It’s chilly and grey…

It's chilly and grey here, but I'm in a reasonably good mood nonetheless. There may be a couple of reasons for that:

• I finished A Suitable Boy yesterday! (Good overall, but not quite satisfying at the end -- I suspect that may be a problem endemic to extremely long books, though)

• I'm wearing my gray flannel pyjamas, which are very cosy

• I finally gave up on getting a readable file for that last independent e-book thingie, and just went ahead and gave them my evaluations for the rest. It may already be too late to do them any good -- I don't know, and frankly, at this point I don't care. As long as the damn thing is off my to-do list, and the damn files are off my computer.

• Jed has automated the artist database at SH -- I haven't tried playing with it yet, but I suspect it's about to make my life a lot easier. We still need a new art editor, though -- why is it so hard to find them? It's a really easy job...

• I *finally* got in touch with Maxim Jakubowski, who years ago, sent me a check for 70 pounds (for a story in one of the Mammoth erotic anthologies) which I could not get a bank to cash, no matter how I begged and pleaded. He's kindly offered to just send me the amount in dollars, even though it is umpteen months later. I am very grateful. Yay for nice editors!

• I've just had a really nice week with Kevin. In a good groove, y'know? Working hard, not getting in each other's way while working, good cuddling time in front of tv, etc. (It's amazing how much you can pack into one "etc." :-) Makes me happy.

There was a brief flurry of excitement mid-week when it seemed like Karen & Co. might come down for a day, but it wasn't meant to be. I'll see her shortly in any case, since World Fantasy is almost upon us. I'm hoping I can get her down here though -- there are some carpet logistics that might be easier to figure out with her in Chicago. And then I could feed her, which is always nice. We'll see.

Today -- continue working on Debbie's presents -- the fabric and boards are prepared, so it's just a matter of glueing the casings together today and letting them dry overnight -- tomorrow I can case them in and be done with the project. Of course -- since we're insetting the bride/groom's names into the covers, I need pretty paper for that, and I only have matching paper for one of them, so I do need to hop on the train and run up to Paper Source to find printable paper that matches. But that shouldn't be a difficulty (though it does mean getting out of my pyjamas, sigh). Aside from that, probably SH art stuff today; I could work on the Rushdie, but I feel small-brained today, so probably better not even attempt it. I think I need a day or two to assimilate the Seth before I plunge into another big Indian novel in any case...

Starting to feel the itch to write. Soon, soon.