I got some good work…

I got some good work done at Java House, doing a last pass rewrite on "The Marrying Kind." My time there was enhanced by a live show from a local group, going on in the back room, The Mike and Amy Finders Band, which is maybe not the best band name ever, but is at least clear and specific. They were good, too; she's got a great voice. It was really a nice way to experience Iowa City; I could almost imagine living there, should our academic fortunes send us away from Chicago. (This may not be clear to those non-academics among you, but since my job is a two-year visiting professorship, rather than a tenure-track job, it's entirely possible that I'll be on the academic job market again next fall. We hope not, though.)

In the afternoon, wandered about with Sharmi, had lunch at a all-you-can-eat Indian buffet, which was acceptable, if incredibly mild. Bought her a bunch of books for her birthday: Strong Poison, The Hero and the Crown, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, Small World, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, and The Dispossessed. I brought her about thirty books to choose from that I thought she'd like, and those are the ones she picked. We'll see what she thinks of them.

Quiet flight back, deeply engrossed in Jo Walton's Tooth and Claw. I felt a little guilty abandoning the Rushdie, but when I saw Jo's book at Prairie Lights, I couldn't resist. I will go back to Rushdie later today, I promise. Tooth and Claw was as delightful as expected -- really, how can you go wrong when you cross Austen with dragons? Actually, there are probably many ways to go wrong there, but thankfully, Jo deftly avoided them all. Much fun.

Today, pick up sorely-needed groceries, cook a little bit, tea with a Vermont student who's in town, write in the afternoon hopefully, and then a birthday party this evening down in Hyde Park.