Tuesday, August 6, 2002 12:30 a.m.

More shots of downtown Springfield from tbe weekend.

10:30 p.m.

Monday Mission on Tuesday:

1. Ever considered just deleting your Blog and not doing it anymore? What prompted that and what stopped you? Not yet. But, I'm getting there.

2. How about a quick review of the last movie you saw? The last movie I saw on the big screen was Good Will Hunting. I highly recommend it.

3. What's your favorite gadget? Are you lusting for any new ones? Will you ever be satisfied??? Even though I'm not totally familiar with it, I really like my digital camera. I think I need a CDRw. Yeah, I know, I'm a little behind the times. I'm not really a gadget person.

4. Saturday night I played "UNO" for the first time in years, I mean it has been over 10 years since I played it. It was great fun, but it really made me want to learn how to play Backgammon again. What "table game" do you enjoy playing most with other people? Have you played it lately? Cribbage. I haven't played it in years. It's hard to find anyone who knows how to play or even wants to learn how to play.

5. About a year ago I was obsessed with loosing weight, and I dropped pretty low before I got a handle on things (I've actually gained about 8 pounds of it back, and it is still a struggle sometimes to not try to loose it). Thankfully, I like fattening sweets and buttery popcorn too much to live like that for too long. Have you ever been obsessed with something so much that it was close to causing you physical or mental harm? If not, have you known anyone else who has? When I learn something new, I think I become a little obsessed with it until I get it just right. However, for the most part, I don't really have time to be obsessed. Obsession is a luxury. I'm probably going to regret saying that.

6. Did you grow up in a family or community that displayed racist or prejudice attitudes? Did it influence you in any way, either toward or away from those views? How did you manage to avoid it, or did you? Yes. This is a very deep subject that deserves better than to be addressed in a simple answer. I don't like talking about this in relation to my family. It is very painful. The mindset that comes with racism is very hard to shake. One thing I did when I had children of my own was to make a conscious effort to try to make sure my kids didn't put any differentiation on races. I think I succeeded. I hope. I also wrote a story about a certain incident. It's a healing story which is not likely to ever see the light of day. I dunno. I might change my mind. Maybe I'll put it on here someday.

7. Good grief, I am starving! You got anything to eat around here? Arr! I wish you hand't mentioned this because now I'm hungry too. Tomato anyone?

BONUS: What did you tell them? To make it right...