American novelist E.L. Doctorow said, "Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way."

He also said, "Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you're doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing."

Last night I shook NDP leader Jack Layton's hand at a rally in Saskatoon. I thanked him for coming to Saskatoon, and he said that it was his pleasure to be here. He's the only party leader who has visited Saskatoon so far during the federal election. I hope that the NDP will regain some seats in Saskatchewan. It's embarrassing and depressing that the Conservatives won 13 out of 14 seats in Saskatchewan in 2004. I hope that many NDP supporters who voted Liberal last time to keep the Conservatives out will realize that, by helping split the anti-Conservative vote, they made sure that Conservatives were elected. In Saskatchewan, most NDP candidates have a much better chance than Liberal ones do of defeating Conservatives. I don't want Stephen Harper to become Prime Minister!

[Anti-gay] Tulsa pastor arrested on lewdness charge

NEWS Jan. 6, 2006

A member of the Southern Baptist Convention's executive committee was arrested on a lewdness charge, having been accused of propositioning a plainclothes policeman outside a hotel in Tulsa, Okla., police said. Lonnie Latham, senior pastor at South Tulsa Baptist Church, was booked into Oklahoma County Jail Tuesday night on a misdemeanor charge of offering to engage in an act of lewdness, police captain Jeffrey Becker said. Latham was released on $500 bail Wednesday afternoon.According to police, Latham, who has spoken out against homosexuality, asked the officer to join him in his hotel room for oral sex. Latham was arrested, and his 2005 Mercedes automobile was impounded, Becker said. Calls to Latham at his church were not immediately returned Wednesday.

The arrest took place in the parking lot of the Habana Inn, which is in an area where the public has complained about male prostitutes flagging down cars, Becker said. The plainclothes officers was investigating these complaints. The lewdness charge carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

Latham is one of four Southern Baptist Convention executive committee members from Oklahoma. He spoke out last year against a measure, ultimately approved by voters, to expand tribal gaming. He has also spoken out against same-sex marriage and in support of a Southern Baptist Convention directive urging its 42,000 churches to befriend gays and lesbians and try to convince them that they can become heterosexual "if they accept Jesus Christ as their savior and reject their sinful, destructive lifestyle."The Southern Baptist Convention is the nation's largest Protestant denomination. (AP)

My main New Year's resolution is to write more this year.

Happy New Year, everyone! Last year was difficult for me in many ways, so I'm looking forward to better things in 2006.

Wilfrid Sheed said, "One reason the human race has such a low opinion of itself is that it gets so much of its wisdom from writers."