Updates for Sunday, December 14th [2003]

Dear Friends,

I was told today of the capture of a great dictator, I had read about not but three weeks ago to keep current with events. The Attila of the age dethroned, the ruthless destroyer of thousands of the human race, whose thirst for blood appeared unquenchable, the great oppressor of the rights and liberties of the world, shut up within the center of the desert of Arabia, and dwindled to the condition of an humble and degraded pensioner on the bounty of those he had most injured. How miserable, how meanly, has he closed his inflated career! What a sample of the bathos will his history present! He should have perished on the swords of his enemies, under the walls of his cellar in Tikrit.

As I mentioned earlier I did indeed meet Ms. Everson, in the evening hours of the last night, as we had agreed earlier in the week. We went out to see a film, "Elf", which I suppose is a Christmas film, although some parts I did not quite understand. It was about some kind of human who had been abducted by St. A Claus, only to be raised as an Elf in the North Pole. Where the North Pole and fairy dwarves come into this, I haven't a clue. I didn't quite understand the grand Sleigh, as I always thought the Saint road on a flying white horse to his destinations. The glorification in this movie of the pagan Yule really made me disinterested. A fine occassion but not quite like I had imagined in my childhood as I saw on the "big screen". I had to ask Ms. Everson why a great Saint spies on his people to see who is "naughty" and "nice", and if perhaps that is a good story to tell children.

After the film, we went to a local bar, and she drank quite a lot. Aparently she's departed from her boyfriend, and simply needs a friend to Confide and grant Solace during the course of the Holidays. Then she apologized for her crude behavior to me, not before passing out at least once in the evening from too much rum. I am quite confused by this new and endearing attitude, it seems inconsistent with the way she was not more than a few weeks ago. She also tried on multiple occassions to kiss me, but I felt this was inappropriate so early in our acquaintance so I did not return the occassion.

That is the course of events as I observe them. I salute you, my friends, with affectionate friendship & respect.

- TH. Jefferson