• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

In other news...

I know candidates are circulating their nomination papers. But until they make ballot status, I'm not ready to go into in-depth discussions about their personal politics. I can do that at work, but in my civilian life (off the clock, so to speak) I enjoy other endeavors.

So, in other news, I recently finished a marvelous book. The second graders at Wilson gave it to me. ("It's a chapter book!" they shouted.) It's "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" by Muriel Barbery, and a complete departure from my recent diet of thrillers. It gave my brain a good stretch and I'm still thinking about the implications of the ending.

Hedberg emailed me today that a new book is waiting for me. I love that feature, because I often forget I requested a book. It's like a surprise gift. Today I will retrieve "At Home: A Short History of Private Life" by Bill Bryson. It sounds fascinating. According to Publishers Weekly, "There are many guilty pleasures, from Bryson's droll prose--'What really turned the Victorians to bathing, however, was the realization that it could be gloriously punishing'--to the many tantalizing glimpses behind closed doors at aristocratic English country houses. In demonstrating how everything we take for granted, from comfortable furniture to smoke-free air, went from unimaginable luxury to humdrum routine, Bryson shows us how odd and improbable our own lives really are."

I'm also still working on "Assassination Vacation" by Sarah Vowell. It's my in-between book. And I will also check out some Carl Hiaasen at the recommendation of my coworkers.

But first, I will attend to Rory Calhoun.

He is standing near my computer chair, hovering hopefully with his Christmas chew toy in his mouth.

It is play time.