ETC.: The roof, the roof is on fire

ETC.: The roof, the roof is on fire

...And now for a brief break in my non-posting. Work has risen up from the primordial depths and chewed a hole into my innards, and Toddler Peter is at Level 5 in toddler neediness at home, so I'm pretty likely not to post much this week. Besides several major projects going on and new reporters to train, this weekend we had a series of electrical problems that ended up with multiple power outages and fire trucks outside putting out the power lines on fire while we were trying to get out Sunday's paper. We don't just print the news, we make the news! Today we're shutting down the entire office for several hours while an ancient transformer is replaced. Last week I had 10.5 hours of overtime! See the blood, sweat and tears that goes into this newspaper? And ink?

I'm also depressed because our former cat, Luna, had to be put to sleep yesterday. About a year or so ago we gave her to a friend of ours because it turned out a toddler + two cats wasn't working out for us, and we didn't want to give up our other cat Kudzu. Anyway, Luna was old when we got her from friends who couldn't keep her back in 2001, and after we gave her to our friend Chelsea she started declining, ending up being diagnosed with diabetes and liver/kidney problems. She made it to 14, not young, but still bummed she had to be put down... Luna was a pain in the butt sometimes, extremely affectionate and skittish at the same time, and much more of a hassle for us to keep than the placid Kudzu, but I'll miss her a bit all the same.

In any event... Thanks kindly to everyone who wrote in for my blog-iversary last week -- after a complicated series of mathematical equations, geopolitical surveys, alphabet games and asking Toddler Peter for advice, I am hereby awarding Ash with a copy of my soon-to-be-created Great Songs I've Heard In 2006 So Far CD. Look for it in the mail, Ash!

To keep you occupied while I fight powerline fires and sit in the dark waiting for the power to come back on, here's a couple recent reviews I did for my buddies at BlogCritics --
• The essayist Hal Crowther is one of my favorite Southern writers. I look at his new book, "Gathering At The River: Notes From The Post-Millennial South." Them's good writings!
• Hey, ever heard of the Beatles? Here's a look at the new remastered box set, The Capitol Years Vol. 2.

Tonight we take Toddler Peter to the circus. Hurray!