Buffy, the Slayer or...

the victim?

Good luck

I'm not sure how rare ladybugs are in this city. I do know that I've only seen probably about a dozen or so in my lifetime. Tonight, when I noticed my 2 kitties sitting side-by-side and staring at the ceiling, I figured that what had captured their attention was maybe a fly or (hopefully not) a mosquito. But it was neither; it was ladybug. Ladybugs are considered pretty much universally lucky, and I can only hope that with many things up in the air right now, some of that good luck will be coming my way.

It took a little digging but I wanted to know just why they were considered to bring good fortune and found some interesting theories:

• Most likely the Ladybug earned a favorable reputation from its usefulness in a garden. Ladybugs are a very beneficial insect that eat all kinds of bad bugs like aphids. Live Ladybugs can be ordered for gardens for this purpose. Accordingly, many of the Ladybug's good luck propensities may have been extrapolated from its desirability to farmers and, therefore, food and prosperity.

• Others point out the Ladybug's similarity in shape to the Scarab Beetle of ancient Egyptian and believe that the Ladybug is the European inheritor of the Scarab's good luck powers.

• Some believe that the red color represents the ancient belief in the good luck power of fire.

• Another theory is that the Ladybug represented a goddess in pre-Christian Europe and that the name Ladybug now represents the Virgin Mary and the reference to fire in the nursery rhyme is a reference to the hell the Ladybug protects you from.

Here's wishing you all luck, wherever you need it.

Authors that rock!

What kind of rock band gets up before noon? For that matter, what kind of band reads and writes? The Rock Bottom Remainders do both, and have also been known, while on tour, to tune in to “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer.” At a little after 6 on Thursday morning they turned up at the studio of “Good Morning America” to do a promotional spot for a Friday-night benefit coinciding with BookExpo America, the big publishing fair that took place in New York over the weekend. The green-room spread included, instead of greenies and quarts of Jack, platters of fresh fruit and, at the request of Roy Blount Jr., one of the band’s founding members, a big pan of grits.

Remainders is a booksellers’ term, used for books that languish on the shelves so long they have to be dumped at a discount. Most of the members of the band inhabit a different part of the literary universe, the loftier reaches of the best-seller list. Besides Mr. Blount, members include Amy Tan, Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Stephen King, Scott Turow and Mitch Albom. At least notionally Maya Angelou is also a member, but she has yet to show up for a gig — a word that members of the Rock Bottom Remainders delight in using whenever possible.