And she needs a haircut.

I love a really good word. Actually, I love lots of really good words. I used to sit and read the thesaurus as a kid. (Actually, I just sat and read the thesaurus the other day.)

I love how expressive language can be and how different languages express similar concepts in different ways, how a culture's language can reflect what's important to them, or what's familiar.

And then I just like the way some words sound. CARTILAGINOUS! It's fun to say.

I'm working on a monster word book. It's sort of a vocabulary book but not really. Only some of the words will be uncommon words (spurrier = someone who makes spurs) the rest will be grouped with similar words. I haven't quite figured it all out yet. It will mostly be silly. But that goes without saying.

Anybody have a favorite word? Least favorite? (I still find the word blog icky.) Something I need to include in the book?

I've adopted this as my new all purpose expletive. When I'm happy or sad or excited or disappointed or pissed off or scared: HEDGEHOGGERY!

I wrote a long letter to my friend Dan the other day. I've known him for 8 years now. We've never met but we've written letters and e-mails, sent cards and gifts, and talked on the phone. He's swell and I'm not a good enough friend to him. I'm sure he doesn't really think I'm a crummy friend but I do.

( Hopefully he'll be amused by my talking monster doodle. )

I drew this in the school parking lot while waiting for it to be time to go pick up The Boy.

Sometimes I get hung up on how simple things are so complex for him. Or how much parents of neurotypical kids take for granted. Just getting through the day without incident is the goal for The Boy. Sometimes he makes it, often he doesn't. It's kind of weird how weighty that simple question can be.

My day, thank you for asking, was pretty productive. I even started cleaning the attic and am seriously considering moving my studio there. Not immediately, of course. I have shows coming up and stuff to do, but maybe after July I'll give it more careful consideration. The pros and cons are pretty even at the moment. I think this is one of those things I need to sit with and see if it still sounds good in a few weeks. I may come to my senses, who knows.