The Black Box 
 
A friend of mine, who is a professor of history and the author of Red Arctic,  is down from the University of Saskatchewan to do some research at the Harry Ransom Center (see link at right).  I have known him since undergraduate school.  Another friend has known him for even longer.  Last night the three of us sat on a back porch and drank some merlot out of a black box.  Conversation turned to many things: Canada, legal matters, computers, novels, and politics.  He's in town through the weekend and I hope to see more of him before he leaves us for the northern prairie.

I finished Terry Pratchet's The Wee Free Men yesterday as well.  It is a delightful story about a young girl and her friends, the Pictsies (a motley collection of tiny blue men with tangled red hair and kilts), as they try to rescue the girl's little brother from the Fairy Queen (or, as the Pictsies say: "Quin").  I strongly recommend this book to anyone looking for a strong role model for girls.  The main character, Tiffany Aching, is smart, fiercely independent, and proud of it.  And the Pictsies are some of the funniest fey around.  Crivens!

Currently listening to: Steely Dan's Greatest Hits.