I'm piggybacking off of all of the other people I read during the course of my day.....

One of my old friends has been talking about libraries lately, and for some reason that surpasses understanding, I had the same visceral response to her vague description of the New York Public Library as I get when I go to the butcher shop and view a reallllly good piece of meat.

Oh, and another friend of mine was talking about her adventures in butchery. No mention of chainsaws as of yet, but knowing her, I wouldn't be a bit surprised.

I like libraries, and I like meat.
My idea of a perfect evening would be eating a steak in the reference section.

Actually, even having a latte in the mystery section of the local Barnes and Noble would be like heaven at this point.

Which doesn't say much for my life right now.

But I have always loved books; there is something in the feel, the sound of the page turning; the smell of the book. I'll deal with paperbacks, but the hardcovers are the things I covet most.

The first book I can remember actually buying for myself was called, HOMER PICKLE: THE GREATEST. I was seven. Homer was a young boy who was apparently great at every sport he attempted. He was a great hero. Even with a name like Pickle.

Now, my library is filled with hundreds of sacred tomes. On any given day you can find the works of Asimov, Bradbury, and Clarke, as well as tomes on the lives of Burr, Adams, and Lincoln; several books on Truman, some graphic novels over in the corner (I have a fondness for Batman), oodles of play scripts, as well as biographies of Sellers, Fonda, Booth, Benny, Barnum, Shakespeare, Bacon, Marlowe....and then there's the section that includes published rants by Miller, and a lovely book called The Portable Curmudgeon.

Every day, more books come to live, and I refuse none of them. I go regularly to the library book sale, and give those lovely orphans a new home. The Book of the Month Club is on speed-dial. And then, there's the American Book Exchange, who have become my very good friends.

I like meat, too. Beef. Chicken. Pork. Rare. Fried. Barbecued. Bring it on.

Finally, I would like to say this:

If I owned a football team, and they played the Vikings, I would deem, order and command my defensive line, nay my WHOLE defense to blitz Favre on his first snap. Give up the touchdown, I don't care; take the penalties, I don't care; but remind him that he should have stayed retired the first THREE TIMES.

Welcome back to the NFL, old guy. Try to remember to throw it to the guys in PURPLE this year.

Rambling over.
Good day to you.