the Hostia is about passing from death to life, a suitable thought after Lent. Mozart's Requiem is arguably the finest piece of music ever composed, and like the Divine Comedy, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, King Lear, the Gettysburg Address . . . and the injured Kirk Gibson hitting a ninth inning home run in the 1st game of the 1988 World Series against the Oakland A's . . . a glimpse through the dark glass.

Hostias et preces tibi, Domine,
laudis offerimus.
Tu sucipe pro animabus illis,
quaram hodie memoriam facimus.
Fac eas, Domine,
de morte transire ad vitam,
Quam olim Abrahae promisisti
et semini ejus.

Sacrifices and prayers of praise, Lord,
we offer to You.
Receive them in behalf of those souls
we commemorate today.
And let them, Lord,
pass from death to life,
which was promised to Abraham
and his descendants.

Good News -- Bad News.

Larry Wright / Detroit News

The good news is that the Dallas and Fort Worth area saw an increase of 160,000 people in the last ten years; the product of a good local economy, sunny weather, and relatively low real estate prices. Number 1 for growth of all United States metro areas. That projects to over one and one-half million in 10 years. That's a lot of folks.

The bad news is that real estate prices in Fort Worth are down 14% from their peak and are expected to fall another 7%, at least, before an upturn. How do you get an increase in population and a decrease in home values? Because you still have more sellers than buyers due to tighter credit, lower credit scores, and the psychological deterrent of buying into a sinking market. People are jittery about the economy.

Old friend, John Mauldin, has an excellent, chart-filled, assessment of the real estate markets on his website (free, by the way): http://www.frontlinethoughts.com/gateway.asp