A Curious Statistical Anomaly

Rumor has it by Jill Mansell, Sourcebooks Landmark, ISBN: 978-1402237508, pages 404, Price: List $14.00, Amazon: $10.08.

Jill Mansell’s Rumor Has It is hilariously funny as well as embarrassingly relevant. Tilly gets home from work to find her live-in boyfriend has moved out with all of his stuff. Not to worry, she’s not that broken up about it, except she can’t afford the rent without him. She comforts herself with a visit to her friend Erin in Roxborough. The visit is just what she needs, but before leaving to return to London, Tilly spies an ad for a Girl Friday and applies. With some assertiveness and a bacon sandwich, Tilly lands the job and moves in with Max Dineen and his daughter, Lou. Everything is going great until she falls hard for Jack Lucas who is rumored to be the hottest one-night-stand around.

Humor is very difficult to write. I know that’s the popular myth but think how often you tell a joke and everyone just stares at you waiting for the funny part — just after you’ve delivered the punch line. To write humor is to try to deliver that laugh to readers you can’t see and don’t really know. That said, Mansell’s Rumor Has It is funny. It’s laugh out loud funny. I’m sure most readers will recognize the situations because they’ve been there or seen it at one time or another. Maybe the situations weren’t as humorous at the time but, in hindsight, and happening in a book — perhaps you can see the humor this time.

Mansell’s characters are people you’ve met, been friends with, avoided like the plague, were forced to put up with, worked for, or heard about via rumors. All of the characters are well-developed and each has their own quirks. Erin doesn’t like to hurt people no matter what they do to her but she’s loyal and will defend a friend against all comers. Tilly wants romance and love but is afraid to get involved because she doesn’t want to get hurt. Stella thinks the world revolves around her and can’t understand why things aren’t going the way she planned for them to go.

I grew up in a very small town. In small towns, there’s very little to entertain one and gossip, a more sibilant word for rumor, and one that perhaps is more exact since it has that snake-hiss built in. Rumors can destroy people’s reputations and rumors can build a reputation. Remember a reputation is not necessarily a bad thing, it depends on what that reputation is and whether or not it’s true. Problems arise when the rumors don’t reflect reality. So, if you believe that everyone else is telling the truth and your experience doesn’t match the rumors would you admit to being different? Could you even convince people that the rumors are wrong? What if trying to set things right makes it look like you have a problem — would you talk about it then?

Tilly moves to Roxborough and needs to play catch up to learn what everyone else already knows. But what if, being new to the town, you don’t see things they same way. Do you go with what you believe or do you accept that the villagers know best?

Rumor Has It begins as Tilly’s story but there are several other plot lines involving other people, including Tilly’s best friend, Erin, scary Stella, Max Dineen’s ex-wife Kaye, and Max’s young daughter Lou — just to name a few. The point of view shifts to the character who can best tell the story.

It the book funny? You betcha it is. But it will also hit on a lot of other emotions as the various story lines play out and lives are disrupted and changed. Change doesn’t have to always be bad but sometimes it can get really depressing before it gets better. Love lost and love won can mean broken hearts and lives torn apart. Relationships in a small village with a very active rumor mill can be very iffy indeed.

First, I’m inclined to call Rumor Has It an old-fashioned romantic comedy updated to the present day. Many would call it Chick Lit. Whatever genre you put it in, it’s well written, funny, and relevant to people today and their relationships. Most of us have been the subject of rumors so we’ll know exactly how these characters feel.

I should mention that Rumor Has It is very British. If you watch British comedies and read books written by other UK authors, and have some knowledge of current British politics and social icons, you’ll get more of the jokes. The comedy is a bit off-the-wall, but totally believable. However, sometimes the humor is in a reference to a person, TV show, or political scandal. Don’t worry, the story is still very accessible and you’ll get most of the humor from context.

If you enjoy a good story with comedy, romance, and a bit of drama, give Jill Mansell’s Rumor Has It a try. She’s not an author I’d read before but her name is going on my “watch for this author” list.

The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice by Abigail Reynolds, Sourcebooks Casablanca, ISBN: 978-1402237324, pages 448, paperback.  (Amazon price: $6.99) (Previously published as Pemberley by the Sea in 2008 by Sourcebooks Landmark).

I’m always a bit trepidacious about reading a Pride & Prejudice follow on especially when it’s a modern retelling, however, Abigail Reynolds, not only manages to follow the spirit of Pride & Prejudice and the romance between Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy but she also manages put in a retelling of that tale in modern times using the main plotline of her book. It’s an amazing bit of self-referencing and it not only works but packs an emotional punch just when the narrative needs it to move forward.

Since the book title is The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice, we expect that the characters will be mapped to those in Pride and Prejudice. Cassandra (Cassie) Boulton is a marine biologist who does summer research at BML in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and teaches at a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania. She grew up in the slums of Chicago and has worked extremely hard to make her dreams come true — to get stability and tenure and to have a career where she can be near the ocean. Calder Westing is the son of Senator Joseph Westing and grew up with wealth and all the advantages that wealth and a family active in politics and high society could provide. As with his prototype, he gives the impression of pride and arrogance. The book also has stand-ins for Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley in Erin, Cassie’s best friend, and Scott Dunston, Calder’s best friend.

Cassie spends every summer doing research in Woods Hole, which is a mecca of marine biology and oceanography research on the east coast of the United States, as well as a picturesque vacation spot. Erin, who is recovering from a bad relationship, came to be Cassie’s research assistant, and to pull herself together before her final year of graduate school. Erin had arrived first and met a wonderful man, Scott. Cassie is expected to meet Scott at the evenings contradance. Calder who just had a bad experience with his family is going to be spending part of the summer with Scott, but when he arrives he finds the house locked and a note from Scott telling him that he can wait or meet him at the dance.

The scene is set, the characters meet, and except for the modern setting and character changes necessary to update, if you’ve read Pride & Prejudice, you know how things are probably going to go. [Remember the first meeting of Elizabeth and Darcy was at the ball in the assembly rooms.]

Once in motion much of the action is predictable if you know the underlying story, however, even so Reynolds manages to surprise and entice the reader to get involved with these characters and their lives and before long you’ve forgotten the Pride & Prejudice of the title and become totally committed to this story. She tells the story mainly from Cassie’s point of view with occasionally forays into Calder’s viewpoint.

There’s a lot going on in The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice. There is the romance between Cassie and Calder. There is the romance between Erin and Scott. There’s the underlying story of Pride & Prejudice that is echoed in the main plot line. There’s the additional story of the updated Pride & Prejudice written within the story that echoes again the main plot line. And it works — it all comes together to be one of the best modernizations of Pride & Prejudice that I’ve read in quite a long time.

The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice is though, at heart, a romance or a love story. It’s modern and there are sex scenes that will heat your house or power all your electronics. But flipping through the book to check, there really aren’t that many sex scenes, they just carry a lot of punch. Reading two of the most steamy ones over again, I realized that Reynolds manages to use the readers to add the steam. She doesn’t, as some authors do, go into detail in these scenes. She sets the scene, writes suggestive descriptions and leaves us with a hot flash of epic proportions. I’ve always preferred allusion and suggestion to explicit in-my-face descriptions and I think I’ve figured out why — it’s far more powerful a scene when the reader’s imagination is engaged. A fact that many writers should take note of, in my opinion.

Reynolds manages to harness the reader’s imagination throughout the novel as she plays with our expectations. This raises the book from a very good exploration of the theme to a really great one. If Pride & Prejudice holds a place in your heart, definitely give The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice a try.

For those of you who love romance and love stories and have never read Pride & Prejudice, dive into this book. It’s a wonderful romance and I would expect after reading it that you’d be willing to give Pride & Prejudice a try to see just why Jane Austen’s book is still so popular so many years after its publication.

Malice Domestic 22 – Friday

1:10 p.m. The Poison Lady – Luci Zahray

The highlight of Malice Domestic for many members (based on the attendance at the panel) is the talk on poison that is given by Luci Zahray, affectionately called The Poison Lady. Zahray is a pharmacist in a very busy hospital in Texas. Her talks vary from year to year and focus on poisons, poisoning, and how writers can use poisons as part of their plots.

This year’s talk was about poisonous plants. She covered Aconite, also called Monkshood and wolfsbane, which is a hearty perennial and grows wild in most of the US. Then came the opium poppy plant which actually doesn’t like to be cultivated and grows best where neglected and can sometimes be found in the wild having escaped from gardens. Then there’s Hemlock which looks very much like Queen Anne’s Lace except that the stem is hollow and has purple dots on it. A tidbit I found very interesting is that Queen Anne’s Lace is not as prevalent as most people think, and that what they believe is Queen Anne’s Lace is really poison hemlock. (Kind of scary actually.) There’s also water hemlock which grows wild and is an even more potent a poison. Coltracine (?) was the last plant covered and it also grows wild throughout the country. Other plants touched upon during the talk were Lily of the Valley and Oleander.

It’s amazing to learn that so many poisonous plants are so readily available if one’s villain was inclined to use it to achieve his/her goal.

2:10 p.m. Oh, Sir Just One More Thing. William Link was interviewed by Doug Green. William Link is this year’s Poirot Award Honoree. He’s just written a book of short stories about Columbo. Link and his partner Dick Levinson wrote or developed the scripts for Columbo, Manix, Murder, She Wrote, as well as some other shows. Since the death of his writing partner, Link has been going solo with screenplays and short fiction.

Link was witty, funny, and entertained us all with stories of his experiences writing for movies and television, the actors and actresses he worked with, and his writing partner. The time just flew by, not to mention the wealth of information for writers that was sprinkled throughout his comments and answers.

3:10 p.m. You’ve Got Fan Mail: Honored Guests and Fabulous Fans. Panel: Verena Rose (Moderator), Rhys Bowen, Parnell Hall, and Mary Higgins Clark.

The panelists talked about the most interesting, strange, and otherwise curious mail or email they get from fans. Clark mentioned a letter that said she must be reading the writer’s mind because her book was the same the fan had written in her head and she thought she should get 50% of the royalties. Bowen mentioned that most of her current email was of the “don’t let her marry Daniel” type. They noted the mail that puts you in your place: Clark said she got mail from a 13-year-old boy who said he’d just read the first half of her book <B>Where are the Children</B> and hoped one day to read the other half and another letter that said, “you’re books are so good I don’t mind the boring parts”.

Clark recounted an incident where someone said she stole her book and it took two years of depositions to finally get the case dropped. It seems the woman had sent her script to just about the whole world except Clark. The panel then affirmed that that was exactly the reason that authors will not read the unpublished works of others – it’s just too perilous.

The panel then went on during the Q&A to discuss how you can find great ideas in the news by asking “what if”, “suppose”, and “why”. There were many other writing tips discussed and suggested for the beginning writer.

5:10 p.m. Opening Ceremonies. The toastmaster was Rhys Bowen, assisted by Verena Rose of the Malice Domestic Board. Each of the honored guest were introduced followed by the listing of the nominees for the Agatha Award. The award voting takes place during the convention and the winners will be announced at the awards banquet on Saturday evening.

Silent Auction: The hospitality room is also the site of the silent auction. Themed gift baskets are set about the room and you check them out and write your bid on the accompanying bid sheet. Most consist of a basket, books by an author, and items that relate to the books contents. Sometimes the baskets are by a groups such as Poe’s Deadly Daughters. This year there were at least 5 chances to bid on having your name be used for a characters in someone’s next book. The money from the silent auction goes towards a local charity to assist education and reading among children.

There was also a standard auction, also for charity. At least one of the items that I saw at the preview was a collection of items related to Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series (a couple of books) and True Blood (the HBO series) which included a vial of true blood and a Merlotte’s apron. There were also many other interesting and intriguing items. We missed the auction (having to be home in time to have Gumshoe Review go live on schedule) but in previous years this auction has been not only for a good cause but very entertaining to those attending as the auctioneer solicits bids from the audience.

Malice Domestic: Saturday, May 1st.

Due to traffic and other minor inconveniences we didn’t get to Malice Domestic until just before the lunch break. I talked to people at registration and learned that there were about 500 attendees this year. Based on an eye-ball estimate, I’d say that the ratio of professionals to fans is really good. If you can only do one conference and you’re a budding mystery writer, Malice Domestic should be a conference that you seriously consider attending. The panels are not simply fluff but serious opportunities to learn more about the art of writing, plotting, character development, and use of setting, among other skills.

We checked out the dealer’s room. You’d think with the number of books that come into the office every month that I’d never need to buy books. But, you’d be wrong. We picked up several that I’d been meaning to read such as P.D. James’ About Detective Fiction (a review will follow eventually).

1:30 p.m. Behind the Curtain: An Inside Look at Unusual Settings. Panelists: C. Ellett Logan (Moderator), Marian Moore Hill, Judith Koll Healey, Penny Warner, Joanne Dobson.

Each of these authors use setting as an integral part of the story.  Hill and Healey write historical mysteries.  Warner uses San Francisco and its environs.  Dobson uses a small New England college campus.

The combination of characters and settings drive the plots for these authors.  Each author supported the need to visit the settings you intend to use and to really understand the place, its quirks, its place in society and the people who inhabit that setting.  The more you know about the place the easier it is to move your characters around in it.

Most agreed that setting often determines the nature of the crime that is committed.  There was a lot of discussion on how each of the authors use setting in their books and why they picked the time/place/setting that they did.  When setting is used right — the story would be impossible to have anywhere else because then the setting wouldn’t be right.

One of the more important tips from this panel was to “write what you love not necessarily what you know”.  If you love a time or place you’ll find a way to learn what you need to know and the love will shine through to help make a good story — if you only write what you know, you’ll not grow as a writer or a person.

2:50 p.m. Urban Fantasy Mysteries: Stories with an Extra Dimension.  Panelists: Casey Daniels, Kris Neri, Maria Lima, Mary Saums, and Dina Willner (Moderator).

During the introductions it became clear that all of these authors read avidly as children and young adults.  They tended to read fantasy, science fiction, and mysteries.  Then there came some writers who brought magic to the modern world and once they found that mix which made urban fantasy — why not add a mystery.

The most important thing to do in writing supernatural mysteries is to set limits for your characters or magical system and stick to them.  There have to be rules and you need to live by them.  You need everything in a traditional mystery but you also have someone with supernatural powers that also misses the clues and that person must not be able to solve the crime with magic or it’s cheating.  You must play fair within the limits and rules that you set up for your world/series/story.

As important as it is to have rules and limits, you must have consequences if you try to break the rules or the limits you set up.

4:10 p.m. Guest of Honor Interview.  Parnell Hall interviewed by Dorothy Cannell and Sharon Newman.

Parnell Hall is an interesting person.  He’s been an actor, a songwriter/singer, and of course a mystery writer.  Rather than try to give you an idea of the life and times of this year’s Guest of Honor.  I’ll let you learn a bit about him yourself.  Here’s the link to Parnell Halls YouTube videos.

Unfortunately, we didn’t attend the banquet where the winners of the Agatha Awards were announced, but you’ll find the winners’ list in the Gumshoe Review News Column.

We were scheduled to cover another event on Sunday and would miss the program items on that day.  However, on the way home Saturday, our transmission decided to drop two gears so instead of going to that event, we’re at home until we can get the car into the garage on Monday.

If you never attended a Malice Domestic but love traditional mysteries, consider adding it to your calendar for next year.  Details will be on their webpage.

Today was the first day of Malice Domestic 22 being held this weekend in Arlington, Virginia at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel.  This year’s guests are:

Guest of Honor: Parnell Hall

Toastmaster: Rhys Bowen

Lifetime Achievement: Mary Higgins Clark

Malice Remembers: Ed Hoch

Poirot Award: William Link

Fan Guests of Honor: Tom & Marie O’Day

We missed the first couple of program items this morning. But we did attend several others which I’ll write up later. We had to leave at 9 p.m. to get home in time to get Gumshoe Review up and online by midnight. (Also SFRevu.com ).

First impressions are that the energy level is as high and the feeling of camaraderie just as welcoming as in the past. However, the number of attendees seems lower though I don’t know the actual numbers — just the rooms don’t feel as full. However, there has been a single track of programming all day and not everyone is used to the programming starting so early so it may be that attendees just had other commitments this morning as the evening programs seems pretty full.

Malice Domestic celebrates the traditional mystery — no blood and violence on the page, that happens off to the side. But the traditional mystery can still be pretty edge-of-your-seat without overwhelming the reader with graphic details. Malice Domestic also awards the Agatha Awards.

Anyway, more later — I need sleep.

It’s that time of month, and this time things are really, really, tight. Hyperion and I will be covering Malice Domestic, a wonderful mystery convention held in Arlington, VA this weekend. We’ll also be at Maryland Sheep and Wool on Sunday — the biggest sheep and wool event on the east coast.

And, we’ll also be trying to get SFRevu and Gumshoe Review up and live with the May issues on the 1st.

Stay tuned to see if we actually managed to do all that and remain moderately sane at the same time. [Hyperion: I predict a 7.23% probability]

Meanwhile, the cat (Emnot) finally went to the vet this past week. We’d thought Emnot was a she but the vet, after careful and intense looking, found that she was really a he. He’d also already been neutered so that was a relief. But, he had round worms and ear mites — as well as fleas (good thing he’s an outdoor cat). So, now it’s medication and ear drops for him and he’s not a happy cat just now. However, we came back from a doctor’s appointment this afternoon and found a dead lizard and the remains of a mouse. Wonder if he’s trying to warn us off about the medications….

NOTE of Warning: This post is a political rant because sometimes I just have to speak up. If you don’t care for political rants…fine…move along and come back another day when I may have more on my garden, my knitting, book reviews, or other lighter less-ranty posts.

Every now and then  it seems that comedy becomes actuality.  Years ago Cheech and Chong had a song called Born in East LA which chronicles the problems that a man born in East L.A. had to proving his citizenship when scooped up in an illegal immigrant sweep.  At the time, even though it highlighted a problem that existed among the Hispanic population, it also highlighted the extremely  unAmerican  concept of having to show papers whenever you were asked by an authority figure.  This was something that only was supposed to happen in Communist countries.

Now the state of Arizona has passed SB 1070 into law.  It’s been signed by Gov. Jan Brewer.  In its bare essence the state of Arizona has made it legal to do racial profiling within the state.  The bill requires local law enforcement to question anyone they reasonably  suspect  of being undocumented.  (Translation: you could be pulled over for no other reason than that you are brown-skinned or speak Spanish.) The bill makes it a misdemeanor to lack proper paperwork in Arizona.   And just how does an American citizen prove that they’re not an illegal alien?   If you’re an American, you won’t have a green card, or visa, or anything else.  And since you can’t prove that you’re in the country legally, you must be an illegal alien. Q.E.D.  Hopefully somebody other than me sees the logical fallacy in having to prove a negative.

What the this means is that everyone who might be possibly be “reasonably suspected” of being an illegal alien must show papers to any  authority that asks.  So, if you have dark hair and dark eyes and a non-milky complexion, you’d better make sure that you have all the necessary paperwork to prove you’re a citizen on you at all time.  Don’t forget that includes children — after all, illegal aliens come in all ages.

So somehow, while we weren’t paying attention, the state of Arizona managed to become the first state in the nation that requires all citizens to show papers when requested by an authority figure, or face the consequences.  Of course that’s only for some people — not the lily white ones.

In case you’re wondering, I’m a mix of French, Scottish, and who knows what — but I do have dark hair (except for the grey), and dark brown eyes, and have often been mistaken for Hispanic even though I only know enough Spanish to count to ten on a good day with a few phrases learned from years of Sesame Street long, long ago when my son was younger.

I’m outraged by this.  I used to live in America.  The home of the brave.  The land of the free.  Where Democracy reigned and it was not only our right, but our obligation, to question authority and to stand up for those less fortunate than ourselves.

Over the last 20 years or so, I’ve watched America slowly become a bully nation that picks on those who can’t defend themselves.  A nation that punishes those who come here believing that the motto on that statue in New York Harbor is real  and for those who have forgotten it:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
The wretched refuse of you teamming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Poem on plaque at the foot of the Statue of Liberty written by Emma Lazarus.

I guess those words should now be changed to only come here if you’ve got lots of money to spend, paperwork to prove you’re worth letting into our country, and will only say good things about us while you’re here.

I’ve seldom been so ashamed of my country as I am after hearing about this travesty. I hope when the legal battles come, and I’m sure they will, that the courts will rule this law unconstitutional because there isn’t a doubt in my mind (having read this document) that it is just that — not to mention Arizona’s SB 1070 is frankly unAmerican and shameful.

There are, I am sure better ways to deal with illegal aliens that to force your citizens to carry papers — unless of course you think the comparison with the old-time Communist countries is appropriate. In fact, I don’t think they even require papers at every stop within their borders anymore.

[Hyperion here:]  The problems surrounding illegal immigration are real and severe.  There are no doubts that something needs to be done to counteract the unfortunate evils that accompany it.  That said, the number of illegal immigrants that cause problems are a tiny percentage of the those that are here.  Like the general population of the U.S., the vast majority are hard working people trying to make a better life for themselves and their families.  They work the crap jobs that no American wants, for pay no American would accept.  If we magically found and deported every illegal alien in America today, large portions of our economy would collapse into ruin within a week.  So while I agree that we have to do something about the troublemakers, I have to wonder why so many Americans are willing to throw the founding principles of this country out the window just to make things seem simple.  Have we really learned nothing from the Japanese Interment Camps or the House UnAmerican Activities witch hunts?  Every time we’ve pulled this kind of crap, the future has lo0ked back on those that participated in them with horror and disgust.  And they sit around and wonder just how could people have been so clueless and horrible.   So two quotes to close by, the first generally accredited to Benjamin Franklin: “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”  And the second to George Santayana: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

For the past several years, we’ve taken part in Earth Hour but this year somehow — probably lack of promotion on the net — we totally missed it. Not such a bad thing because we do as much as we can every day of the year. We recycle and for us that means we have to drive to the recycle center once a week, although only as part of our normal shopping cycle. We tend to put water in a water bottle rather than buy bottled water. We keep our heat down in the winter and our air conditioning higher in the summer (forget saying turn it off completely we live in an area that gets days over 100 degrees). We use the car to go to and from work (no public transport closer than work). We plan our weekly shopping trips to be as efficient as possible using gas. We’re saving to make take some more measures — replacing the single pane windows in the house, purchasing a hybrid car, swapping out the 20 year old appliances for EnergyStar ones.

We live on 5 wooded acres and have little direct sun during the day. Solar is out for us but we’re looking into other options. But that’s a long term project.

Earth day is a time to think about our commitment to the Earth and strive to live lightly upon it. Here’s a video about Earth day and what it’s trying to get people to think about. Granted it’s by a vested interested party but that doesn’t take away from the core message:

It seems that here in the US there are many people who prefer to put their heads in the sand and pretend that the Earth has infinite resources and all this “green” talk is not worthy paying attention to. Our planet is where we live, work, and play. But it’s resources are indeed finite. There was a recent report that the world will reach peak oil (that point where it cost more to extract the oil and you could possible get from using/selling it and which is the beginning of the end of that resource) within the next 10 years. Others say we’ll reach that point in 5 years or 2 or we’ve already reached it. Note that none are saying it’s not going to happen.

There’s a definition of insanity that I find very cogent. Insanity is doing the same activity over and over and expecting a different result. We can’t go on using petroleum/gas/oil and expect that it won’t someday run out. If we start now putting money into alternative energy sources, we not only help our planet, we help ourselves.

Closing our eyes to the problems of global warming, peak oil, deforestation, water contamination, and species loss will not make it go away. We need to look these problems in the face and come up with plans that deal with what is not what we wish it was.

Take some time on Earth Day to decide how you and your family will do their bit to help save the Earth and its resources. Even something as simple as turning lights off when you leave the room or filling your own bottle with water will help. Every little bit does help and certainly it helps more than doing nothing. Take action to help our planet.

I’ve been feeling so crappy the last few days– can barely get out of my own way let alone think about anything coherently. It’s been a real challenge.

Tonight I think I figured it out. The oncologist said I could stop taking the medication I was on after I finished the last dose. That was three nights ago now. Guess my body is trying to adjust to not taking it anymore. I’ve been on it for nearly 5 years so I guess maybe the crappy-ness will go away once it gets flushed from my system.

This must be one of those darned if you do, darned if you don’t things. But, I’m thinking this theory of crappy-ness is probably the right one and in a week or so I’ll feel a lot better. Please, let me live with the fantasy for a while.