I've been enjoying my unemployment checks and working on my novel, although its progress is not what I'd imagined. It's very hard for me to keep things focused in it, but I keep trying. Sometimes I wonder why I ever chose writing as what I really wanted to do; I remember making the decision in relatively early childhood, at a time when no one is equipped to make reasonable, sensible choices. I feel now like my life would have been so much easier if I could simply have fallen in love with numbers back then, rather than words - driven to be an accountant instead of a writer.

The recent Archipelago reunion was certainly a high point, albeit much too brief. More on another voice card - I'm trying to be more organized and not get carried away with my hello cards, like last time. Please note my cards to Stuart and Paul encouraging their attendance were composed before the actual event and perhaps contributed to their showing up in some sort of cosmic way.

Soon, I'll be headed to the French countryside for a couple of weeks - a bicycle trip from Provence to the Riviera and then a leisurely drive in a rented car to Paris, where we'll stay for a few days. Am looking forward to it and hoping that I'll have enough film.