This afternoon I finished reading Word Freak by NPR contributor Stefan Fatsis, a saga of the competitive Scrabble universe and his descent into its lovable madness. After reading the final pages, of course, I had to check the National Scrabble Association roster for Stefan's current rating: 1565. I'm sort of glad to see it's down from his writing-period high of 1733. I've never wondered before if researching other people's hobbies could be hazardous, but Scrabble sure sucked this guy in! Still, I was completely entranced by his story, and was thrilled to see photos of some of the book's Scrabble personalities on the NSA site.

Last night some friends and I swung by the Landmark Century Theatre for a late screening of Steamboy, the new anime feature by Katsuhiro Ôtomo. Although I know it's getting mixed reviews, I thought it was a terrific science fiction parable, with some interesting commentary on our use of science in society. Plus, the animation was superb. Normally I'm more a Hayao Miyazaki fan (Spirited Away being my favorite), but Steamboy's gorgeous visuals and inventive editing were truly unique.

In further Miyazaki news, though, and to my intense delight, we'll be seeing Howl's Moving Castle in June! With Billy Crystal as Calcifer and Lauren Bacall as the Witch of the Waste!

More lovely Kelly Girls pictures for you to enjoy!

Nancy picks out gorgeous yarn for a pumpkin-colored baby sweater.

Larissa's drop stitch scarf is coming along nicely.

Jenny loves socks! (Plus, check out the beautiful spangly yarn Ramona is using for her scarf.)

Angie is on her second pretty pink warming device. My mind is playing with me, but if I remember correctly, these will be legwarmers this time, as a follow-up to earlier armwarmers.

Ramona's sparkly scarf is taking shape!

Little bears for little toes. Congratulations, Janice & Dan!

Some belated pictures from recent Kelly Girls gatherings:

Nissa's hand-warmers

Jenny's nifty purse

A sweet little hat for Mary's future little one

Should I be worried that a search on my state government web site for "find my representative" turns up, as the most relevant result, Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes? Nasty, brutish, and short, indeed.

Don't Panic! If you long for the days of text-based, Zork-style adventuring, you can once again play the original Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. You can even save periodically, so you don't have to go through the annoying babelfish scene over and over again.