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Better this week. Any episode with Paulie Walnuts going berserk and getting a shot to the nuts is a good one. Tony's out of the coma, which is even better. The long Kevin Finnerty nightmare is over, and Tony refused Steve Buscemi/Tony B.'s invitation to come to the "reunion" to return to Newark, which has to be something of a letdown. Some funny moments, Paulie aggravates Tony right out of a coma, we get confirmed the notion that Costa Mesa is purgatory, Little Steven gets to act and do a Dennis Hopper-in-"Blue Velvet" schtick with an inhaler, Joe Hackett from "Wings" makes a return appearance, and much is right with the Soprano world. What a relief.

Oh, and if Curtis Sumpter hadn't gotten hurt again, could Florida have muscled Villanova around like they did today? Whatever. Guess it's all on George Mason now.

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This is one of those days: some unexpected additional agita and we're off on the road through Hell Week.

One thing, though: today was the first day of the second phase radio ratings trends for the Winter book, and one thought came from reading what one friend calls the "geek boards," the radio message boards on which fanboys and board ops write as if they know what's happening in the business. The trends in the Middlesex-Somerset-Union market came out and someone actually posted a note about how the trends were up for a middle-of-the-pack Central Jersey adult contemporary station, and all I could think is this: who other than the sales manager could possibly care about a station like that? How do you work up a passion for "continuous soft rock" and "personalities" described thusly:

"makes it easier to wake up and get going with the most Continuous Soft Rock in the morning"

"plays the Best Continuous Soft Rock that will help your day fly by"

"the best Continuous Soft Rock as you wind down your workday"

It's like caring about the performance of your toaster, only you don't even get toast.

The same "geek boards" tend to trash the idea of FM talk- why, FM wasn't made for talk! It's for music!- and support things like soft AC and dance music (oh, how they love dance music) and very low-rated quirky alternative stations. And with the miserable performance of "Free FM," you know the geeks will be predicting FM Talk's demise and gleefully anticipating the replacements- dance? Country?- and that's a shame, because, and I'm saying this both as one of the people responsible for the FM Talk concept in the first place and as a listener, it's not the format's fault if someone botches the execution. FM Talk is a great format and it will work if done right, but it needs a chance. I fear that the geeks won't be the only ones clamoring for the format's destruction. And I'd be happy to lend the folks presently trying to get a handle on what to do without Howard a hand.

But they'll have to pay me.

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Hell Week continued with an entirely wasted day. We were required to run all the way up to Westwood in a steady rain and heavy traffic to sit in a conference room and hear what we already knew. That and one other appointment occupied most of the day; the only productive part of Tuesday involved a post-dinner purchase of a new coffee maker to replace the one that mysteriously ceased functioning this morning.

We accomplished nothing else today.

I'm serious. We could have used today to rest and gear up for the tough stuff we have to deal with later in the week, but instead we had to spend a lot of time on the 405 staring at "War Is Not The Answer" bumper stickers on Priuses. No, I'm not happy.

The best thing about today is that we're one step closer to getting through this ordeal (which, I know, I haven't explained, but, again, it's not my story to tell. All will become more clear at some point). It's not a 12-step situation, but it's one day at a time. And one less trip up the 405 we'll have to make.

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Okay, I'm gonna need to concentrate on other, more serious things for the next couple of days, so all I can ask is, well, wish us luck.

And if you're in a giving mood, go here, and click here daily. Support this bunch- always there if, God forbid, you need them. And here's something you may want to do- I may just run in it if I'm feeling particularly athletic that weekend.

Talk to you soon...

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We're home.

I know I've been cryptic, but, trust me, it's been appropriate. No matter- we felt the prayers and good thoughts from everyone. Thank you.

I'll check in soon with more. For now, thanks to all of you. It's time to take it easy for a little while.

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Just need another day here to get back on track. The fog is lifting a little, although I'm still finding it difficult to focus on the usual mundane stuff. You get caught up in your own personal drama and it's hard to stay abreast of what's happening in the world, or your town, or anything.

Another day. We'll try again tomorrow.

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How can you punish someone who can't comprehend that she's doing something wrong?

I got an aggregate two hours of sleep overnight. The primary culprit has no idea that her actions- making noise, jumping on and off the bed, yelling out the window all night- were inappropriate. She can't make that determination.

She's a cat.

It rained last night, rained in torrents all night long, and that sent Ella the World's Most Famous Cat into a frenzy. She meowed, she ran back and forth, she jumped on the bed, she pawed and prodded at my face, she walked over me and Fran. And when I shut the bedroom door to keep Ella out, she head-butted the door until we had to open it. She did this all night long.

And when daylight came, she fell asleep.

I'd like to tell her not to do that. I'd like to get revenge- keep her up when SHE wants to sleep- but I can't. I don't speak cat, and she wouldn't understand what I was trying to convey. Even if she did, she'd forget in a few minutes. That's what cats do.

We asked for this when we brought Ella hime from Long Beach and welcomed her into our family. And given the chance to rewind life to that moment, we'd do it again. Does that make us insane?

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