Bill Knott sent me a trove of his self-published books. He may be bitter and feel alienated, but, like fiction writer Stephen Dixon, he's one of my models for how to handle the writing obsession. It seems clear to me that Knott is deeply compelled to write, that writing is, as Dixon says, his "great satisfaction." I hope, no matter what happens with my publishing carreer, that I never lose sight of that for myself.

Also reading Chris Ware's new Acme Novelty Library collection. Neverminding how good and dark the stories are, just looking at the pages, how Ware bounces colors and shapes off of each other, is enough to keep me occupied for hours.

B and I went to meet with the Rabbi who is going to marry us today. He's asked us, since we are not both Jewish, to undergo a bit of Jewish education, and to commit to making Judaism the only religion practiced in our home. He is not asking B to convert, and both B and I feel that this is an opportunity to examine our relationship to each other and to our conception of the world in general. We are going to take an intro to Judaism class. I'm excited about it.