I don't mean to nitpick, Tom, but is this really your plan?

Thank you for all the lovely comments on the last post! And thanks, cesperanza, for the virtual gift basket! Because actual baths are restricted for now, I am pretending that the basket was full of bubbles and bath salts and other indulgences for my virtual self.

Clarifications: (1) Rivkid 2.0 is a girl. ( on baby gender )

(2) Headache is gone. That blood patch thing is a good idea.

W/r/t the recent Mary Jane comiquette (seriously, what is that name supposed to mean? Its relation to maquette seems notional at best): There are much smarter responses out there, such as liviapenn, but my basic take was a variant of her initial reaction: Outraged? I’m barely surprised.

( some nonfiction reviews: debate, plagiarism, law school, early fanfic – it’s kind of like my life )

I'm back! Actually, I'm now in Virginia – eek! – mostly settled in, which means that clothes are in dressers and books are on shelves, though paper and random bits of hardware remain strewn around lavishly. Also, we don't have a sofa for the living room, which means that the two end tables look kind of funny bracketing a sofa-shaped space. But I am hopeful that I'll soon have an ID card for my new job, and we've ordered a dishwasher and a microwave, which will improve matters considerably for me, since my "participation" in the kitchen is pretty much limited to washing dishes and reheating food. Z. has, after a number of difficulties imposed by uneven power and cable service, set up the entertainment center in the basement, which is now my space, so I can play (what I call) music or watch (crappy) television without bothering him.

It's cicada season here. I remember the cicadas from 17 years ago, when they last descended en masse, but they were a lot more fun when I was a kid and more into squishy things. One flew into my mouth yesterday. Not far, admittedly, but I did a great "Ack! Thhptt!" in response. ( In which I am Puritan and repressed )

( In which I review some nonfiction )