Law & Order: Red Dragon
As I write this, Peter Straub is about to appear on One Life to Live. This isn't the first time he's shown up on the soap opera, where he plays a blind, retired cop. I've seen him at least once before, and there may have been another appearance as well. He's buddies with the actor he plays against in those scenes, and also a fan of the show.

Tom Noonan was a guest villain on Law & Order: SVU this week. If that name does ring a bell, he played poor Francis Dolarhyde, aka "The Red Dragon," in the first movie adaptation of Thomas Harris's novel Red Dragon. In the TV show, he plays a pedophile who refuses to give in to his nature, or so he says. This isn't his first foray into TV crime drama. He's been on C.S.I. and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, too. The episode was pretty edgy, with Elliott going off the deep end, the new D.A. trying to gain some respect, and an overall lack of resolution to the main plot—though Munch's storyline had a nice closing moment.

I received my galley of Just After Sunset today, so I have some short stories to read in the near future. Most of 'em I've read before, except for "N." and it's been a long time since I've read Cat From Hell. King's notes at the back are always amusing reading, too, as he briefly explains how each story came about.

Tonight's the debate. Better'n tickets to the ro-dee-oh. The advice to the participants in today's Houston Chronicle was succinct: Avoid foot in mouth disease.

Houston and Galveston are seeing real progress. CenterPoint energy reports fewer than 5000 people without power, including Galveston, and schools in Galveston are scheduled to start opening next week. That doesn't mean the recovery is completer: far from it. There are many people on the island struggling to put their lives back together again. Mold has run rampant over some of the houses in the past two weeks. The search continues for hundreds of missing people, many of whom may never be found. But it is progress.