One other thing–Kaling says she is driven crazy by the amount of time guys take to put their shoes on. But having recently spent a week with two female friends, I’ve been wondering why the ladies seem to take so long. Which is it?

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The work part of the week went fine. I spoke about Mommy/Daddy-loves-you-best books at Pomona to an audience of enthusiastic students, profs, booksellers and writers (Susan Patron, Candace Ryan, and Megan Whalen Turner graciously attended.) After lunch (our thirty-year-old favorite, patty melts at Walters, which has gotten way fancier) the next day with my old Pitzer bestie Ruth, we went over to the campus for a rather more intime (read: sparsely attended) but lively discussion of censorship with Susan and then went for a walk around the campus, which has doubled in size since the 70s. The students were very polite to us Olds, and even praised the cafeteria food. (The all-you-can-eat ice cream, rumored to be a string attached to a bequest, was gone, but I noted that two vegan specialities were offered on each menu.) Right: Susan Patron and me.

And son Dorian and his wife were very gracious to drive out to SFO for our stopover on the way home, bringing number-one-grandson Miles along for our adoration. When did he turn from a baby into a little boy? (He’s not even a year yet, so it must be the haircut.)

And now I’m back and pondering the in-box drama that is the ALSC discussion of lowering its age level of service from fourteen to thirteen. It’s amazing what can draw fire from the dragon ladies’ throats!

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I must say I came away from Home with a lot of respect for Andrews, the Julie Andrews Collection (now moved from Harper to Little, Brown, I see) notwithstanding. The writing is ordinary but the sincerity is winning, and Andrews is scrupulous about sticking to the facts of what she remembers and equally determined to be fair with troublesome family members (her mother, stepfather) and colleagues (Richard Burton). Of particular interest to children’s book people might be her anecdotes revealing a close friendship with T. H. White, who seems to have been a handful.

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I’m taking another venture into the brave new world tomorrow, with my first experience of a live Met satellite-cast at the movie theater, with Natalie Dessay (for whom we once went to Paris only to have her cancel) and the latest king of the high c’s, Juan Diego Florez.

*N.B. Frequent commenter Sheila of Wands and Worlds has written a piece for an upcoming issue of the HB about e-reading; stay tuned.

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