THE DANCE OF DAYS Lea Marshall is four days into her journaling exercise: keep the spare reading world of the Web current with the activities of the Ground Zero Dance Company's performance week. It offers a glimpse into the world of performance, reminding us (or informing some) that a work isn't complete until it's been performed. The process is all about tinkering, fiddling, adjusting... and then taking a deep breath and leaping onto the stage.

HI HO THE DERRI-O Nicole Hunter got slapped on the ass with a saber, and her life changed forever. As you read this, you might be tempted think she's using her talent for hyberbole to make it seem more unreal than it truly is. She isn't. Every time I wonder why in the name of God and George Bush I turned down the job offer from the Department of State, I stumble across a clearly articulated reason. Thank you, Nicole.

BRINGING OUT THE SHINE I'd forgotten what an amazing treasure intense, concise and random writing assignments can be. I *heart* one word.

EDITORIAL MAKEOVER The Washington Monthly magazine has been a mainstay in political liberalism for three decades, and like most political liberalism these days was in desperate need of a sharper, more distinct flavor. Enter former Clinton speechwriter Paul Glastris. The result: The Washington Monthly has become the smartest kid on the block, and people are beginning to pay attention to its quality writing and clear thinking.

INTERNATIONAL DOUBLE STANDARDS This sharp critique of the Bush administration's new strategy of going it alone in the role of international sheriff points to some of the problems the Bush Doctrine is creating for itself. The seizure and release of the North Korean ship carrying Scuds to Yemen sets a poor precedent, as does the mixed standards on nuclear proliferation -- an unstable, barely friendly Pakistan can have them, a rigidly stable, isolated Iraq cannot.

WHY THERE'S A FUTURE IN EUROPE David Ignatius focuses his attention on Europe today, as the European Union meets in Copenhagen to expand eastward. It's important, Ignatius says. Very important. First off, the expansion -- as much as anything -- truly marks the end of the Soviet experiment, the Cold War and the very real threat of global war that hung over the continent for most of the past 50 years. Secondly, Eastern Europe is a massive market that is starting from scratch -- it is Microsoft's largest growth sector, for instance, and a source of creative and productive energy that Western Europe needs to embrace. And if the EU embraces Turkey and the millions of Muslims who call that secular, free-market democracy their home, it will further strengthen a European identity distinct from the 20-odd national identities flourishing today.

SHOUT OUT TO THE HOMELAND SECURITY ACT Welcome to the dark side of the moon...

PUNK ROCK OPERA Probably the least fair tag to slap onto Bob Massey's upcoming production, "The Nitrate Hymnal," it's the only way I can quickly think to applaud the work's originality and DIY ethos. It's coming in January, and the website is both graceful and informative.

ONE WORD. JUST. WRITE. Today's word: candle. (Update: That was yesterday's word. You'll find out today's word by going to the site. I'd hate to ruin your fun.) One word. Sixty seconds. Just write.

MOSTLY LIKING "MOSTLY MARTHA" Maybe it was the food, maybe the kitchen antics at the restaurant, or maybe it was Maxime Foerste as eight-year-old Lina. It wasn't the music (God knows, it wasn't the music), and it wasn't the pacing, and it wasn't the predictability. Maybe it was cheerful. And maybe, just maybe, it was being able to follow the dialogue in German. Es tut mir leid.

MINING MY IRE "The Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) called on the United States to give a firm commitment NOW that it will not use antipersonnel mines in any future conflict in Iraq. The ICBL also cautioned governments not to stray from their obligations under the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty." Go to the International Campaign To Ban Landmines site now and see why sometimes I want someone to poke Donald Rumsfeld in the eye with a Number 2 yellow pencil.

PORTLAND EVEN DOES CHRISTMAS BETTER Willamette Week Online's holiday shopping guide rules the roost. It's even tastier after you've taken a vow of poverty and picked out an ill-fitted sackcloth.

HOLLY MERRY JOLLY The fourth in the Martin Agency's animated holiday greeting films is up and running with gaiety and merriment. The bastards.

ADD IT UP The Justice Department has finally released some figures about arrests and detentions after the September 11 terrorism attacks -- 765 people were detained on immigration charges (six still in custody, almost 500 deported, 281 free or awaiting status determination), while another 134 people were arrested on criminal charges (90 of them were convicted). And 300 more were arrested by state or local law enforcement. The Justice Department figures don't show how many have been detained on material witness warrants (held as potential witnesses without being charged of crimes).

PURCHASING POWER President Bush called on all decent, freedom-loving Americans to go shopping in response to the September 11 attacks, and now Rep. J.C. Watts (R-Okla.) is calling on all race-baiting Americans to do the same: "We should accept his apology, get out of our offices and do some holiday shopping," Mr. Watt said in response to Senator Trent Lott's recent half-hearted apologies about his comments celebrating Old South poster child Strom Thurmond. So much for the big tent theory.

DULY NOTED I like ABC news' The Note because it is chatty, easy to read and focuses on the key political shooting stars of the day. Today, The Note has a comprehensive yet breezy take on Trent Lott's digestive problem (verdict: it's become a mid-sized brush fire, but it's not out of control yet), and a nice look at what's holding up Steve Friedman's appointment as White House economic advisor (verdict: complex personal finances, heart conditions, political weathervanes... it's all the same in the end).

ATTACK OF THE MAKE-UP SQUIRREL So, Mimi Smartypants has entered the ranks of my favorite diarists, as she managed to capture the terror of the department store makeup counter in ways that make my "two-hour-appointment-with-my-well-tattooed-stylist" self nod with feeble recognition. Except, for me, it didn't involve makeup. That Aveda moisturizing lotion, though...

BEST USE OF THE INTERNET, VERSION 4.1a OneWord, when activated, gives you all of 60 seconds to write whatever comes to mind about one word. The word appears at the top of the screen, you start typing. It's genius fun.

SOMETIMES SIMPLER IS BETTER Representative Henry Waxman, who took it on the chin in Monday's pro-Cheney district court ruling, keeps his response admirably concise. And he's getting ready for Round Two.

TRINE TO WORRY? Astrologer Tom Roma passed through town recently with dire predictions of heavy snow and war. Roma says the big astrological event for 2003 is a Saturn-Uranus trine, "meaning these planets will form a 120-degree angle, Roma explains, as he inscribes imaginary orbits on the speckled wall. The last time such a configuration took place was in the late 1970s, he says. The same trine was observed at the time of the Battle of Lexington, the assassinations of Lincoln and Garfield, the attempted assassination of Teddy Roosevelt in 1912 and the Watergate break-in." Hot diggity!

HAT TRICKS Round three of The Morning News' women's fashion series finds us in the eccentric world of hats. And what a world it is. It is, says Margaret Berry, time to reclaim hats. Amen, I say. Here's the lead: "Flappers never had bad-hair days. They lopped off their tresses, tugged on a cloche, and headed out for an evening of Charleston and bootleg gin. What’s more, flappers wore comfy dresses shaped like potato sacks. They could wear whatever they liked; who the hell notices when you have that darling bell of a hat on? And so, you see, hats make life easier and loads more fun."

MAKE DANCE, ONE DAY AT A TIME The talented and lovely Lea Marshall -- writer, dancer and cookie baker -- is keeping a weeklong journal on the last-minute activity surrounding the Ground Zero Dance Company's weekend concert, "Finger of the Sun."

GIVE THE EMPEROR HIS DUE The Washington Post, and others, find a recent ruling in the Jose Padilla case reassuring. And the Post sees a need for Judge Mukasey's ruling to inform other terrorism-related cases. For good reason. "Deference to the president is appropriate, because the Constitution gives him, not the courts, the power to conduct wars, and the courts are badly positioned to micromanage this power. Yet deference cannot mean abdication of the responsibility, which does belong to judges, to safeguard the rights the Constitution promises to Americans. For this reason, there must be some check on the executive branch's ability to lock people up. No judge can meaningfully perform that check without hearing from the accused to ascertain whether the facts are in dispute."

LET THE IDIOT SPEAK Really, I have little or no problem with Trent Lott making stupid, insensitive comments. Especially ones he has repeated in the past. And I don't think being an insensitive idiot is grounds for censure in the Senate. But I've never liked Lott as a politician, and I won't be the least bit sad when he resigns his post as majority leader by the end of the month.

ONE ACROSS THE BOW There's an issue in this story, and then there's something with which it's worth taking issue. The issue, of course, is what (if anything) to do about North Korea's continued shipment of ballistic weaponry to unstable regions. But what's really snarky is when the world's biggest weapons proliferator gets snitty with the world's biggest missile proliferator.

TINTIN REVISIONISM The problem with weblogs -- and shoddy faux journalism in general -- comes almost exclusively from the lack of copy editing and fact checking. But the upside of a democratic Internet is that geeks and madmen are prone to seizures when incorrect facts are posted. That's my take from a) my recent gaffe, and b) the three people who corrected it. I'll just give you the facts, courtesy of the anonymous artist behind Pulpatoon PilgramagE: "Herge wasn't a Nazi collaborator! He was arrested as such, because his strip continued to run in the collaborationist government paper during the Nazi occupation. It had been decided that no journalist should work for the paper, but cartoonist Herge wasn't considered a journalist until until one particular police chief decided to interpret the ruling more creatively. All charges were quickly dropped when crowds of people, including former prisoners of war, came to Herge's defense, stating that his strip was the only piece of Belgium cultural identity that they could get their hands on during the occupation, and the only thing worth reading in any paper legally available. Okay, the nerd-spasm is over. I'm sorry you had to witness that. Just don't get me started on the whole "who's stronger, Hulk or Thor?" debate." Thor, obviously. Or maybe not.

GAMES PEOPLE PLAY (IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT) What begins as an amusing recount of a minor furor in the Bush White House over an interview in Esquire magazine gradually moves to a, well, bigger issue -- some wonderful examples of how the administration is being very unsubtle about cleansing the government of views that fall out of the administration's philosophical basket. Not to mention that all the overweight people in the administration are being weeded out. The middle of this column is where you'll find the scary stuff.

NATURAL BARRIERS TO FOREIGN AID Reading Sarah Chayes' account of rebuilding the small village of Akoklacha, Afghanistan, one might be inclined to fixate on a single barrier -- her group's insistence on setting clear rebuilding guidelines, or the perceived greediness of the villagers, or the powerplay by a local warlord. The reality is that all of these issues were barriers, and continue to get in the way of most foreign aid programs. But Chayes' article gives it all a very human perspective.

APPLE GOES SWISS Tim O'Reilly demonstrates why Apple's new operating system opens the door for a new way to view computing, especially the interfaces we use to access data.

LOST HITS OF THE 90s Belly's "Star," which I rediscovered while driving this weekend, is a dream rockfest. It also reminded me that 4AD Records owned alternative rock in the early 1990s.

MOVE OVER SPIDERMAN Everyone wants a franchise movie -- one that can sell millions of toys and Happy Meals. Steven Spielberg has cast his eye toward Belgium, where the creation of a former Nazi collaborator has won the hearts and minds of Europe. I'm talking, of course, about Tintin.

CARTER ACCEPTS NOBEL PRIZE He may have fallen short as President, but Jimmy Carter hit the nail on the head with his Nobel peace Prize acceptance: "Asked at the start of the millennium to name the greatest challenge facing the world, Carter said he had said 'the growing chasm between the richest and poorest people on earth... The results of this disparity are root causes of most of the world's unresolved problems, including starvation, illiteracy, environmental degradation, violent conflict and unnecessary illnesses that range from Guinea worm to HIV/AIDS.'"

DICK CHENEY UNDER YOUR BED Another Boondocks tickler from Baltimore's finest.

CRACKIN' ON GORE Mimi Smartypants' diary entry for last Friday is better if you just jump the bad Al Gore Rap and move right to her description of attending an Al Gore Freaky Love Fest: "Eventually Al and Tipper showed up to make their 'remarks'... He had really pink cheeks, probably from all the Scotch he was drinking backstage. (Just kidding! Oh, let's all get sued for libel! Oh goody, do let's! That will be ever so much fun!) (Where did that Little Women diction come from? I think I have a fever.)"

MERCHANTS OF COOL Frontline's report on the "merchants of cool," the giant corporations on a constant search to drive hipness into the purchasing decisions of kids, includes a glimpse at the 7 largest such merchants and what they control.

ROBYN HITCHCOCK: ONLINE DIARIST Brit pop sensation (okay, that's a touch strong) Robyn Hitchcock jumps on the Internet diary bandwagon, courtesy of slate.com, opening with his daydreams of a London under attack by Iraq. He promises more mundane screeds down the road.

COMING SOON: COMFORTABLE SEATING? Jerry Williams reports that the historic Byrd Theatre is prepping for a makeover. Hopefully, they won't be taking ergonomics lessons from Icelandair. Jerry scribbles, "... the Historic Richmond Foundation and the Virginia Film Office are sponsoring a new film series called "Celebrating the Historic Byrd Theatre: the Home and History of VA Film." On the second Thursday of each month (beginning on 2/13) there will be a reception and tour of the Theatre from 5 - 7, followed by the screening of a major movie made in the state. They plan to have directors and/or crew to talk about the production afterwards."

THE MIRROR PROJECT PRESENTS: Winter Promise "The only promise in winter that mattered to me, in my youth, was Christmas. All thoughts, by November, turned to the day when all the secrets, locked up somewhere in our house, would be revealed. But when the warmth and glow of Christmas had faded, the night of winter would surround me. It seemed a famine of unending darkness and rain. The only thought then became of spring, when at last the rain would stop, the streets would dry, the sky would open up, and all the sins of winter would be confessed and absolved with the first sight of blue sky and the feeble yellow sunlight that signaled the longest night was finally over." Photos follow...

IRAN, MEET DICK CHENEY Remember after September 11 when some liberals were terrified they'd be imprisoned in labor camps for questioning anything the government was doing in defense of freedom and your need to shop to alleviate symptoms of grief? Sure you do. That's what I'm reminded of when I read this piece in the Tehran Times about recent student protests. "'The society is in need of unity more than ever,' said [Iranian] Majlis Speaker Mahdi Karrubi." In other words: We're nervous about the protests. We'd like the students to toe the line without us having to break their teeth.

MIDDLE EAST, HUMAN RIGHTS: TWO GREAT TASTES THAT... Yah. There's the rub. Human rights and the Middle East don't tend to blend, as alt.muslim notes. But in recent weeks, there have been some promising signs -- Egypt freed Dr. Saadeddin Ibrahim, and student protests in Iran had the ruling clerics second-guessing their sentence of death for reformist Hashem Aghajari.

RELICS MATTER Thanks to Jeanne D'Arc's Body and Soul weblog for noting the death of Phil Berrigan, who started his protesting career as one of the Catonsville Nine, arrested for burning draft records in 1968. Like Ms. D'Arc, I'm not inclined to take a hammer to things I disagre with, and yet I'm constantly pleased by people who have a strong moral fiber running along their spine, even those who drive me utterly mad with their rigid dogmatism.

SHAKEN BUT NOT STIRRED If Roll Call is to be believed, the House Democrats are going into their post-election strategy sessions doing exactly what they did before the elections -- overpromising, realizing what they overpromised, then backpedaling with a commitment to analyze the issue further. Ah, Nancy Pelosi, where has Joe DiMaggio gone?