Hello, ducks! Today I am writing from the Glendale Central Library, the best library in Los Angeles. It has without question the best children's section around, and by best I mean the children's section with the most books from when I was a kid. If it wasn't written before 1980, or at least by an author whose other books I was reading before 1980, then I don't care.

This keyboard is none too good, it's clicky and some of the keys stick a bit, but I suppose the children's section makes up for many ills.

I have been reading so much since I've been here, just an amazing amount. It's not like I don't read at home, but I read a lot of magazines and I do so much of my reading on the Internet that books have been getting the short shrift lately (no, I haven't picked up The Phantom Tollbooth, but I probably will soon!).

But here, between having no computer and having to go to the library to check my email, I've been checking out armloads of books and doing my old trick of reading three at a time, one chapter of one, then one chapter of another, and on and on, and as I finish one I replace it with another one, forever and ever, world without end.

Currently, I'm rereading The Dark is Rising sequence, the Ellen Raskin books (why are there only four?), and the Diane Duane So You Want to Be a Wizard? books. Also, I'm reading or have already read the Sue Barton books, Mary Poppins books, Gone-Away Lake books, the Moomins, The Talking Parcel by Gerald Durrell, Constance C. Greene's Al books, everything I can get my hands on by Diana Wynne Jones, and I don't even remember what all else.

I have denuded the new Gardner library (which isn't actually on Gardner, but I'm certain that I won't be the only person who calls it that) of every single interesting children's book that they had, which was about 30 or 40 books, and they have zip worth reading in the teen section. It's a good library in terms of it's comfortable and welcoming, but they aren't overburdened with books.

One thing I forget about being in LA is how it relates to my seasonal-affective disorder. No matter how much I'd rather be in N.Y., I have to admit, that sun sure is making me happy.

Kind of like that airline commercial where the guy is playing the banjo, saying "Even bad news sounds good when you're hearing banjo music!"

Today's horoscope:
Open the door to a new level of dialogue. You're quick, intense and riding the crest of the next breaking news story. Personal narrative fades into the background as you live your life without commentary.

One year ago today:
Michael Clark Duncan said hello to his mother and family before going into his speech. Apparently he doesn't appear on awards shows much. Maybe he spends most of his time on game shows and standing outside The Today Show.

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Last Updated Thurs 11 March 14:41:58 2004