I kind of thought so, sumi, but then my definitions were "chatters noisily," and "collects indiscriminately," so I wasn't happy with it in the context I was using it. Though, getting distracted by the next shiny new thing could lead to indiscriminate collecting, so...

That's really what I was going for, though, you nailed it -- distracted by shiny things.

Magpies are more collectors, though. They're nature's hoarders.

SHUT UP WE ARE NOT ooooh shiny thing to go with the rest of my shiny things!

t maybe I over-identify with magpies, okay?

It's the black and white color scheme, isn't it?

That's part of it, yes.

Plus, anytime you say, "The whole purpose of literature is to elevate," I want to smack you.

The purpose of literature is to entertain. If it does something more, it's a bonus. If Homer intended to elevate, he would have left out Achilles and come up with a better reason for the Trojan War.

Also, it would be difficult to name a classical author as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. They're dead.

I had to skip to the end

1) overdrive is a subsciption service -- We pay a certin amount of dollars and get a certain amount of books -- the publishers , as you know , treat ebooks like physical books - so we would have to specify x copies.

2) if you are having problems - get a staff member to check them in AND get a receipt - errors are made , there is you proof. If you have problems getting this done take it up the chain - libraries are bureaucratic so there are channels.

now to go back to where I was reading....

And he came over to say hi to us and was just lovely. Our food snob friends we were with were VERY impressed.

Yay, lisah! He did shoot me an email, said that "A friend of yours from Baltimore came in." And yeah, he or the other co-owner is in the restaurant every night, and they do try to visit with many of the customers.

Did you get the chicken? I did--best chicken I've had in the last decade, just amazing.

And it's a lovely space: they've done a wonderful job with it. I hope it continues to succeed. We're so proud and happy for him, because this is something he's wanted to do for the last 15 years. It's great that it finally got off the ground.

Consuela - which restaurant?

From way back: a bezoar is a ball of swallowed foreign material (usually hair or fiber) that collects in the stomach or intestines. I've always been confused by the word being applied to other things.

Well, it wasn't locked very hard, was it?

This made me laugh.

sumi-- it's Farmhouse, in Chicago.