To my grand astonishment, I'm ahead. I've read everything I need to read through the end of next week, written assigned papers, accessed fiction on electronic reserve at the library. Wow. Because I'd gotten so far ahead with my reading, I decided to pick up Chuck Palahniuk's new novel Diary yesterday, and I'm now three-quarters finished; if I'm not done tonight, I will be tomorrow morning. My mind is a sponge for literature at the moment, and I'm reading reading reading until my vision gets blurry and the text becomes just smudges of black on white and there's a satisfying ache behind each eyeball. So this Labor Day weekend, I'll truly be able to relax and not have to worry about schoolwork or assigned reading, but you know what I'll probably be doing? Reading.

I've been waking up around the same time as when I had to get to work at 8:00, so I end up at school with time to spare in the morning - that is, if the Wolfline manages to run on time, which it hasn't lately. This past week, I took the latest issue of The Silver Web to read before class. I have several back issues of The Third Alternative and Realms of Fantasy that constantly try to catch my attention. Plus the tons of books either shelved in my bookcases or piled up on my floor. I will never want for something to read. Hell would be an empty room without books.

The position paper for my PoMo class went much better than I thought it would. Dr. Thompson gave us a handout on Tuesday which made me pretty much scrap the paper I'd done already and start again from scratch. He made us look into the prose at a microscopic level, examine the tone or the rhythm or the imagery or the style to try to understand what the author is attempting to say. I read my paper aloud in class, and the professor agreed pretty much with everything I said. Big sigh of relief. If you're interested, I've posted it here. I have to thank everyone for the great comments in the last entry; you guys helped out a lot and got me started.

Many of my friends and fellow journalers are at TorCon this weekend, the World SF Convention in Toronto, and I wish I was with them. But not too much, since I'll be at World Fantasy in two months. Janet sent me a mockup of our chapbook's title page, once again astounding me with her talent. This is definitely feeling like a real thing now, not just some ramblings made here and in conversation. This is actually happening. I had a nice conversation with my lady on the phone last night, our weekly chat, and I always miss her so much after we hang up.

Hope you all have a fun Labor Day weekend. I'm going to a barbecue at a friend's house Sunday evening, and getting together with my parents sometime too. It'll be a nice, stress-free weekend, and I'm not going to feel pressured to do anything I don't want. My muscles are loosening already. Ahhhhh...

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Now Reading:
Diary by Chuck Palahniuk

Stories Out to Publishers:
7

Books Read This Year:
30

Zines/Fiction Mags Read This Year:
32