Answers to a few brief questions:

Are you feeling better?

Yes, considerably. My staples were taken out on the 20th, and since then I have been getting stronger and more able to do things. Why, on the 1st I walked through a snowstorm to get to my friend's place! (Okay, I walked part-way through the Eaton Centre, but you get the point.) Yesterday I went out for two hours and was in pain by the evening though, so I think I can't push myself too hard just yet.

How about that 33 1/3 pitch? Any news?

According to the site they are busy going through the pitches and are accepting 20 of them. I have to be philosophical and think ahead and be positive; if they want me, great, if not, I will pitch again, with someone else most likely, for an entirely different album. I want to write, no matter what, and will keep trying until I am accepted. In part this is because whenever I go to the music section of a bookstore, the representation of women is, shall we say, lacking; and by that I mean not just writing by women but also about them, or any kind of music that is perceived as 'female'. A sticky wicket, as maybe the English still say, to negotiate. (For instance, it is a sad thing for me to write but the 33 1/3 ABBA book is good, but does not have the heart it should to truly get into the songs as such; the immensity of their music is shortchanged. Then again, the author apologizes in the beginning for not picking a 'cooler' band, as if that matters. Hmmmmm...and yes, it's a woman doing the apologizing. A man would not do that, period.)

So then, yes, I do have attitude - but not a 'rockist' one, a 'I must compare what I am writing about to real music for all those Hornbyites in the back' one. There is no point with these books in doing that, no point even in going over what has already been gone over exhaustively before elsewhere; I picked a New Pop album because it's a movement that's gotten short shrift (please do not tell me a certain British critic did a book on it and that is that, because said book gets all flappy and whiny over my album, and probably others too). That is why I have a built-in audience in the first place; so much has not been said, thought of, written; so much context has been ignored or misunderstood.

In the end, there is nothing I can do but wait.

How are things otherwise?

Fine, mostly. I bought some Penguin Classics the other day - Pride and Prejudice and Confucius' Analects - and I hope to get more here, used or remaindered, as they are cheaper here than in the UK. I am also starting work again, slowly, but as spring arrives, steadily, and will advertise/look around for extra work if needed, which it probably will be. The busier nanny I am, the more likely it will be that I can get something in London right away, which is what I want. Though, if I do get the acceptance, I will have to see about that, of course...

Any miscellaneous things? Likes, dislikes?

The Silver Lenas should be happening soon; this month, on the 24th I hope. I have some new likes: Chapman's Apple Pie ice cream, Video on Trial, austenblog and bronteblog, Poptimism (I will be there on Good Friday to play some New Pop and roots-of), and that is about it.

Still missing Marcello like crazy?

Oh yes. That is a constant. But I'm going over for Easter, and that will be a much-needed relief for both of us...