Superlatives

Grossest thing ever: I saw my first tick today. I don't think I ever even heard of ticks until I was in my twenties. I would be alright with it being the last tick I ever see.

Paul found it on Duffy's neck. It was all gray and huge. I was too squeamish to touch it, so Paul had to pull it out. Duffy thought he was just getting a really great four-handed massage.

So that was nasty.

Most amazing thing ever: I've been enjoying the brief hiatus between squash and tennis season. I took a yoga class last week and signed up for 9 more classes. I started a book last night just for fun. Who would have thought - me reading for pleasure again? I went to the library and ended up checking out about 1200 pages in three different books because I couldn't decide where to start. I got The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano, Talk Talk by T.C. Boyle, and The Professor and the Madman, by Simon Winchester. I started Talk Talk while sitting in the old persons' room at the dance I was chaperoning last night at another school. I'm hooked. Now I just wonder if I will make some time to get through it, despite tennis starting on Tuesday and papers and planning and advisees who can't stop breaking the rules and lying.

Most ridiculous news: I got my license for the toasters (the activity vans), so I'm a bus driver now. Watch out.

Coolest thing I've heard lately: a story on NPR about the six-word memoir, inspired by Hemingway's "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn." The story is so neat, and there's a gorgeous slide show of some of them, too. Check it out: "Six-Word Memoirs: Life Stories Distilled"