Thoughts Rattling Around in My Head

Some notes that may or may not actually be worth, um, noting ...

· The holidays are just around the corner (God help us), and that means it's almost time for what has become something of a Weekly holiday tradition: our annual Get Out of Town! issue. This year's edition is slated to hit the streets on Dec. 13, and this time, we're offering our readers--that's you!--a chance to give your least-favorite person, place or thing a figurative boot out of town. Look for official submission guidelines coming soon, and in the meantime, start thinkin'!

· I just returned from a 10-day vacation, leaving me refreshed but with a pile of mail and a cyberpile of e-mail I need to plunge through this week. If you have a message in one of these piles, I'll be getting back to you soon, if I haven't already. That is, unless your message fell through the cracks, in which case I encourage you to holler at me if you don't hear anything by the end of the week. Also, thanks to Irene Messina, James Reel, John Banks, Mari Herreras and the others who picked up the slack in my absence.

· As a Stanford fan, I have nothing to say about the football game last weekend. Nothing at all. I am taking the high road here. Hee hee.

· Finally, our thoughts go out to everyone--especially all of ourWeekly alums, including staffers, freelancers and readers--in Southern California dealing with the inferno. Stay safe, and keep us posted.