Crystal and Beer Cans

Gainesville

Typical Sunday: Sleep late. Change and launder sheets. Spend longer than usual reading comics online. Get caught up with online Sudoku puzzles for the past few days. Read. Get caught up with other people's blogs. Read some more. Sleep a bit. Read.

Plus the usual routines, and dinner of course. Tonight was another take on a chicken and artichoke casserole, (or, "Cluck & Choke"), this one using strips of chicken and marinated hearts. Ran out of time to get the sauce reduced enough before putting it in the oven, so as I expected, it was a bit thin. Tasty, though.

I enjoyed reading my 1986 letter. It was nice remembering that Christmas I spent with Lee Shiflett. We'd been friends for 15 years at that point, and during that holiday, we decided that if we were both still free in 5 years, we'd get married. Five years later, he was married (second time) to a woman with two kids, and I was about to move in with Bill. I ran into him a couple of years ago at ALA in Orlando. It's funny-- I saw him, and thought, what an interesting face. What a prototypical male librarian face, but a very sweet one. I walked ten steps further until I suddenly realized who it must be. He's now dean of the library school at UNC-Greensboro after many years as a prof at LSU. He still credits (or blames, depending on circumstances) me with influencing him to go to library school himself.

I have absolutely no memory at all of doing research in the Documents Department for Dad. I can't even remember who would have helped me do it, back then. I might be able to find it in one of my old journals, but don't care enough to dig it out.

Ah yes, my fabulous beer can collection. I finally recycled it when I moved out of the little house on 11th St. And I still have those Austrian crystal champagne glasses Chris gave me, but one got broken just a few months ago, sad to say, while they were being washed.

Mom, you get up every morning at 5-something, no matter what time you go to bed. It's no wonder you need some sleep during the day. I see no need to apologize for this. Sleep is good.

I'm reading on Genius of the Place. Also picked up Neil's Fragile Things (which has been on my To Read pile since it came out) because one of its short stories, "How to Talk to Girls at Parties," has been nominated for both a Hugo and a Nebula award. He stacks up awards of all kinds like cord wood, but seems to take pleasure in each of them. It is a very bizarre story! I kept reading in the collection, because I'm still looking for something of the proper style and length to do at a Read-a-Thon-- even though this year's has been over for several weeks. There's always next year.