Lately, I've been thinking about whether the recent spate of home-invasion movies (“Funny Games” remake, “The Strangers) is a commentary on:

1) the insecurity we feel in our homes due to post-9/11 lies and wiretapping from the most powerful sources in our nation, or

2) the insanity of going to a summer home/vacation spot when oil is at $130/barrel, or

3) nihilistic youth disgusted that the “greatest generation” led to a generation of greedy-greedy-mine-mine-mine baby-boomers.

Or maybe it's something else entirely. Suggestions in comments.

Forgot to mention: my buzz-like-a-hummingbird gestational diabetes test came back negative. Which is good, because Starburst jellybeans are pretty much my raison de etre at this point.

So, I spent all morning praying for my two friends who had job interviews today, and it seems to have paid off in an unexpected fashion: my standby group does not have to appear for jury duty tomorrow! Praise Jesus!

According to a poll on AOL today, Massachusetts has the fourth dumbest drivers in the nation. Only New York, DC, and New Jersey scored lower. Find out if you're a smart driver by taking this quiz! I missed three out of 20 — probably would have done better but, you see, I've lived in Massachusetts for four years.

This was a good week for new babies! The Comtesse welcomed her second child (and first daughter), and Steve was present for the birth of his sixth (!) grandchild, Solomon Saint John Sloan. Hearty congratulations and cyber-cigars all around!

Two of my blogosphere buddies have job interviews this week, and I'm kind of hoping to hear about something I applied for myself, so I've been thinking a lot about job-interview tips. I think it's important to give a potential employer a good glimpse into your true personality. You don't want to be stuck at a job where you don't like anyone (and nobody likes you) because you weren't true to yourself during the hiring process, right? I always put forth a genuine, albeit a bit muted, version of Motormouth whenever I'm talking to a first-time client or a job interviewer.

I think that's the most important tip, besides asking a question that has to do with the within-five-years history of wherever you're interviewing.

One of my buddies is interviewing at a largely Hispanic company. How largely? Well, he'd be the only gringo there. These are the tips I e-mailed to his girlfriend, to read to him at the appropriate time:

DO drop a carefully timed “de nada.”

DON'T, under any circumstance, make reference to the “Frito Bandito.”

Really, this stuff is golden. Maybe I've missed my true calling as an interview coach! Or maybe not.

I really needed to get my garden started, and I'd considered skipping church to work on it this morning, but we didn't go to church last week and I couldn't justify skipping it two weeks in a row. So after church, once Lex was napping, Monstro loaded the 120 pounds of compost into his car for me and I drove to the Community Garden.

Only problem was, I forgot to bring my key to the Community Garden Shed, where the wheelbarrows reside. And just when I was thinking to myself, “How in the devil am I going to move 120 pounds of compost from the trunk of Monstro's Saturn to my garden plot,” I looked over and saw two of our gaming buddies get out of their car, with their friends from out-of-town in tow.

“Hey guys,” I said, after shaking hands with their friends, “how'd you like to help me out?”

So they carried the three bags of compost to my garden, allowing me to prep the soil and plant my homegrown seedlings.

And if I'd skipped church and done my gardening this morning? I'd be sh*t out of luck. Or, in this circumstance, compost out of luck.