So far this week I've worked late, exercised somewhat, watched The Amazing Race, re-watched The Amazing Race, and joined a book club. I also had an excellent mail day yesterday. I got an acceptance letter from a magazine called Diner, and on top of that, one of my readers sent me, out of the blue, Van Lear Rose, which in case you haven't yet heard is fantastic. Thank you so much, Elizabeth!

From the most recent wave of submissions I've gotten four no-thank-you notes and one "this magazine no longer exists" note. And one yes! Still waiting on 19 outstanding submissions. It's pretty exciting when all those SASEs start coming back, especially when occasionally they contain good news.

The book club was tremendous fun as well. We read Carter Beats the Devil and then discussed it and everything, and the people are smart and interesting and funny, and I didn't feel too shy to speak up and try and be somewhat interesting-ish myself. We meet again in six weeks, and we're reading Brick Lane, which I have in my possession due to some shady dealings involving my very patient friends.

The weekend was fun as well. I spent a lot of time with Those Crazy Internet People, but this time it was mostly people I don't see as often. For instance, I've only met Tim Pratt and Heather Shaw once, and that was years ago. But at Susan's birthday party, we finally were able to chat and bond and solidify our Crazy Internet Lurve. And Susan's non-TCIP friends are fabulous as well. So it was a great time.

It seemed that everyone at that party was writing a novel or, in Tim's case, had just sold a novel. Which was kind of a coincidence because I'd had brunch that morning with Pamie who, yes, has sold another novel. I am surrounded by success! Congratulations to both of them, though, and I will purchase the hell out of whatever either of them publishes, ever. That's what Crazy Internet Lurve is all about.

Oh, and I got to meet Ling the Merciless! Very old-school journaler I started reading five years ago, who has somehow has managed to live in Sacramento without me having met her before. What's that about? Sneaky.

The other excitement this weekend, which you may think is sort of a sad type of excitement, but IS DEFINITELY NOT, is that I went to Target. I went to buy one specific thing: a picture frame. I somehow managed to get out of there for less than $100, a miracle, but I still spent $75 on that picture frame. Because when you buy a picture frame for $75, it comes with a lot of other things. Like a messenger bag, a necklace, a watch, a Best of Will Ferrell DVD, a hand towel that matches my shower curtain, and a fluffy Egyptian cotton towel that, as it turns out, does not do the best job at drying you off. But is very fluffy.

You may notice that's a lot of shit for $75. That's because I am a bargain hunter. You also may notice that I don't actually have any money with which to shop at the moment. But that's okay because those are the bare essentials, right there, that I bought. Food, shelter, and Will Ferrell. The basic necessities of life.

Finally, I got William Shakespeare a girlfriend.

You see, the Armless Monkey gave me a William Shakespeare action figure for Christmas, and he's been sitting on my desk at work, like so:

Well while I was in Portland, on the road, I had a Happy Meal from McDonald's. And excitingly, the Happy Meal came with a hip-hop girlfriend for Will. I think her name is Chandra or Cassidy or Chelsea or something. I call her Loretta.

I'm sort of tempted to buy some more Happy Meals so I can get some more hip-hop girls and make William Shakespeare into the pimp daddy that he is so obviously destined to be. Maybe a plastic bong? Some bling-bling gold teeth? A purple crushed velvet hat? We'll see.