Today is the same as yesterday: cloudy and damp. I have no place I need to go so I’m staying home and finishing my book. I will loll about and eat bonbons.

The grocery shopping is done. I maneuvered around the carts in the middle of the aisle, waited at the register while the man in front of me chatted with the cashier after he had already paid and then I hauled almost everything into the house. This morning I brought in the rest: a carton of Diet Coke, some cat litter and laundry detergent. It seems strange to open the fridge and see it filled.

Sad news: Hostess is closing up shop. No more Hostess cupcakes or Ding Dongs, the treats of my childhood. I still remember the thrill and surprise when I’d open my lunch box and find a package of Hostess cupcakes for dessert. I always used the same method to eat them. First I’d peel off the frosting then I’d eat the cupcake and work my way to the cream center. When I was finished with the cream, I’d eat the frosting, the chocolate frosting with the white swirl across the middle. I loved those cupcakes. Hostess will sell its wares until they’re gone and will make no more. The cupcakes will go the way of Hydrox, Bolster Bars and all the candy made by Schrafft’s.

In the paper this morning, the news was, as usual, dreary. I was surprised to read that Mr. Romney had shot himself in the foot again as I didn’t think he had any parts of his feet left to shoot. It’s the if man bites dog aphorism that defines what gets printed. Don’t look for good news, but when I got to the sports page, I had my only laugh. Coach Belichick of the Patriots was his usual chatty self at a press conference. When asked about expectations for the new player, Talib, who’s just coming off a drug suspension, Belichick, a noted oratorian, answered, ” Any player that we bring here, we feel confident in bringing here or we wouldn’t bring him here.” Talib said he and his new coach had not discussed off-field problems, “We kind of just talked straight football. He didn’t bring up the past. I didn’t bring up the past. He didn’t bring up the future. I didn’t bring up the future.” That must have been one heck of a conversation!