It’s been a busy few days, which is why this mid-week blog is late. Last night was my principal’s retirement dinner, and I was one of the speakers. Fortunately, some people told my my speech was good, which was a relief.

I have a huge stack of magazines on my desk, which I have not read because I devote my limited reading time to books. They include Archaeology, Historical Novels Review, Solander, Smithsonian and Paste (which expired a year ago!). I really enjoy all those magazines, and don’t want to let any of the subscriptions expire, except Smithsonian which is monthly and impossible to keep up with. Of course, I would love to replace it with National Geographic, but that might have to wait awhile. I’m going to devote this weekend to reading magazines, in hopes of making at least a small dent in the pile.

Currently reading: Sharon Lee & Steve Miller’s Liaden Universe novels have a cult following in sf circles, and I read the first two books for a taste of the series. The first one Local Custom was an interesting novel-of-manners, but the second one Scout’s Progress was a superb novel in spite of the fact that it was basically a romance. Who ever thought I would say that! I definitely intend to read further in this series.

Currently listening: I’ve always been a big fan of Tom Petty & The Hearbreakers, and while he has not been as widely-popular the past decade as he was previously, he still releases a lot of very good stuff. His 1999 album Echo is one of his better ones, highly recommended.