Things to do

Let's see.

1) Give O'C a biscuit. I wasn't particularly attacking GWB, simply pointing out that they are rather good as a TOC delivery service. "[There will be] round-by-round reports. Who’s hitting who? Who’s down one? Down two? Down and out? You can expect up-to-the-minute reports from the University of Kentucky and, reception permitting, live coverage of the annual Breakfast of Champions at which the recipients of the speaker awards and other prestigious tournament honors are announced. Like last year, VBD will be taping a run-off round, an octafinal round, a quarterfinal round, a semifinal round, and the final round for public access online." Compare this to the old bbds or listservers, and it's a world of difference. But as I say, there's no explicit attack of GWB. When I explicitly attack them, I am usually quite clear about it; I may not be a Smilin' J, but I have my moments.

2) Redo the reading list page of the LD Corner of the Hen Hud site. No offense to Marc, but the thing has a beard, and it's time to attack it from the ground up. Among other things, new titles need to be added to the summer reading list (e.g. Putnam, in aid of creating an army of future little Emcees). And, of course, send out the summer assignments to the teeming millions.

3) Give self a biscuit. I've figured out my problems with Audacity, and I think I can pretty much guarantee clear recording going forward. The thing keeps switching inputs if you're not paying attention, so the solution, d'uh, is paying attention. Next major project is Caveman, followed by some new material. I'm wavering between Zen Ethics (that's an anagram for a German guy who seems to eternally recur, if you know what I mean) and someone more modern, but a lot of it will depend on who I more enjoy reading. I also have some general pomo anthologies that look promising. Frenchman 2?

4) Give Pip a biscuit. He originally greeted the little trooper with pure malice, but has slowly (and, perhaps, inevitably) quieted down and come to accept the little squirt. In other words, Pip is now pretty much back to his old Pippish self, which is all that I ever ask of him.

5) Read mail that is clogging the box over the Modest Novice. I sent out a general call to arms yesterday after a series of discussions with Noel S, who worries about the concept becoming an excuse for prefab cases of one sort or another. It's a reasonable concern (although I don't actually agree with him), and his suggestion for an evaluation at the end of the season certainly works. In any case, I'm committed now. I thought it would be good to mount the charge pre-TOC, for anyone local who might be there to have any last issues brought forward.

6) Switch to Speech. I think I enjoy Speech more than anyone thinks, and after judging this weekend, if I find myself in the Slough of Debate Despond, maybe I'll just switch with Dave and have done with it. Certainly recording Nostrum allows me new insights into performance (I keep saying to myself, ENUNCIATE! SAY ALL THE PARTS OF THE WORDS!).

7) Sign off for a few days. Goodbye and thanks for all the fish. I'll be in Kaintuck. (Look for my picture at hellinahandbasket.com. I'll be the one giving O'C a biscuit.)