I trust that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. If you're like me, you ate too much and shook your head in disbelief when you heard that the shopping malls were opening at midnight Thanksgiving night so people could start their Christmas shopping.

Personally, I think it's not Christmas unless you wait until, oh, Christmas Eve to start shopping.

Anyway, I opened my e-mail this morning and found a request from a high school student who's writing a paper about journalism. One of the questions she posed was this: "As an editor, what is your pet peeve about the people who read your work?"

Hmmmm...

I'll have to admit I'm pretty fortunate - the readers of Singing News are (generally) a happy bunch and life is all good. But I do have one peeve that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to do anything about.

Every now and then, someone will send me an e-mail asking a question and flat-demanding an answer (people can be a little on the rude side with their e-mail). That's not the part that bothers me, though.

What bothers me is when I respond - and that e-mails bounces back because they've blocked incoming mail from sources other than their usual correspondees - and then, a few days later, they send me another e-mail that blasts me for not answering their previous e-mail. Then, the whole cycle starts over again. Ever had that problem?

So, while I'm at this point, let me encourage those letter writers who might read this ... if you'll let your e-mail be delievered, you might just have a note from me.

Now, I realize this was a bit off the wall, but hey, they asked!

In another brief bit, we're putting the finishing touches on the January issue of Singing News. As a teaser, we'll be introducing two new columnists - both very familiar to you. So, be watching your mailbox!

You might also be wondering why you're not seeing too many blogs from me right now. To be honest, there have been some problems with the software that makes posting Danny's Diary possible. Hopefully, that company will get their issues resolved soon.