Very good. You give me so much at one time.

Yesterday was my cousin's graduation party, the ceremony having occurred on Friday night. It was a bit of a family rift, since there were two graduation parties going on at the same time, one here at my house, the other over in Redondo beach. As a result, families were mixing and matching themselves so as to be represented at both (and to avoid the subtle wrath of the graduates' mothers.) I went to the party of the cousin from whose parents I rent my house. I thought this was a good and logical idea.

I cleaned up my house and did some rearranging. I took out a leaf in my dining room table to open up some more space. I also moved a small table that I'd been meaning to relocate since I got the couch in. Now that table is behind the couch, instead not alongside it; This makes it much easier to walk around the couch.

As a service to my aunt and uncle, I allowed the front room (not the bedroom) to be invaded by the overflow of no-longer-8th-graders, all of whom, thankfully, were careful and used coasters.

At the party, talking with family members, some of whom I haven't seen for a while, my recent goals came in very handy. See, I wasn't the cousin who was working nights and living in the guest house in the back (although most partygoers agreed that it was a fine, fine pad), I was the cousin who was trying to get a play produced. To my shock and surprise, though, people were far more impressed that I was going to be submitting a crossword puzzle to the New York Times.

( Watching people's eyes light up. )

It made me feel good. At this point, even if I fail horribly at getting a puzzle accepted, I've made back my investment on the whole thing.

Later on, wjukknibs was going to come over, but didn't. So he has to come tonight, BIOTCH! I need to show off my fancy clean room before it ceases to be either.

MonNYTX: 4:45; MonLATX: 3:30.

Punters.

Like puns? Then you'll love these threads [second one is now locked] featuring punditry with punctilious punch-drunk Punchinellos aussie_nyc and/or sunyata__. My involvement in protracted paranomasia is unfortunately limited by my sleep schedule, which prevents the kind of quick turnaround that has made the latter of the above-mentioned threads jump so quickly. Also, well, you know; and if you don't, I'm not telling you.

Speaking of other blogs, I've become entranced by EricBerlin.com a lot of it is the standard-liberal-blog links that bounce around the so-called blogsphere, but there's a lot of other interesting stuff. Of particular interest is his account of a current scandal among the cruciverbalist society of the credentials of new USA Today crossword editor Timothy Parker. Follow the saga (Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV), and keep up to date with the world of puzzles. As Berlin says, "This blog get crossword news firsthand, but international news commentary thirdhand."