So catching up...

November Neglect

I owe something to just about everyone I know whose name starts with K.

K in Austin: I owe the hospitality and birthday gifts I’ve been meaning to send for ages. The gifts made their way to California, but this is not especially useful, as Austin is still in Texas.

K in New York: I owe a phone call, and a good long round of catching up.

K in Seattle: I owe a margarita and a game of dominoes.

K in various locales north of Seattle: I owe all kinds of treats to allay severe Condo Misfortune.

K, AKA Rhonda: I owe a public display of gratitude for transporting me to dinner on Thanksgiving and back again so I could spend most the day working on the novel.

And last but not least R (what is an "R" but a K in a jaunty little hat, yes?): I owe you an articulation of the all happy thoughts I’ve been thinking for you and J and Slugger. I hope all’s well.

Picket Lines

I went down to Southern California for Christmas, and I have a thing or two to say about the grocer's strike (yes, it's still going on), but I’m holding off a bit longer, because it deserves more time and attention than I have to offer now.

Leprosy

One of the things my brother gave me for Christmas was Word Freak. It was a fun read, but it gave me a mean craving to play Scrabble (okay, it actually gave me a mean craving to memorize word lists, master strategy, play in tournaments, and score me one a them expert ratings, but then I asked myself if wanted that more than I wanted to make my book publishable, and the answer was "no" - gotta stick to one time-consuming obsession at a time). I did indulge in a few games with E, though, and found myself tantalizingly close to breaking 400. The book inspired me to play less defensively, and concentrate on making seven-letter words for bonus points.

One of those seven-letter words was "leprosy". Another was "piscine". Ooh, baby.

Sledding

I hadn’t been sledding for more than twenty years when I went whooping down the hill at J & W’s place the weekend after New Year’s. It made me giddy, even the trudging back up the hill part. Endorphines good! Thanks, J & W.