I am on Spring Break this week, so that gives me an opportunity to accomplish several things I normally have no time to do. I started the week with my back bothering me a lot, probably a result of all the recent stress at school, so I am hoping that by the end of the week it will feel better. Some of the things I am accomplishing include:

> I submitted two stories to online sf zines Abyss & Apex and Electric Velocipede
> I finished a draft of a novelette which I like a lot. Now I will let it sit until summer when I’ll decide what other improvements, if any, it needs. Next I am choosing between working on the immigrant book– whose focus and format I have still not decided–or one of two novels-in-progress
> Last night I bought a new acoustic guitar costing $280 plus tax. It is a huge expense, in my opinion, but the guitar I have been using was a cheapie I bought in the 1970s which was a compact model better suited for Jean than for somebody with my large hands
> Today I am catching up on correspondence; I have a lot of friends who have not heard from me in awhile
> I do have school chores to do, of course, including writing Honors Algebra 2 and Calculus tests, grading a Statistics test, and studying the next chapter of Statistics in anticipation of resuming teaching after next week’s Advanced Placement test
> I am reading C.J. Cherryh’s Foreigner, the first volume in her acclaimed series which has now reached 7 volumes. However, each story-line covers 3 volumes, so I am only committed to reading the first three before deciding if they are worth going further