Operation AXIOM
Today is Michaelmas, the Feast Day of Saint Michael the Archangel. I've not yet devised the special means I'll use to celebrate Michaelmases hereafter, but for today I'm satisfied that I've remembered to mark the occasion. Quis ut Deus?

"Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle;
be our protection against the wickedness
and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray:
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen."

The Queue
I am contemplating taking a brief (a fortnight or so) respite from books, but face the sticky wicket of lunchtime reading. I simply refuse to read academically while eating my box lunch (regular as clockwork: ham, turkey, or peanut butter & jelly sandwich; banana; apple; box of raisins), and I loathe to read magazines for the simple fact that since the Flint Journal stopped daily publication—'tis now thrice a week, Sunday, Thursday, & Friday—there's precious little else but magazines to read at dinner. I suppose I could not read while eating lunch, and instead spend the time daydreaming or, better yet, cracking the whip on my muse about Project TRITON (the original deadline, today, Michaelmas, has been pushed back to Guy Fawkes Night, 5 November). Hmm, what to do, what to do? For the nonce, more of Dame Agatha!

Recently
Agatha Christie, Cat Among the Pigeons
Karen E. Olson, The Missing Ink
Agatha Christie, Murder Is Easy

Currently
Agatha Christie, The Witness For the Prosecution and Other Stories

Presently
Agatha Christie, Crooked House
P. G. Wodehouse, Mike at Wrykyn & Mike and Psmith
Agatha Christie, Passenger to Frankfurt

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Paramore, "Misguided Ghosts" from Brand New Eyes (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: It's an obvious bit of wordplay when a song has ghosts in the title, but "Misguided Ghosts" really is quite haunting, and beautifully so.