Ever so slightly better...

First of all, thank you from the bottom of my heart to those of you who commented, emailed or even just sat there and thought good thoughts for me. I got all sniffly feeling the love. And I'm not even being sarcastic, which as you may know is highly unusual. Anyhow, thank you.

In an attempt to drag myself out from under the dark cloud yesterday, I decided to actually get in the car and take O's medical form for camp to his pediatrician's office to get it signed. Surprisingly, it wasn't all that difficult and I felt a small weight lift off my shoulders. It's amazing how one little, mildly annoying task can bring you down. I thought of Michael Crichton who, when asked how he managed to write so much, answered that he uses a technique called BTC*. Or AIC**, as the case may be. Actually doing stuff really does help. Funny, that.

During my long drive to the pediatrician's office, my mind wandered to other authors I admire. I admire Crichton for the sheer volume he produces, but these others speak to my soul. For the curious, they include:

• Nora Ephron, particularly in essay writing mode. I found her book "Crazy Salad" at my grandparents' beach house when I was about ten years old. My parents, distracted by their younger brood, didn't notice when I read the whole thing, twice. "Crazy Salad" shaped so many of my views on feminism, food, politics and life in general. And it was really, really funny. I had a fairly sophisticated sense of humor for a ten year old.
  
• Amy and David Sedaris. "Me Talk Pretty One Day" is one of the funniest books ever written. I was almost kicked off an airplane because I was laughing so hard. Amy's book, "I Like You" is an inspiration. She is the hostess I strive to be. The Sedarises are Southern, like me, which makes me feel clever by association. I'll take what I can get, yo.
  
• Jeffrey Steingarten. This man is a genius. Since 1989, he has somehow managed to get Vogue to pay for all sorts of things he wants, like fifty pounds of some imported thousand million dollar obscenely expensive bacon he wanted to experiment with in the kitchen. But he burns the sh*t out of his shins on the open oven door and drops the fancy bacon. Then he cries, because the bacon is ruined. Too traumatized to start over, he instead writes a brilliant, humorous and informative piece about recipes on the backs of boxes, like Snickers Pie. Brilliant. I don't even want to guess how much he got paid for that, because I would probably explode with jealousy.
  

My mood also improved because my awesome editor at the Free Times, Ron Aiken, changed the online version of my article back to how I wrote it. Now if I sound stupid, I have no one to blame but myself! Hooray! Coincidentally, Eva Moore, author of the "Chew on This" column and other things at the Free Times, put a different crab salad recipe on her blog. It sounds delicious and I can't wait to try it. Also, it's simpler than mine, which my ever supportive mother-in-law claims has "too many ingredients." Oh well, you can't please everyone!

And here is some excitement to usher in the weekend, a video installment of the Grass Cam, with a twist! See if you can spot the Roly-Poly as he navigates the lush and mysterious forest! Listen for the sounds of nature, including a woodpecker, some random birds, the neighbors' air conditioner and the trickling water of our Koi pond, which is devoid of fish because we kept killing them! Fun for the whole family!



Namasté, y'all!

* Butt Bottom To Chair.

**A** In Car.