is out and opens with my essay, “Services Pending,” about that one time when I was an obituary writer. Got her in the mail today, which is timely and sad because I’ve just returned from Iowa where I attended the funeral of my wonderful uncle Jim, whose obituary I helped my mom and aunt edit. I hope it’s a very very long time before I have to do such a thing again.

Meanwhile, the semester has begun, which you can tell because there’s no parking available on campus anymore. Much to do this week but my semester resolution is to not allow myself to be tearfully paralyzed by stress any more for any reason. And to take a lot of naps.