I am fighting the urge to write a spittle-spewing rant about that #%*!*^% Mel Gibson. I will simply note that I have been anti-Mel since 1992, when he first revealed, in startlingly graphic terms, why he objected to gay people. He is so filled with toxic hate that it’s a wonder his teeth haven’t rotted. I’m glad he has fully exposed himself as the true anti-Semite he’s always been – though I don’t expect it will really harm him in Hollywood.

Anyway, I couldn’t stand to devote an entire post to that bible-thumping, self-despising hypocrite, so instead I decided to do something a little more pleasurable, reading back through some of the multitudinous prior postings on this site. Which reminds me: Congratulations to us! The Great Whatsit has been roller-derbying along for more than six months now, and it appears that our sprawling catalogue of opinions and public neuroses is limitless.

In looking back over my own 20-plus posts, I decided a few deserved updating:

1. Deborah Solomon. I chastised her in my very first blog posting for publishing spontaneous-looking Q-and-A “interviews” that had to have been cut and pasted together. Sneaky, sneaky. An angry letter from Tim Russert several months later appears to have confirmed my suspicion. I am now insufferably proud of myself.

2. Missing links. Inspired by Jeremy’s posting on nonsensically saved cell phone numbers, here are some of the latest nonsensically saved links from my “goonie” file:

- Fake gay news: Because real gay news is too damn depressing

- Amazing hoax at the British Museum in London: Ancient shopping art

3. The Da Vinci Code movie. After blathering on for an entire blog posting about how I couldn’t wait to see it, I never went. My partner saw it last weekend with a friend, and declared it the longest movie ever filmed.

4. Brother. My sibling tormentor, who I ratted out so mercilessly on Jersey Day, is being sent to the Middle East for the second time in 18 months. At least he’s not going to Baghdad again. But I hate this damn war.

5. Grandmother. After hovering for a few days at the threshold of the hereafter, my grandmother rallied. Over the past several weeks, she’s gradually gotten stronger, though she’s still far weaker, more forgetful, and ultimately much older than she was six months ago.

I did finally make it down to see her. She crowed with delight, as she always has, when I walked into her new room at the old folks’ home.

It was really, really nice to see her.