No, the blessed event has not yet occurred. I had some traveling to do, which became much more time-consuming and onerous than it should have been. It gave me a chance to do a detailed analysis of U.S. airline companies, however, and I am happy to report my findings, which are that U.S. airlines are big fat stupid liars. You heard it here first.

In other, happier news, I recently came home to find a big Amazon package waiting for me. I love it when that happens. I tried to recall what I might have ordered, as I opened the box, only to find that it was filled with gift books taken from my Amazon wish list, courtesy of one Kipp Sailors, who is my new Favorite Reader of the Month. Not only did Kipp's generosity extend to four (!) Everyman's editions (Hardy's The Return of the Native; Blake's Poems and Prophecies; Paine's Rights of Man and Common Sense; and Chekhov's complete short novels), he also sent a delightful book called Loving Every Child.

In doing so Kipp revealed his deeply generous nature, as well as his outstanding taste in literature and philosophy. Those of you who know him should count yourselves lucky. I've already enjoyed, in the slender moments of free waking time my youngsters afford me, a sampling from these books. Maybe it's just me, but something about the Everyman volume just makes it read better, almost as if the words are lighter and more exquisite. I'm afraid I'm getting spoiled and will soon have no use for used paperbacks whatsoever.

So, to sum up, Kipp Sailors is a very good man for supporting my reading habit, and a very bad man for supporting my reading habit. You could all learn a thing or two from him. Thank you Kipp!