I don't know yet if I'll get this job or if I'll even take it. It's nice to know I have options, though. Even if I can't decide which one to take at any given time.

My dentist is awesome. I went back again to get a filling, and I was all prepared for it to suck, because I wasn't going to get THE GAS this time. (Pete says that calling it "the gas" is not as sexy as calling it "nitrous." I say that the whole Dennis Hopper thing negates the sexiness right from the get-go.)

You see where this is going, right? The gas! They give you the gas for anything. "Oh, it must be so stressful for you, sitting in the waiting room and reading Rolling Stone. Here, have the gas." This time, they didn't take the mask off of me until they were completely done. I wandered out the door and drove home, high as a kite. Possibly not the best idea.

I took a nap as soon as I walked in the door and when I woke up, I found an appointment card in my pocket for another filling next week. I must have made an appointment, but I don't remember. I looked at the card and thought, "Yay! More gas!"

I can't believe I'm looking somewhat forward to getting a tooth filled. This might be turning into a problem.

And now, the Books & Pie report.

We had the third Books & Pie meeting on Labor Day. It was a particularly long meeting, starting at noon and ending with the composition of the Books & Pie theme song at approximately 11:00 p.m. In between there was sushi, alcohol, Ms. Pac Man, books, and pie. And also rhubarb "what if they pretend its pie when they serve it to me?" crisp-- but I will not speak of that.

This first text was fairly subversive, as apparently most Golden Books are. It was also unusually grim. I don't want to spoil anything, but rather than the standard "lion comes to terms with his homosexuality" or "kitten embraces socialism" Golden Book fare, this book ended with the bear's total inability to incorporate his feminine side into his psyche, whereby he is finally driven mad. What message are children supposed to take from this?

In addition to original members Jenfu, Beth, and Ian, we had new members Armless Monkey, Susan and Matt.

I gave half of those people bad directions to get to the cafe, because I suck. Yes, I suck. I am a bad Books & Pie leader, with a very terrible mental map, if I can't even properly visualize a street that I drive down every single day. I alleviated my guilt by buying people drinks, and making a vow never to give directions again.

Once we were sufficiently drunk, we felt up to tackling our last book, Barbie's Special Sleepover. Beth summed it up as "thinly disguised child pornography masquerading as a coming-of-age sexual-awakening fantasy." I couldn't possibly have said it better.