Less screaming today, due in large part, probably, to the fact that Lydia spent the afternoon at Sandra’s house and after she came home we all drove to town for dinner at MAX. Whatever the reason, though, I’ll take it. Wonder of wonders, they’re actually playing together now, nicely and, more important, quietly, in Lydia’s room and I’ve gotten the chance to sit down with a cup of tea. Best not talk too much about that, however, and run the risk of jinxing it.

Before we went to the restaurant this evening we made a stop at the public library, somewhere we haven’t been for close to a year, probably. There’s a pretty good English-language section there and I walked out of there with at least a dozen books and was tempted by dozens more. It’s a good thing I can have them for a month or I’d never make it through all of them. Even a month to read them all is probably pushing it, so I may have to resort to online renewal.

Three of the books I checked out are by a writer I’ve never read (and scarcely heard of), and he may turn into the topic of my next “All Booked Up” column for Mosaic Minds. (I just realized that I forgot to give a plug for the issue that came out last week — go check it out at once!) So far I’m ahead of the game when it comes to the next deadline (September 28) and I’d like to keep that momentum going. Last night I whipped up a nice little piece of short fiction that I’m pleased as punch about, and I may have another in the works as well.