Comic Books, A Visit, And The NSA

Okay, things are looking up.  Out of my day-long slump, I galvanized myself to change the bed, return e-mails, finish up some paperwork, and accomplish stuff I've left hanging.  Spent a large part of the day organizing and categorizing the Marvel comic books that have been in the garage for ten years.  There are probably over a hundred of them with no dups.  They have names like "X-Men," "Thor," "Captain Marvel," "The Fantastic Four," "The Avengers," and so on and on of that ilk, as well as "Spiderman," "The Incredible Hulk," and "2001, A Space Odyssey."  I suspect only the few published before 1970 are worth anything and probably not much.  I need to track down the place in Manahawkin that deals in ephemera and see if I can sell them. 
Showered and changed, then walked over to Reef Lane at 4:00, as I had been invited over for wine by Marilyn and Jay P.  I had a wonderful time getting to know them; they're "two of the few"--residents of SB, that is, who are from Philly, not north Jersey by way of Brooklyn. 
We talked easily, discussing, among other topics, religious backgrounds--their Judaism, my former Catholicism--laughing over the various traditions and practices we grew up and, to an extent, still practice.
The P.'s home looks compact from the outside, but is actually fairly spacious. Off the kitchen, they added a sun room and large deck, and the place is beautifully decorated.  They used a lot of beige and white, accented with darker colors and with some interesting sculptures and other accessories here and there.  The style is modern and minimalist, but comfortable at the same time.
We chatted happily over wine and nibbles at the bar in one corner of the living room,  They have three daughters, all of whom live in Jersey, one an attorney and two with congenital hearing losses.  Grandchildren, step-grands, and great-grands complete the family. 
Stayed until about 6:00, then strolled home.  Today, I'm picking up my pal (Aline, of course) at 3:30 to drive down to Long Beach Island, have dinner, then make a stab at seeing the breakwater at high tide.
WIDER:   Now, about the NSA: "It's sort of a George Orwell meets six degrees of Kevin Bacon program, and is exactly the sort of obscene, grand scale privacy violation that the administration had repeatedly assured Americans the NSA would never think of doing."   
That's from
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/09/30/white-house-defends-nsa-social-mapping-of-americans/
and it includes a link to a NYTimes article which illustrates how very useless it is to object to anything our corrupt government wants to do.