My spring break

has been wantonly squandered on a low-level stomach bug and an out-of-town funeral. I'm completely behind on work. Bright spots: the party for Ken Bruen on Tuesday night at the Black Orchid Bookstore and the excellent Shockheaded Peter on Thursday. I liked it very much; the music is fabulous, and the whole esthetic very appealing. Snip-snip... Just-about-adequate light reading: Michelle Spring's Running for Shelter; Juliet McKenna's The Thief's Gamble. Then I reread one of my favorite books, Barbara Trapido's Juggling, which drove me to the library for a couple of her others (I must have read them 2-3 times each already, but still...)--Brother of the More Famous Jack and The Travelling Hornplayer (my favorite of all, I think; it is so sad and funny and touching). (I like Temples of Delight too but I've read it too many times already.) I really love Trapido's novels, they are almost indescribable but I highly recommend them. Now I'm reading Frankie & Stankie, which I strangely omitted to get hold of when it was published last year.